A further 36 universities face legal action from more than 170,000 current and former students, who claim they did not receive the full education they paid for during the Covid pandemic.

It follows a settlement between University College London (UCL) and the Student Group Claim, which is now representing other students and graduates.

Legal letters have been sent to each of the 36 other institutions, warning that they intend to seek damages for learning which students claim they paid for but did not actually receive.

Universities UK, which represents more than 140 institutions, said the pandemic was an "unprecedented challenge" and the sector had to "adapt to a fast-changing situation".

"During some periods of lockdown, universities were not permitted to offer in-person teaching as usual, and instead they adjusted quickly and creatively to allow students to complete their degrees," a spokesperson said.

The government at the time had said universities were responsible for setting their own fees, and that it expected them to continue to deliver a high-quality education.

UCL has not admitted any liability in its case and the details of the settlement remain confidential, with neither the institution nor lawyers for the students able to discuss it.

The case against UCL involved 6,000 students and was due to be heard in court in March.

However, the deal now appears to have opened the way for large-scale legal action against the university sector, which is being brought under consumer law against universities including Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.

The main part of the claim is about the difference in tuition fee price between courses delivered online and in person, and the BBC understands economic analysis of this will form the basis of the new claims.

During the pandemic, most university teaching shifted online for long periods of time, with students either returned home or locked down in university accommodation.

Access to shared facilities on campus was restricted, which caused particular anger among students whose courses involved providing specialist facilities for practical work.

Students on fine art or applied arts courses were particularly angry at the time.

It led to a huge sense of frustration among students who felt they were missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study and make lifelong friends.

Graduation ceremonies were virtual or delayed, and those leaving university were seeking their first graduate jobs in an economy recovering from the pandemic.

Shimon Goldwater, a partner in Asserson Solicitors, said the learning that students missed out on during Covid "was one of the great injustices to come out of the pandemic - and it's never been remedied".

"It's very simple, in English law if you paid for a five-star holiday and received a one-star holiday, you are entitled to compensation," Goldwater said.

The Student Group Claim argues this basic principle of consumer law overrides any clauses in university contracts which seek to absolve the institution from responsibility for disruption beyond their control.

'I felt really let down'

Georgia Johnson, who has joined the Student Group Claim, studied an undergraduate degree at the University of Manchester before beginning a teacher training qualification in 2020.

While she felt well-supported during her first degree, she says she struggled with her mental health while working towards her Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and claims there wasn't the same level of help from the university.

"I felt completely traumatised by the whole experience," she says, adding that she had to take a year out from her studies because of her mental health.

Large portions of her course were carried out over Zoom, or in small bubbles in schools, an experience Georgia found "frustrating" and "a very unnatural experience of what school is like".

It meant she did not feel confident working as a teacher when she qualified in 2022, and instead became a teaching assistant "earning basically half of what I should have been earning".

"I had to do a lot of my own professional development so that I felt ready," she says.

"I just didn't feel confident and I felt really anxious about going into the classroom."

Although she benefited from the support of one mentor who encouraged her to continue to pursue teaching, and now says she is a "good teacher", she joined the Student Group Claim after feeling that her course had not delivered on what was promised.

"I just felt really let down the whole time, you spend a lot of money for a degree," she said.

"I do just feel a bit hard done by almost."

When approached for comment on Georgia's case, the University of Manchester referred the BBC to the comment from Universities UK, describing how universities had adjusted "quickly and creatively" to support students during the "unprecedented challenge" of the Covid lockdowns.

The 36 universities to have received a pre-action letter are:

University of Bath
University of Birmingham
Birmingham City University
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
City St George's, University of London
Coventry University
De Montfort University
University of East Anglia
University of Exeter
Imperial College London
University of Kent
King's College London
University of Leeds
Leeds Beckett University
University of Liverpool
Liverpool John Moores University
London School of Economics and Political Science
Loughborough University
The University of Manchester
Manchester Metropolitan University
Newcastle University
University of Nottingham
Nottingham Trent University
Northumbria University
University of Portsmouth
Queen Mary University of London
University of Reading
University of Sheffield
Sheffield Hallam University
University of Southampton
Swansea University
University of the Arts London
University of The West of England
University of Warwick
University of York

Many of the students involved in the claim will also have suffered further disruption during strikes by staff in long-running disputes over pensions, pay or working conditions.

One of the pre-action letters seen by the BBC said that, in addition to any financial losses, the students "suffered disappointment and distress as a result of the failure of the university to provide the services promised".

The letter to that particular university says former students are seeking redress for the academic years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.

By the academic year 2022-23, teaching on some courses remained hybrid, with almost a third still being delivered online.

The deadline for student claims relating to Covid is in September 2026. (BBC)

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