BPP Law Students Demand Refund After Alleged Coronavirus Lockdown Failures

The pandemic has changed the way we live in many ways, and university life is no exception. More than 100 frustrated students at BPP University have written an open letter to the university, claiming the quality of their education has decreased significantly during the coronavirus lockdown and are urging the university to issue them a refund.

The gripes of the BPP law students are extensive and describe the ways in which their experiences at BPP University fell short of their expectations.

Not only do the BPP law students complain about the deficient and inadequate teaching and an environment of anxiety, but the students also say that BPP University’s class sizes have quadrupled during the pandemic, from 15 students to 70. Furthermore, the students have been shut out of the university’s online testing portal because of IT issues.

The angry contributors who wrote the anonymous letter consist of Legal Practice Course and master’s students. In the letter, which was sent to BPP University’s vice-chancellor, the BPP law students articulated their endless frustrations with the university over the course of the lockdown. 

The students’ dissatisfaction not only includes IT troubles and not being able to access online testing, but also the shortages of teaching materials.

BPP law students have had trouble getting their hands on books, and, in turn, have had to pay for printing costs, the letter states. The students allege they have not been refunded printing costs by the university.

According to the BPP law students, after enduring quadrupled class sizes, online testing troubles, a lack of teaching resources and a generally poor university experience, they are still being charged £4,400.

The price of tuition charged by BPP University has stayed the same regardless of the classes being held online. Many students wondered if the cost of attendance would be lower for online classes, but the university has continued to charge the same amount.

According to the students’ letter, the law school dean was asked at a June 4 meeting if it were possible to retrieve hard-copy materials from buildings on campus.

The explanation given was that there are costs associated with the reopening of any BPP building that has not been in use, the letter says.

“Further investigation by a student has revealed that this reopening expense only amounts to the cost of a water specialist needed to flush the main water system and the cost of staff needed to enable students to enter the building and properly social distance,” according to the letter. “The university has refused to entertain the idea of opening buildings at all, pointing to government guidance. However, given that retail businesses have reopened, it is unclear why this stance is being maintained.”

The students also claim BPP university has “largely ignored” the needs of its international students on visas.

BPP University states on its FAQ page that the cost for online programmes will remain unchanged since the online classes administer the same high-quality teaching and learning resources.

The needs of international students on Tier 4 visas has been largely ignored. At this point, the resit dates for exams are scheduled for January; however, the letter says the university has refused to guarantee the exam dates will fall less than two months after the end of the course.

If the resit date falls after the expected expiration of Tier 4 visas, the international students would have to attempt to extend their visa or apply for short-term study visas, bearing the whole expense.

“This extra burden is unacceptable, given that this deferral policy is the only ‘global’ solution for the IT issues mentioned above,” the letter said. “We therefore request the university commit to resit dates prior to mid-January, preferably in late autumn.”

The student letter concludes by claiming the university has attempted to thrust the expenses of adapting to the pandemic onto the students. The BPP law students wish to be reimbursed for cancelled classes, enlarged class sizes, printing costs and other fees. 

Are you a law student at BPP University or have you had similar experiences at another university during the pandemic? Tell us your story in the comments section.

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