Require universities to partially refund tuition fees for 20/21 due to Covid-19
270,659 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 29 July 2020; it closed on 29 January 2021. The Government responded on 24 September 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 partially refund tuition fees for 20/21 due to Covid-19
The quality of online lectures is not equal to face-to-face lectures. Students should not have to pay full tuition fees for online lectures, without experiencing university life. The Government should require UK universities to partially refund tuition fees while online teaching is implemented.
The UK Government should care because thousands of UK and international students studying in the UK are going to be going into debt for an education that might not be worth the amount of money universities are asking for. Students should get the chance to experience university life in full, with access to societies, opportunities and chances to network. Many benefits of attending University have been taken away by Covid-19, there is so much more to University than the academic side.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 24 September 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Education as responsible. Its summary:
Higher education providers must deliver high-quality courses. If students are unhappy, they should first complain to their provider, or the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education
The opening 387 words of the 791-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. During this unprecedented period, where it is not possible to provide face-to-face learning in a COVID-secure environment, we expect HE providers to offer high-quality online education that allows students 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. The sector has put in significant resources and worked hard to provide and prepare learning materials for this academic year. We expect that HE providers will be open for the autumn term, combining online teaching and in-person tuition in ways that they consider appropriate which minimises risk.
Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees, up to a maximum of £9,250 for Approved (fee cap) providers. 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 would be 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 whilst ensuring that quality and standards are upheld. The Government’s expectation is that quality and academic standards must be maintained, and the OfS has made it clear that all HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high quality, students are supported and achieve good outcomes, and standards are protected. The OfS has published information and guidance for providers and students, and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has also published a series of guides to support providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the pandemic.
Government has been clear that we expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate and timely information needed to make informed decisions. This includes making them aware of any potential for changes at the earliest opportunity.
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, 1,700, came from Manchester Central.
269,491 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,168 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Manchester Central | 1,700 |
| Leeds Central | 1,400 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne East | 1,358 |
| Leeds North West | 1,339 |
| Sheffield Central | 1,263 |
| Liverpool, Riverside | 1,178 |
| Portsmouth South | 1,178 |
| Bristol West | 1,105 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 1,077 |
| East Ham | 1,066 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 41,785 |
| South East | 36,982 |
| North West | 34,252 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 27,061 |
| East of England | 23,590 |
| West Midlands | 23,495 |
| East Midlands | 21,222 |
| South West | 20,998 |
| Wales | 13,295 |
| North East | 12,517 |
| Northern Ireland | 4,580 |
| Scotland | 3,465 |
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/324762.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
fb752b029edbd540… - 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.