Could You Be Affected by a University Covid Breach of Contract?

Did COVID-19 lockdowns spoil your university experience? Register your interest to stay informed and receive updates if this claim is taken forward by one of our partner law firms.

Join the Claim isn’t a law firm. We connect you with regulated UK firms that run group action claims. If one of our partner firms takes this case forward, we’ll share more details, including how to check your eligibility. 

Quick & Simple

Register your interest

Stay Informed

Get justice

Overview

Students pay universities for in-person tuition and access to facilities. However, Covid led to cancelled classes, online learning, and restricted services, so many students didn’t get the experience they signed up for. 

Universities did not refund affected students for the disruption, and legal experts think this is a breach of contract. They believe students deserve compensation for the gap between the traditional university experience they paid for and the online courses they received. 

We are monitoring the situation closely. Register your interest and we’ll keep you updated if one of our regulated UK partner law firms is able to take this claim forward.

At a glance

Status

Stay Informed

Next trial expected

Early 2026

What do we know about university covid scandal?

  • Affected students feel their degrees aren’t worth the cost, leaving them at a disadvantage when job hunting. 
  • Lawyers believe universities financially benefited from lockdowns through reduced heating and water bills and by accommodating more students via online teaching. 
  • Many US universities offered students compensation for campus shutdowns during Covid lockdowns. We believe that UK students deserve the same. 

How Join the Claim works

Quick survey

Take a moment to answer a few simple questions so we can understand your connection and keep you updated.

Register interest

Share your details so we can keep you informed if any updates become available.

Join a claim

If a partner law firm takes this claim forward, we’ll let you know the next steps and how to join.

Latest updates on the University COVID-19 lockdown scandal

  • April 2025

    The BBC covered the COVID-19 claims. One student said: "We're talking about nine grand a year to sit at home, log onto a laptop, go on for an hour and read a word document."

  • July 2024

    The trial for students suing UCL over Covid teaching was set for early 2026. Around 5,000 students have brought claims against the university.

  • July 2023

    A judge ordered a stay of proceedings, encouraging students and UCL to enter mediation to reach a settlement out of court. Judge Barbara Fontaine said some of the claimants’ concerns were “valid”, and ruled that students could sue UCL unless it paid compensation over Covid disruption.

  • May 2023

    A legal action against UCL (University College London) was first heard in court. Lawyers claimed that, between 2018 and 2022, the university did not provide the service that students paid tuition fees for, and was therefore in breach of contract.

We’ll provide more updates on this case as they happen.

Join the claim
Join the claim
Join the claim

Who could be affected by the University COVID-19 scandal?

If you were a student in the 2020-21 academic year and had your university experience ruined by lockdowns.
Register to stay updated and we’ll let you know if a partner law firm takes this claim forward.

Student covid FAQs

The case involves students claiming compensation for breaches of contract by universities due to disruptions caused by Covid-19. Students paid for in-person tuition and access to facilities, but many received online classes and restricted services instead, which legal experts argue violates the terms of their contracts. Despite these disruptions, universities did not refund affected students. 

  • Cardiff University
  • City University of London
  • Coventry University
  • Imperial College London
  • King’s College London
  • London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
  • Newcastle University
  • Queen Mary University of London
  • University of the Arts London (UAL)
  • University of Birmingham
  • University of Bristol
  • University College London (UCL)
  • University of Leeds
  • University of Liverpool
  • University of Manchester
  • University of Nottingham
  • University of Sheffield
  • University of Warwick

And others.

The case against UCL is the first to go to court and could set a precedent for future actions against the UK universities.

Find out instantly with our easy-to-use eligibility checker.

A group action claim allows people affected by the same issue to take action together. This strength in numbers helps stand up to big organisations. Join the Claim helps connect people with law firms so these actions have real impact.

No. Our service is completely free to consumers, and we’ll keep you updated if a claim you could join becomes available through our partner firms.

Rated Excellent


on REVIEWS.io

Rated Excellent on REVIEWS.io

Join the claim
Clifford
Very easy to sign up, hope its sorted soon
Susan
Very easy and quick to complete the claim Everything was explained well and fees payable in etc were made very clear
Peter
So easy to sign up for the claim
In the news
Newcastle University has paid £2.4m to students for missed teaching due to strikes. Find out...
A legal battle between University College London (UCL) and a group of students seeking tuition...
Over the last few years, strikes and Covid-19 have led to cancelled classes, online learning,...