Universities should give students “fair compensation” when their studies have been impacted by industrial action, the Office for Students (OfS) has said, adding that it will be more closely monitoring the impact of strikes.

The English regulator has to highlight “concerns” about the impact recent union action has had on students, particularly 2023’s marking and assessment boycott that delayed thousands of graduations, amid fears that a rising number of universities are facing further strikes in response to the redundancies being seen across the sector.

In detailed in the letter, the OfS says it expects providers to pay “fair compensation” to students where “contingency plans fail to deliver teaching, assessment, or other promised aspects of students’ experience or to recognise the difficulties students have experienced”.

This can include missed teaching that has not been repeated or replaced in a timely manner, significant delays to assessment marking and feedback, and “material” delays to awarding qualifications, particularly when this impacts on job offers, further study or visa applications.

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John Blake, director for fair access and participation at the OfS, told ̽����Ƶ that while the regulator is not looking to get involved with union and employment affairs, universities and unions “shouldn’t be surprised if the OfS has things to say in the event of future industrial action”.

He said that previously the watchdog has been “circumspect” during previous industrial action, and added that “people should take this as a notice that we are likely to want to enquire more closely into effects on students and speak about that in the event of industrial action in the future”.

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While numerous providers made compensation payments to students during the extensive 2023 marking boycott, the OfS said its new analysis had shown “this approach was not taken consistently across the sector, leading to varying levels of support for students and perceptions of unfairness”.

The letter also outlines that universities should develop effective contingency plans to “minimise disruption” to students, and that universities should use their contingency plans to ensure that marks and feedback are given to students “as planned”.

But, “we recognise the challenges for institutions in these circumstances and know that colleagues across the sector have continued to work hard to avoid disruption for students”, the OfS adds.

In a separate also released by the OfS into the impact of the boycott, it found that 54 per cent of students said they were dissatisfied with the way their university handled the situation, compared with only 36 per cent who were satisfied.

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It found only 30 per cent of students said they were aware that they might have been entitled to compensation, and that overall only 9 per cent of impacted students were given any financial compensation.

A further 41 per cent of respondents reported that the boycott had negatively affected their stress levels, and some 42 per cent said that that the boycott had “decreased their trust” in their university.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com