Goldsmiths MFA Students Press for Tuition Refunds After 21 Weeks Without Tutors

Goldsmiths, University of London, is facing a formal request for tuition refunds from master of fine art students who say a long-running staff strike has halted their education. The dispute has now entered its 21st week, with no immediate resolution in sight. Students argue that the industrial action has upended their timetables and left them without essential instruction.

The strike involves 10 of the 12 usual tutors on the MFA programme. Florence Sweeney, a part-time student, stated that many fine art students have received virtually no teaching this term. She described the situation as a financial drain and noted that some classmates have experienced distress and anxiety. Sweeney said some students traveled from abroad and arrived without proper inductions or briefings.

The conflict began in April as a marking boycott over proposed job cuts. Management deducted 100% of pay from participating staff, a move the University and College Union characterized as a lockout. Following a formal ballot, UCU members at the south-east London university have been on indefinite strike since early June. Joe Newman, a co-president of the local UCU branch, attributed the action to the scale and speed of management's cuts. He said students were largely supportive and often shocked to learn the reasons for the walkout.

Goldsmiths is currently navigating financial pressures from falling applications in humanities and reduced domestic fees. A staff member described the institutional response as continuous rounds of redundancies and restructuring. The university has offered compromises, including a pause on compulsory redundancies. However, it maintains the 100% pay deductions for the initial marking boycott, citing the costs incurred to ease the impact on students. A university spokesperson stated that the dispute risks harming the institution's long-term reputation.

Students point to the high cost of the programme, which charges nearly £15,000 a year for full-time UK students and £33,000 for international students. John Carver, a part-time second-year student, suspended his studies after a departmental meeting he described as dismal. He noted that replacement tutors brought in during the strike did not know the students. James Evans, an international student from the US, said visa restrictions required him to remain enrolled. Evans reported that he never received marks last year and currently has no feedback on his projects.

The university said only about 8.5% of its staff are on strike, leaving the majority of students unaffected. It is offering regular updates and meetings with schools to support affected students. Evans said the current term lacks structure and that students have been left to their own devices. The MFA students are now seeking financial redress for the lost learning time.