Newcastle Uni Compensates Students After Strikes

National World - LocalTV

Newcastle University has now compensated students to the tune of over £1.7 million, following extensive disruption caused by academic strikes earlier this year.

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00:00Newcastle University has now compensated students. According to a Freedom of Information request,

00:06as of the 30th of June, the university paid out just over £1,717,000 to students whose

00:13scheduled teaching was missed, disrupted or not replaced in a timely manner. Out of 2,752

00:21reported incidents during industrial action between the 4th of March and the 27th of June.

00:26The compensation scheme has identified 12,769 eligible students with home students able to

00:34claim up to £600 and international students up to £1,200 with a cap of up to six modules. The

00:41university emphasises that the process is still open and the total payout may rise further. The

00:46strikes were triggered by the university's announcement of £20 million salary bill cuts,

00:51which is equivalent to about 5% of its payroll. They argued this was in response to a £35 million

00:57shortfall that was primarily driven by declining international student enrolments. These cuts

01:03threatened around 300 roles, though the institution says it achieved the savings through voluntary

01:08redundancies, with no forced job losses. A university spokesperson said funds that were saved from

01:15unpaid salaries due to industrial action are being redirected towards the compensation scheme.

01:20For each student, the offer is based on the number of modules that have been impacted

01:25and the tuition fee paid. Meanwhile, Professor Matt Perry, Chair of Newcastle's UCU branch,

01:31commented, the fact that they can pay £1.7 million out to students shows the measure of the impact of

01:37our actions. Plus that the university had the money to cut compulsory redundancies in the first place.

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