We’ve previously tackled inflation, so this week, we’re attempting to get our heads around another pretty complicated subject that also happens to be incredibly hot news right now: how to bag a refund from your university for tuition fees. I bet I managed to grab your attention.

Now, while I personally don’t think we should have to pay for uni at all, the sad reality is that higher education is hella spendy. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous students’ academic experiences’—yours truly included—suffered heavily.

Despite the fact that teachers swore blindly for years that online lecturers weren’t an adequate substitute for in-person classes, they sure were happy enough for us to rely solely on online courses while we were still required to pay the same amount of tuition, despite a severe shift in the presentation, and thus the quality of our education.

So, that all being said, let’s break down how all you former academic babes can get a hold of some seriously well-deserved COVID compensation.

First things first, you’re going to want to head on over to the Student Group Claim website—an online forum where students can make a claim and apply for potential financial compensation from their university. Some publications will tell you to contact your university first to see if you can settle the problem internally, but we all know that email will go straight into Professor Smith’s junk email.

The form is really simple to fill out, and they even have quite a cute website. According to the group, UK resident undergraduates who were at university during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to claim on average £5,000 in compensation. Graduate students and international students could claim significantly higher sums. That’s what we like to hear, am I right?

It’s also important to remember that you can still seek compensation even if your tuition fees were paid by someone else, such as the Student Loans Company. That moolah is yours, go get it!

As dreamy as this all sounds, it should be noted that this is not a sure thing—universities aren’t just going to hand the money over willingly, so you need to be prepared to fight your corner, but if you look for them, there are organisations out there who’re offering to take your case without charging ridiculous legal fees.

Get into your Elle Woods era, take your university to court, and document the whole thing so I can celebrate with you on TikTok.