Students get payouts for ‘lost learning’ time in pandemic

A MEDICAL student has won a £5,000 payout from their university for lost learning during the pandemic.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) has released details of a number of complaints students have made about the impact that coronavirus has had on their studies.

They include concerns over accommodation, disruption to learning because of the pandemic, and that providers were unable to deliver important practical experience as part of a course.

Among the complainants was an international medical student who had been studying at an unnamed university with fees costing £38,000.

The student was awarded £5,000 after the university stopped all clinical placements as a result of the pandemic, meaning they lost out on practical experience. Their payout is believed to be the largest made following a complaint about pandemic teaching.

The OIA said it was awarded due to the “severe disappointment and inconvenience” the student experienced because the final year of studies had been “less valuable” than expected.

A healthcare student has also been awarded £1,500 for the “inconvenience and significant disappointment” they faced due to the cancellation of a labbased research project as part of their master’s course. The student had been moved to remote learning by the university. They argued this meant missing out on the practical techniques employers require, disadvantaging them when applying for jobs.

The OIA concluded that while the provider had taken a “number of steps” to ensure students were not disadvantaged academically, it could not deliver the promised lab work. Another was granted £200 after missing out on 14 hours of learning due to industrial action that took place over November and December 2019, along with disruption caused by coronavirus.

In one case an international student’s accommodation penalty was lifted after they were found to be breaching social distancing rules when a friend visited their room. The student was excluded from the accommodation, despite giving reasons for the visit.

The OIA said it considered the penalty “harsh” and the provider agreed to reduce the penalty to a formal warning.