Phoenix Law has initiated the legal action on behalf of students whose university experiences were significantly disrupted by the pandemic. The firm contends that students paid full tuition fees expecting a complete university experience, including in-person teaching, campus facilities, and a robust educational environment as promised at enrolment. According to Phoenix Law, compensation is being sought for breach of contract, consumer rights violations, and damages for loss of educational experience.
The firm argues that universities failed to provide an equivalent level of educational value, practical learning opportunities, or access to critical facilities and support services. Following the pandemic lockdown in March 2020, universities in the region suspended all in-person classes and moved to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. A brief hybrid approach was attempted in autumn 2020, but there was a return to online teaching by winter of that year, and in-person teaching did not resume until January 2022.
' She added, 'Students paid for a full university experience. ' Burns emphasized, 'We would like to see students properly compensated for what they lost and Phoenix Law is committed to helping them achieve that outcome,' and encouraged affected individuals to join the action. It is not yet known which specific Northern Ireland universities are targeted or how many students have joined so far.
The specific amount of compensation per student has also not been disclosed.