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Graduates want compensation over Covid teaching

Jasmine Sandhar
BBC Midlands Today
Ethan Appleby It is Ethan's graduation day and he is staring into the camera and smiling. He is wearing a black graduation cap with a matching gown that has red and yellow and hood. Underneath that, he has a black shirt on and the collar is peeking out over the gown. Ethan is wearing black round glasses and has dark brown eyes. He has dark brown hair and a matching goatee. The bacgkround is blurred but you can see the outline of other graduates taking pictures with their families.Ethan Appleby
Ethan Appleby said he felt he did not the same high-quality teaching at university as other students

Two graduates who feel frustrated at the quality of university teaching they received during the Covid pandemic have joined thousands of others seeking compensation.

Ethan Appleby and Sanne Chiza Blanco signed up to a website called Student Group Claim which is pursuing legal claims.

Mr Appleby said he paid £9,000 annually to De Montfort University but only had one lesson in person with the rest at home, due to the pandemic.

The university worked hard to give students the same "high-quality" teaching but had to cope with rapidly changing guidance at the time, a spokesperson said.

"There's following guidelines and then there's giving up," Mr Appleby said about his game art degree in Leicester.

"We're talking about nine grand a year to sit at home, log onto a laptop, go on for an hour and read a word document."

Ethan is hunched over a rectangular screen. He is drawing a sketch of dragon on it with a bluetooth pencil. He is wearing glasses and a black hoodie with white strings. The blue light from the screen is shining back onto his face. There is a green wall in the background.
After he left De Montfort University, Mr Appleby finished an animation degree in Wolverhampton

The 23-year-old never met his tutors face-to-face and said he spent more than £1,000 on his own software to finish assignments he was set at home.

After he was locked in his student accommodation for a week, Mr Appleby said he tried to take his own life.

He ended up leaving De Montfort after his first year and had to pay back £4,000 to the university from a student loan.

Mr Appleby went on to finish an animation degree with the University of Wolverhampton and currently works at an activity centre in Dudley, in the West Midlands

Speaking of his first degree, he said he had "built himself back up again" and "recovered from that dark period".

"Covid is a large part of the reason why I'm here," he reflected.

"It's taken me a long time to recover, to trust education again, to gain confidence in my abilities."

A spokesperson from De Montfort University said students in the pandemic faced new challenges and they prioritised their health, safety and wellbeing.

Guidance for universities was "rapidly changing" and they had to adjust how students were taught, they added.

"[We] worked hard to provide as much technology, support and creative approaches to offer the same high-quality teaching experience we pride ourselves on," they said.

Sanne Chiza Blanco It is Sanne's graduation day and she is looking into the camera and smiling. One of the entrances to the university is in the background of the picture and she is stood in the middle of a path with two patches of grass on either side. She is wearing a black graduation cap with a matching gown that has a red and yellow hood. Underneath this, she is wearing a sage green long silk dress which has ruching and a cowl neck. She has her hands over her thighs so you can see the long green nails that match the dress. She had long dark brown wavy hair. Sanne Chiza Blanco
Sanne Chiza Blanco graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in fine art

Mr Appleby decided to sign up to the website Student Group Claim, where lawyers offer representation for students at UK universities seeking compensation due to the effects of the pandemic or strike action.

Those behind the site say more than 155,000 people have signed up but that does not necessarily mean all of them will seek payouts through the courts.

Sanne Chiza Blanco, 23, decided to get involved after her experience of studying fine art at the University of Wolverhampton.

"We weren't allowed to go into the studios for literally a year and a half," she remembered.

"What we're paying for is good quality teaching. If I'm paying £9,000 a year, I want to get my money's worth."

Cost struggles

Although facilities started opening up in her third year, Ms Blanco felt she had to "cram" everything in and it was not enough time.

A spokesperson for the University of Wolverhampton said the pandemic was "extremely challenging" with lockdowns and restricted access.

"[Students and staff] were required to follow the considered guidelines and restrictions set out by the government and health authorities on facilities and in-person teaching," they added.

After graduating, Ms Blanco worked in retail before pursuing a master's degree in arts and project management at Birmingham City University.

"It took me two years to figure out what I wanted to do and just over two years to actually start," she said.

But as she struggled to pay for her studies in the cost of living crisis, the 23-year-old said she felt she should get the compensation she was owed.

Shimon is staring into the camera as he is speaking. He is wearing wide rectangular glasses, a light blue shirt and navy tie with white polka dots. He has short dark brown hair with a matching beard. There is a white wall in the background with a wood-panelled cupboard.
Solicitor Shimon Goldwater said he felt students affected by the pandemic deserved to seek compensation

In 2024, a trial date was set for students and graduates suing University College London with the case due to be heard in 2026.

Shimon Goldwater, a solicitor working with Student Group Claim, said he hoped the outcome from that trial would set a precedent for other claims

"The students should get back the difference in price between what they paid for, which is in-person teaching, and what they received, which was online," he said.

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