Hi,
I couldn't afford to travel into university (1 hour away by train, 12 quid return) last semester as me and my wife ran into some serious financial difficulties. Applying for ALF took too long and I had to pay my own tuition fees (for reasons entirely out of my control), and the university wouldn't let me restructure tuition fee payments to them, despite me explaining my problems with them honestly and trying to be reasonable with them.
So it basically meant my attendance last semester was close to 0%.
However, I have started getting results back for modules I didn't turn up to at all in the last semester and it turns out I have got a 1st and the other a very high 2.1 (69% overall).
While I am absolutely delighted at these grades (actually i'm ecstatic as I thought I was doomed to failure), I can't help but feel a little bit ripped off after spending £1,500 this semester out of my own pocket on tuition fees when I didn't actually get any tuition whatsoever, yet still got the highest grade possible (in one module so far at least). This money was also hard earned working on minimum wage for months prior to my course, which makes it an even bitterer pill to swallow.
I am wondering if anyone with legal knowledge knows if I have any grounds for getting at least a partial refund of my tuition fees for this semester? Obviously, to get a 1st for a module I didn't once turn up to does make me feel that the teaching is substandard, because I am not by any means a genius (I have to emphasise this point), and/or I am not getting my monies worth here. Either way, something is wrong and the £1500 isn't really justified.
I must also emphasise that I didn't find it a walkover - I did actually put A LOT of work into assignments at home (50 hours per essay and project easily) and found it extremely challenging. I do not want to say what university or what degree programme it was at this point as I don't want to open a whole can of worms if this gets out. I will only say it's a degree that leads directly to professional qualification and not a 'mickey-mouse' degree.
I would feel even more angry if I was paying the new tuition fees as it would likely be £4500 down the drain, but it's bad enough it being £1,500.
Many thanks