At a hearing last month, as part of the ’Student Group Claim’, the law firms acting for the students (Asserson Law Offices and Harcus Parker Limited) argued that the case should be managed under a GLO - a case management procedure where multiple claims sharing common issues can be dealt with as one single claim.
UCL’s priority has always been to support its students and promote their wellbeing and educational achievements. During the Covid-19 pandemic it prioritised the health and safety of its students and staff and followed UK Government guidance.
The university has never sought to restrict the right of individuals to access the courts to bring claims, but it did oppose a GLO as it considered there were other, better ways for the students’ claims to be managed without the need to incur the time and cost of using a GLO.
The judge has now agreed with UCL’s position and dismissed the GLO application.
The claimants’ lawyers have also been ordered to provide information about each of the claims including details of the amount of compensation being claimed and the country of residence of students during the Covid pandemic. To date, they have refused to provide this detail despite repeated requests from UCL and this being relevant information that is key to understanding the claimants’ case.
Professor Kathy Armour, Vice Provost Education & Student Experience, said: "We are pleased that the Court has refused the GLO application which would have only caused further delay to this claim.
"During the course of these proceedings, UCL has never sought to dispute the right of individuals to access the courts to bring claims as a matter of general principle.
"In fact, through the courts, we have already offered our ’ready-made’ Alternative Dispute Resolution process, that would have provided far quicker outcomes for students, but this was flatly rejected by the claimants’ lawyers.
"We know the last few years have been a very difficult time for many students. They have faced challenges and disruption from COVID-19 and, in some cases, industrial action. Supporting our students, their wellbeing and their educational achievements is always UCL’s priority.
"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we prioritised the health and safety of our whole community and followed UK Government guidance, working tirelessly to make our campus and all’UCL premises as safe as possible so that a high-quality academic experience could continue to be provided."
The case will go back to court in November for a further hearing with trial likely to take place in early 2026.
The parties are in agreement that the best way to assess the claims was through a series of test cases. That way both the issues in dispute and any possible compensation could be decided at once. The process the claimants’ lawyers were proposing would have meant these two things would have been looked at separately.
There shall be a trial of ’test cases’ and before the next hearing in November, the parties need to agree the amount of test cases and select appropriate students. The outcomes of the test cases will affect those specific students as well as other larger groups of students with similar circumstances.
As this is a civil case, the trial of those test cases will be heard by a judge only, who will make a decision on each test case, which could require witness testimony from each selected student.
The court also directed that any future claims by students or former students of UCL seeking compensation arising out of industrial action or Covid will need to be issued in the Central Office of the King’s Bench Division and will be immediately paused until judgment is handed down after the trial which is expected to be held in early 2026.
The case will return to the High Court in November for a further case management conference
The number of test cases and the identity of the chosen students will be agreed between the parties before the next hearing in November.
The test cases will represent certain categories of students related to the legal and factual issues in the case. If agreement cannot be reached, the court will decide the test cases at the November hearing.
The trial is expected to start in early 2026.
