How to get a refund from your university

By Charlie Sawyer

Updated Nov 29, 2023 at 03:56 PM

Reading time: 1 minute

47865
It’s me again, your resident blonde. I’d love one day to have an opening line as iconic as Kristen Bell’s: “Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here,” but I haven’t quite got there yet. Come on, it’s only column two after all. Just give me some time, okay?

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.

How to claim compensation from your university:

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 ÂŁ5,000 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.

Keep On Reading

By Harriet Piercy

New study exposes student experiences of gender based violence at university

By Charlie Sawyer

Fight me: Kamala Harris’ Call Her Daddy appearance was more productive than any presidential debate

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Child stars Demi Lovato and Drew Barrymore reveal they were given substances as young children

By Abby Amoakuh

Move over manosphere, TikTok girlies are embracing the carnivore diet and becoming meatfluencers

By Abby Amoakuh

Woman gets fired after getting pregnant again while on maternity leave

By Charlie Sawyer

Outrage as male students rip up Australia campus sexual violence report in viral video

By Louis Shankar

Friends turns 30 and proves it’s still a cultural icon despite its low key problematic flaws

By Abby Amoakuh

Meta now allows content calling women property and household items on its social platforms

By Abby Amoakuh

The women in male fields TikTok trend is for the girlies who want to outsmart men at their own game

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Nationwide strike in Israel amid public outcry over Gaza hostage deaths puts pressure on Netanyahu

By Abby Amoakuh

Meet the CEO of Hulah, the dating app born out of a need to weed out weirdos

By Charlie Sawyer

The 3 wildest fan theories about Severance season 2

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Ready for an early career break? The microretirement trend is Gen Z’s new way of escaping job stress

By Abby Amoakuh

Jacquie Alexander blasts crime ring disguised as club that stole from her and Simone Biles

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Texas’ largest pro-life group is recruiting men to sue partners over abortions

By Abby Amoakuh

Mikey Madison tells Pamela Anderson why she rejected an intimacy coordinator on Anora set

By Charlie Sawyer

Misogyny to be labelled as extremism in the UK as Labour ramp up national security review

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Israel’s controversial ban on UNRWA: Examining the legal fallout and humanitarian consequences

By Charlie Sawyer

From Page 3 to Gen Z icon: Why Katie Price captured our hearts

By Charlie Sawyer

Influencer Leo Skepi warns of a wave of crime similar to The Purge following LA wildfires