Reimburse all students of this year’s fees due to strikes and COVID-19
The Parliament petitions site records 353,129 signatures for this petition, which closed on 23 September 2020. The Government responded on 5 June 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.
Reimburse all students of this year’s fees due to strikes and COVID-19
All students should be reimbursed of this years tuition fees as universities are now online only due to COVID-19, with only powerpoints online for learning materials which is not worthy of up to £9,250. Furthermore, all assessments are being reconsidered to ‘make do’ and build up credits.
Field trips have also been cancelled which our tuition fee was to pay for. There is also no need for accommodation which students have paid between £4,000-£8,000 for in advance and adding to their student debt. Lastly, the extended strikes of this year have severely disrupted student-staff interaction and personalised help, with staff not replying to emails or available for meetings. Grading is also being delayed. Overall, university quality is poor this year and certainly not worth up to £9,250.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 5 June 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Education as responsible. Its summary:
HE providers must deliver high quality courses. If students are unhappy they should first complain to their provider and if their concerns are unresolved they can ask OIA to consider their complaint.
The opening 370 words of the 748-word response:
Government recognises the challenges facing students and supports them in their desire to continue receiving the best possible learning experience from our higher education (HE) providers. We consider it in the best interests of all students that they receive a high-quality online education during this unprecedented period that allows them to progress and to complete their studies within the time period they had been anticipating.
There are some fantastic and innovative examples of high-quality online learning being delivered by HE providers across the country, and the sector is working hard to provide and prepare learning materials for the summer and autumn terms. Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees. In deciding to keep charging full fees, universities will of course want to ensure that they can continue to deliver courses which are fit for purpose and help students progress their qualifications. Any refund is a matter for universities, so we are not considering a write off of tuition fee loans.
We believe that students should be at the heart of the HE system. The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator in England, has committed to protecting students throughout the present crisis and has published guidance for registered providers on how it will approach the regulation of quality and standards, and this includes practical ways in which students can complete their studies whilst ensuring quality and standards are upheld. Providers are already making these arrangements and the Government is in continuous contact with the sector to support the continuation of teaching and assessment. The Government is also working closely with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to ensure students continue to leave HE with qualifications that have real value, reflect their hard work and allow people to progress.
The Government’s clear expectation is that HE providers should make all reasonable efforts to enable students to complete their studies. If providers are unable to facilitate good online tuition, they should seek to avoid charging students for any additional terms they may need to undergo as a consequence – avoiding effectively charging them twice. Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of fees will depend on the specific contractual arrangements between the provider and student.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 3,067, came from Brighton, Pavilion.
351,855 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,274 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Brighton, Pavilion | 3,067 |
| Sheffield Central | 3,005 |
| Manchester Central | 2,796 |
| Holborn and St Pancras | 2,744 |
| Leeds Central | 2,591 |
| Coventry South | 2,482 |
| Bethnal Green and Bow | 2,440 |
| Nottingham South | 2,295 |
| Bristol West | 2,145 |
| West Ham | 2,110 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 75,475 |
| South East | 49,905 |
| North West | 36,747 |
| West Midlands | 30,888 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 29,524 |
| East of England | 29,185 |
| South West | 25,834 |
| East Midlands | 25,047 |
| North East | 12,930 |
| Wales | 12,650 |
| Scotland | 7,684 |
| Northern Ireland | 6,853 |
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/302855.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
cc952894932a8584… - 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.