Students¡¯ calls for refunds on accommodation and tuition fees amid pandemic-driven disruption are expected to swiftly grow into a huge issue for English universities and the government, with some vice-chancellors urging ministers to compensate institutions for rent waivers.

With the latest lockdown leaving a return to face-to-face teaching unlikely for most students this term, universities seeking compensation for significant amounts of income lost to student refunds could create a higher education funding problem for the government.

One senior sector figure predicted that student calls for refunds will ¡°mount to unstoppable levels¡± and suggested that the Department for Education was modelling options for compensation through the loans system with the intent of making the case for government support ¨C most likely on the accommodation front rather than tuition fees.

Meanwhile, Sir Chris Husbands, Sheffield Hallam University¡¯s vice-chancellor, said that the issue of accommodation refunds?probably had ¡°more legs¡± than the fees one, but predicted that ¡°both will become a political football¡±.

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Given that fees include a sizeable element of public subsidy and support vital courses including those for nurses and doctors, as well as securing ¡°an HE infrastructure¡±, the refunds issue ¡°will get batted around between government and the sector, but government knows that fee refunds will lead to cuts to courses and job losses¡±, Sir Chris added.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister, said at a press conference on 5 January that the government ¡°will be looking very carefully at what is happening to students¡± with ¡°their courses being postponed ¨C and the absence of tuition that they would expect¡±, and was hoping that online learning would ¡°allow them to continue with their degree courses¡±.

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¡°But clearly there are going to be issues to do with the cost of their accommodation which we will have to look at as a government and see what arrangements the universities are making to deal with the reasonable concerns of many, many students,¡± he added.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of University of Sunderland , said that on accommodation his institution has ¡°already said that students who want to be released from their contracts can do so without any penalty¡±.

He added that for some universities ¨C ¡°although not Sunderland¡± ¨C ¡°the financial consequences could be very significant if they have a high percentage of ¡®home¡¯ students who are now unable to return to their accommodation for many weeks ¨C but are still planning to do so ¨C and demand refunds. I think that, in such circumstances, the government has to look sympathetically at providing additional financial support for universities.¡±

David Green, the University of Worcester¡¯s vice-chancellor, said that his institution has ¡°changed the terms and conditions of the [accommodation] contract to give students the right to cancel their contract with us if teaching went online for more than a short period of time¡±, and ¡°will certainly support students receiving a refund for costs for accommodation that they can¡¯t use because of government decisions¡± on lockdown.

The Treasury ¡°should certainly supply cash to the Department for Education to compensate universities that have waived rents for students¡±, he added.

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Professor Green continued: ¡°I certainly think that a comprehensive [government] policy and statement is badly needed on this. It is highly likely that the new ¡®lockdown¡¯ will last until Easter ¨C so this is a major matter.¡±

On tuition fees, Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Union of Students, said that ¡°where students are not receiving adequate education during Covid they absolutely have the right to compensatory actions which could include a refund [on fees], or the ability to resit/redo at no additional cost. Students in this position should use their own institution¡¯s complaints procedures and seek support from their students¡¯ union on this.¡±

On the picture across the sector, Sir David argued that given access to education and other aspects of the student experience was continuing, the case for fee refunds ¡°remains weak unless a student could demonstrate significant academic detriment on the part of a university and/or was denied access, in any way, to other services and support¡±.

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Students seeking a fee refund would have two potential routes: complaints to their university and ultimately to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ, or to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Smita Jamdar, head of education at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, said that the CMA had previously expressed a view that suppliers are not permitted to deliver ¡°something completely different¡± to what was originally promised in a contract even in changed circumstances beyond their control, but that ¡°applying that principle to universities¡± and the difference between online and face-to-face teaching ¡°is really not easy¡±.

Ms Jamdar continued that ¡°the longer [the disruption] goes on and the more extensive the disruption¡­the dial shifts from the university to the student, but pretty slowly, and not necessarily in a uniform way across all institutions, all courses and all students¡±.

She added: ¡°There does seem to be a growing clamour for a centralised solution to this in the form of government fee loan remission and rent subsidies, which might end up being a far more equitable solution than relying on individual consumer rights.¡±

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com