Select committee: Petitions Committee
Recommendation 6
Second Report - The impact of Covid-19 on university students
Published 13 Jul 2020
Paragraph 31
Petitions Committee The Government's response to Coronavirus All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government has put in place unprecedented financial support measures to respond to Covid-19, paying the salaries of hundreds of thousands of employees nationally, and funding grants and loans for a huge number of businesses and industries. These are exceptional actions, in exceptional circumstances. Given the importance of the higher education sector to the UK economy, and the exceptional circumstances facing both universities and university students, the Government should consider providing additional funding to universities to enable them to pay any refunds university students are entitled to as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government could also consider alternative means for reimbursing students, where an independent process has found that they are entitled to a refund, such as reducing student loans of students who are entitled to a refund.
From: Petitions Committee, Second Report - The impact of Covid-19 on university students (HC 527), paragraph 31, 13 July 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 16 September 2020 (deadline 13 September 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's finding against a universal tuition fee refund, but says a new centralised refund system is "not a preferred option at this time" and that any refund is a matter for providers.
- It "welcomes the Committee's finding" that there should not be a universal refund of tuition fees to all students.
- It agrees that the exact circumstances in which a student might receive redress are not clear, as this depends on contractual arrangements and individual circumstances. A Department for Education working group will consider whether existing guidance can be brought together and whether additional guidance is needed.
- On additional funding or reducing student loans to pay refunds, it says "Any refund is a matter for providers, so the Government is not considering writing off or reducing tuition fee loans."
- It states that the OIA is "currently developing a bespoke approach" to complaints from very large groups of students. It also agrees students should know their rights and is working with stakeholders to "explore existing communications channels".