With teaching set to be disrupted due to strike action, a petition has been gathering momentum among students to “a refund for every lecture missed” at Newcastle University, with over 1100 people having signed it so far.
Also in the petition, it outlines: “We pay £9,250 per year to have four incomplete weeks of education. the content we cover will not be taught another time, we will simply lose it.”
To reassure students, Newcastle University Registrar John Hogan stated: “Topics that have not been delivered because of industrial action will be excluded from any assessments and any money saved on the April salary roll will be invested directly for the benefit of students.”
In reaction, NUSU President Ronnie Reid said: "I totally understand that not all of the issues will be sorted by this, and we continue to work hard to meet all student demands, especially concerning essays and dissertations affected by the action"
Reid brings a controversial motion to Student Council on Thursday 8th February that “does not support an increase in Newcastle University’s employer contribution to the USS pension scheme”, so this will be little consolation for the students that stand in solidarity with lecturers in their action against the reduction in employer pension contributions.
Nevertheless, many students will be relieved to hear that they will not be assessed on content that will be missed, though disruption to staff support during assessment periods may still leave students unhappy.
