Clwyd West Assembly Member, Darren Millar has questioned the First Minister over what conversations his Government is having with universities around full or partial refunds for tuition fees now that all students are only able to receive online tuition because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Raising the matter during yesterday’s virtual Welsh Parliament session, Darren said it is unfair students should have to pay the full £9,000 tuition fees this year and asked the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, what action his Government is taking to address this.
Speaking from his North Wales home via ‘Zoom’, he said:
“I think that at this moment in time, paying nine thousand pounds per year does not represent value for money for students who are receiving a wholly online tuition.
“I understand that universities still have bills to pay and will continue to pay their staff which is quite right. But I think it is wrong to expect students to continue paying what is a large sum of money for online teaching.
“First Minister, what conversations has the Welsh Government had with universities in Wales around partially or refunding in full, this year’s tuition fees and what plans are in place to review fees for the next academic year?”
In his reply, the First Minister said Universities are “under huge pressure, because they have lost income and they are anxious about the recruitment of students from elsewhere in the world and what will happen in September”.
He added: “Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams remains in very close discussion, both with them and the National Union of Students, to make sure that we hear all sides of that story and see how we can make sure that students themselves don't feel that they are being short-changed at the moment, and that, when education resumes again, if there is a need for some additional help for those people to catch up on studies that they may have lost out on, that we're absolutely aware of that”.