Newcastle University students get £1.7m in strike compensation

A university has handed out over £1.7m in compensation to students affected by strikes this year.

As of 30 June, Newcastle University had paid £1.72m to learners who saw disrupted teaching due to action by staff between March and June in response to job cuts.

The university previously said students would be paid between £100 and £1,200 in compensation following guidance from the Office for Students.

University and College Union (UCU) representative Prof Matt Perry said the payments highlighted the institution had the funds to “cut compulsory redundancies”.

Industrial action ended last month when the UCU said it had received assurances from the university no further job losses would be made until next year.

More than 200 staff have already taken voluntary severance.

In response to a freedom of information request, the university said it had identified 12,769 students eligible for compensation payments.

Home fee-paying students can be awarded £100 of compensation for each teaching module disrupted, up to a maximum of £600, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

International fee-payers can receive £200 of compensation per module, with an upper limit of £1,200.

The university said the compensation scheme had not yet closed and so the final amount it would spend on compensation was not yet known.

It said it was funding these payments using the cash it had saved as a result of unpaid salaries due to the industrial action.

Prof Perry said: “The fact that they can pay £1.7m out to students shows the measure of the impact of our actions plus that the university had the money to cut compulsory redundancies in the first place.”