UK universities warned of more legal action over course closures

UK universities have been warned that they face a rising tide of legal action from students who find themselves at the sharp end of staff redundancies and course closures.

More than 400 students at Goldsmiths, University of London threatened to take the institution to court last month, accusing it of breaching its contracts with them by removing advertised modules, including refusing to offer a “teach-out” option following the sudden closure of its pioneering master’s in queer history. Specialist staff members who students expected to be taught and supervised by are among those who have left amid Goldsmiths’ financial difficulties.

The University of Chichester is being sued for discrimination and breach of contract by a group of students after it suspended recruitment for a master’s in African history, making its founder redundant.

Lawyers have warned that more institutions could face legal action as they cut courses and jobs. Seventy UK universities are now undertaking redundancy and restructuring programmes as the financial crisis threatening the sector hits harder, according to a tally maintained by the University and College Union branch at Queen Mary University of London.

“I think it is possible that students will be in similar positions at any institution undertaking massive cuts, particularly those that involve the ‘deletion’ of courses and modules,” said Ryan Bradshaw, a partner at Leigh Day who is representing the Goldsmiths students.

While providers such as Chichester and Goldsmiths are perhaps at particular risk of legal action because of their specialised portfolios, the risks were more widespread, Mr Bradshaw said.

“There are transformation programmes that certain universities are undertaking where they’re completely getting rid of whole subject areas, where people have paid good money to study, and it just isn’t good enough,” he said.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator, the sector ombudsman for England and Wales, said that it was “essential” universities communicated clearly with students before enacting changes to courses. 

“It is a challenging time for the higher education sector. Some higher education providers are facing difficult decisions that could have significant impacts on their students and staff,” a spokesperson told Times Higher Education. “[But] it is essential that providers consider what students have been promised and what they can reasonably expect.”

Smita Jamdar, a partner and head of education at the law firm Shakespeare Martineau, noted that consumer law has not been heavily tested within the higher education sector, so questions hang over how legislation will be interpreted, and universities could rely on contract clauses that permit changes in mitigating circumstances.

However, she questioned whether universities’ financial situations would be enough to justify such changes.

“Is a need for restructuring because of financial difficulty a circumstance outside institutions’ control? That’s a really interesting legal question, because obviously some of this is to do with external forces: changes of policy and market volatility, for example. But some of it must be down to the fact that the institution just isn’t attracting as many students as other institutions are.”

Even where institutions are not cutting entire courses and modules, there have been warnings that job cuts could lead to larger class sizes, reduced options for students and poorer-quality assessment processes.

Significant precedent could be set by the ongoing dispute between about 5,000 current and former UCL students, who allege that the institution breached its contract with its students between 2018 and 2022 when classes were cancelled or moved online and access to facilities was restricted because of Covid-19. This case is not scheduled to come to trial until 2026, but solicitors are said to be in correspondence with more than 50 universities over similar pandemic-era claims.

Mr Bradshaw said this snowball effect could now be felt more widely. “What tends to happen is that someone, like Goldsmiths UCU, gets the ball rolling then others pick it up”, he said.

Ms Jamdar explained that “the number of cases that are being brought forward where you can see some legal basis for a claim is increasing” because of increasing volatility in the sector and students being more aware of their rights. She anticipated a rising number of successful student claims.

“Students are treated like consumers, and the universities have benefited massively from that, so they can’t really complain when students act like consumers and don’t accept these kinds of changes to their contracts which diminish quality and limit the scope of their learning,” Mr Bradshaw added.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com