Petition calls for for partial refund to Wolverhampton University students over lack of face-to-face lectures

More than 180 people have signed the petition since it was launched on Tuesday, which calls for a partial refund to fees, which depending on the course can be more than £9,000.

Liam Scott, who started the petition, says: "With the recent closure of the campus due to the Covid-19 virus, the University of Wolverhampton has decided to implement a number of preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of the virus spreading to the student population.

"Such measures include the cancelling all face to face classes and instead implementing remote online instruction. While we applaud UOW's initiative for putting the student’s health and safety as the main priority, it is important to consider the financial impact on the students, especially the international students considering the tremendous difference between the tuitions.

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"Currently, student tuition at the University of Wolverhampton is roughly £9,250 per year (depending on the course). When most students agreed to take on the financial burden of taking out loans to pay such an exorbitant fee, we did so because we expected to receive in-person face-to-face instruction, as well as the opportunity to seek out help from our teachers during office hours.

"Because of the circumstances of this decision, this is now no longer a possibility for students, and we are now essentially stuck paying £9,250 per year for online classes.

"Since the start of university my course consists of six hours a week of online lectures. This is simply unacceptable for £9,250 per year. I ask for the university to look at the students' perspective and ask themselves, would they deem this a fair and acceptable amount to pay for the standard of education provided.

"Because of the financial impact of this decision, we are asking the University of Wolverhampton to give partial refunds to all students."

To view the petition, visit change.org/p/university-of-wolverhampton-university-of-wolverhampton-partial-tuition-refund

Julia Clarke, deputy vice-chancellor said: “We always take student feedback very seriously and have worked in partnership with students on the measures we have had to take in response to the pandemic. In fact, the university has not cancelled all face to face teaching and has in place a model of blended learning which offers students a mixture of online and on-campus teaching. As a university we are continually investing in the student experience and at this extremely important time, the safety of our students is paramount.

“We continue to follow the Government and the Office for Students advice on tuition fee refunds, which was referenced in yesterday’s new guidance for higher educational institutions as the country approaches a new national lockdown.

“The university campuses, including libraries and IT suites, remain open for both study and support. To enable these facilities to be available, we have put in places measures to support the safety of our community including enhanced cleaning, social distancing measures and provision of hand sanitiser.

“We’ve also invested in a new laptop loan scheme to help those students who are not able to come onto campus and who are struggling with digital poverty.”