Require universities to reimburse students' tuition fees during strike action
136,749 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 11 March 2020; it closed on 11 September 2020. The Government responded on 21 April 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 16 November 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Require universities to reimburse students' tuition fees during strike action
The University and College Union has repeatedly called on its members to strike. However, strikes are ineffective if students, not employees are the main source of revenue. For this to change, government needs to step in and require universities to reimburse tuition fees lost due to strike action.
Students must pay fees in full even when academic support and lectures are permanently lost due to strike action. Doing right by the students will force universities to address the concerns raised by employees, hence preventing future strikes. We urge Parliament to demand that universities reimburse the fees corresponding to refused services. It is a tactic on the side of justice making the universities realise that they are not a business but ultimately a service for the betterment of society.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 21 April 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Education as responsible. Its summary:
Strike action is a matter for Universities to address, not Government. We expect universities to make efforts to replace lost learning or financial compensation if appropriate.
The response in full:
Students rightly want a good deal for their investment in higher education. If any student is affected by strike action, universities are expected to take appropriate action and consider their obligations under consumer law and students’ consumer rights. This includes ensuring that a range of appropriate remedies and mitigations are available, to prevent or minimise the effects of any strike action upon their students, which may include making efforts to replace lost learning opportunities, or financial compensation.
The Government believes that students should be at the heart of the higher education system. The Office for Students (OfS) was set up to regulate the higher education sector in England, protect student rights and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. It has provided guidance for students affected by industrial action. They expect providers to do all they can to avoid disruption for students, to abide by the conditions of registering with the OfS and to maintain the delivery of higher education.
Students are entitled to make a complaint about the way their university handles any disruption caused by industrial action, should they feel their experience has been adversely affected. In the first instance, students should speak to their university to see if they can resolve their complaint. If this is not possible or if they are unhappy with the outcome, they can take their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). The OIA covers student complaints concerning higher education providers in England and Wales and has published guidance on their approach to complaints and case studies indicating good practice and the type of compensation or remedial action they have previously recommended in this area. Case studies published by the OIA in 2019 indicate that financial compensation was recommended in a number of cases.
Department for Education
This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300528)
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 2,028, came from Sheffield Central.
136,429 of the signatures were from the UK and 320 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Sheffield Central | 2,028 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 1,990 |
| Bristol West | 1,652 |
| Manchester Central | 1,532 |
| Liverpool, Riverside | 1,419 |
| Cardiff Central | 1,353 |
| Leeds Central | 1,335 |
| Bath | 1,332 |
| City of Durham | 1,222 |
| Nottingham South | 1,170 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 24,777 |
| South East | 21,863 |
| North West | 16,188 |
| South West | 12,023 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 11,185 |
| East of England | 10,824 |
| East Midlands | 9,829 |
| West Midlands | 8,852 |
| Wales | 6,342 |
| North East | 5,019 |
| Scotland | 2,887 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,827 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 16 November 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/300528.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
f62dc08e7e29112a… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.