Thousands of students demand compensation for lecturer strikes as educators plan 14 days of walkouts

Thousands of students are demanding compensation for lecturer strikes due to start on Thursday.  

The 14 days of walkouts over pay and pensions will affect more than a million students.

In response, a petition started by Sheffield Hallam third-year Tom Barton is calling for an £863.33 payout per student based on tuition fees covering the strike period. 

It has already attracted 13,500 signatories, while similar petitions at York, Newcastle and Brighton have garnered thousands more.

The University and College Union strikes will take place between February 20 and March 13 at 74 institutions. 

They follow similar walkouts of lecturers, librarians and technicians in November and December. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘If universities want to avoid further disruption they need to deal with rising pension costs, and address the problems over pay and conditions.’

Students have hit out at lecturers preparing to start the fortnight-long strike, fearing it will harm their graduation prospects. 

Some students are expected to resort to private tuition to avoid falling behind, despite paying more than £9,000-a-year for courses. 

The University and College union has claimed pension changes will leave members up to £10,000 a year worse off during retirement. 

But, at the same time, six-figure salaries have become commonplace among university bosses, with 508 employees across the Russell Group of elite institutions earning more than the Prime Minister’s salary of about £160,000 in the last academic year, up from 428 in the previous 12 months.