No automatic university tuition fee refunds, MPs say

Students at British universities should not expect automatic tuition fee refunds for disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, according to MPs, despite complaints from thousands of those affected, writes Richard Adams for The Guardian.

The MPs on parliament’s petitions committee said while many students had lost out as a result of campus closures and the switch to remote learning, at least some universities had made “enormous efforts” to provide effective teaching. In a report, the committee concluded: “While students do have a right to seek a refund or to repeat part of their course if the service provided by their university is substandard, we do not believe that there should be a universal refund or reimbursement of tuition fees to all university students.”

The National Union of Students has said UK universities should offer the chance to repeat the year at no extra cost, or reimburse students’ debts and costs. The committee heard evidence from students and policy-makers after a petition to reimburse all students for this year’s fees gained more than 300,000 signatures. The report will be forwarded to the government and requires a response within two months.
Full report on The Guardian site