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Useless degree class action

Has anyone considered starting a class action against universities that sell degrees that do not enhance employment opportunities and use false advertising?

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Reply 1

You could argue that they all enhance employability by making you elligible to apply for graduate schemes. What 'false advertising' are you talking about?

Reply 2

They probably considered it then gave up when told it wasn't realistic.

The student chooses their course, it would be near impossible to prove the course did not enhance employment prospects and we already have legislation covering false advertising, if you have a valid claim go ahead, you don't need a group for that?
Holding a degree in any subject could potentially improve your employability, so that side of it is a complete nonstarter IMO.

Before you enrol on a degree you should get a material info document which outlines what the course is about, the content, delivery methods etc. If that is wildly out of whack with what you received, then yes, that might be the basis of a claim. But I have no legal expertise, so you'd need to speak to a professional in the first instance.

Reply 4

(I like that almost anyone you would need to ask or talk to about this would be a legal professional who's qualifications had evidently enhanced their employment prospects 🤔)

Reply 5

Thank you, everyone, for the answers. The course is football coaching. In this university, they advertise a placement with a popular football team and other professional football team partners with the university. When I did the course, they also advertised that at the completion of the course, studenr would get a Uefa C License. None of this happened. Without coaching badges and placement experiences, it is impossible to apply for jobs in sports.

Additionally, I went to a professional football club in my area asking for volunteer opportunities so I could gain experience and apply for a job such as a football development officer, pathways manager ecc. They offered me to be a mascotte and babi sit children during mstch day! Further they claim a list of job we can access with the degree, such as: refree development officer, performance analyst, head of recruitment and many other.

Could you tell me how in the earth I can get to any of this role if a club proposed me to be a mascotte??

To get to graduate scheme, determinate skills are required, so I don't have any idea what graduate scheme I could apply.

I m sure that with the placement and badge promised, everything would be different. They offer the working year experience, but they told it was up to me to find something. It is almost a year since I finished my degree, and I don't see any future, not just in sports but anywhere else.

I want to specify that they kept promising thing only in the second year where it was too late to change course. I understand none of this would happen.

Where do I stand in this position?
I m not planning to involve solicitors because the evidence are on their website about what they claim. If it is enough, read and compare with my experience.

My idea of a class action is to get more people with similar experiences and complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for misleading adverts.
Original post
by Ajejee
Thank you, everyone, for the answers. The course is football coaching. In this university, they advertise a placement with a popular football team and other professional football team partners with the university. When I did the course, they also advertised that at the completion of the course, studenr would get a Uefa C License. None of this happened. Without coaching badges and placement experiences, it is impossible to apply for jobs in sports.

Additionally, I went to a professional football club in my area asking for volunteer opportunities so I could gain experience and apply for a job such as a football development officer, pathways manager ecc. They offered me to be a mascotte and babi sit children during mstch day! Further they claim a list of job we can access with the degree, such as: refree development officer, performance analyst, head of recruitment and many other.

Could you tell me how in the earth I can get to any of this role if a club proposed me to be a mascotte??

To get to graduate scheme, determinate skills are required, so I don't have any idea what graduate scheme I could apply.

I m sure that with the placement and badge promised, everything would be different. They offer the working year experience, but they told it was up to me to find something. It is almost a year since I finished my degree, and I don't see any future, not just in sports but anywhere else.

I want to specify that they kept promising thing only in the second year where it was too late to change course. I understand none of this would happen.

Where do I stand in this position?
I m not planning to involve solicitors because the evidence are on their website about what they claim. If it is enough, read and compare with my experience.

My idea of a class action is to get more people with similar experiences and complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for misleading adverts.


Do you have evidence of the advertised placement and licence promises?

Have you completed your degree or are you still studying towards it?

Did you engage with your course reps to raise your concerns with the staff formally while you were studying?

Reply 7

The evidence are on their website, but they removed that student will gain the Uefa C. All the other information about placement with professional teams and job prospects is still there.

I graduated last year.
I raised my concerns verbally with the course coordinator which said everything will be okay by the time of working experience year and by the time of graduation they should settle the talk with the FA over the Uefa C License.

The unit coordinator was demoted, and another took the lead, which made some effort to take us to visit the ground and a football match. However, at the end of the day, there is no placement or badge.

I was working and studying full time, so I did not have much time to pursue my concern . I'm a foreigner living in UK so in my mind I thought that If the government let me access to student finance for this course must be a sense out of it and I had faith in the popularity of British education.

However, now, after a year, I realised that the course won't lead me anywhere unless I decided to become a teacher, which is something I considered but I won't pursue. I just feel it is very unfair, misleading people judgement like this because I also had other courses in mind, but this course apparently led to work in sports, which is my desire however now I m so upset that I don't even watch football anymore.
Original post
by Ajejee
The evidence are on their website, but they removed that student will gain the Uefa C. All the other information about placement with professional teams and job prospects is still there.

I graduated last year.
I raised my concerns verbally with the course coordinator which said everything will be okay by the time of working experience year and by the time of graduation they should settle the talk with the FA over the Uefa C License.

The unit coordinator was demoted, and another took the lead, which made some effort to take us to visit the ground and a football match. However, at the end of the day, there is no placement or badge.

I was working and studying full time, so I did not have much time to pursue my concern . I'm a foreigner living in UK so in my mind I thought that If the government let me access to student finance for this course must be a sense out of it and I had faith in the popularity of British education.

However, now, after a year, I realised that the course won't lead me anywhere unless I decided to become a teacher, which is something I considered but I won't pursue. I just feel it is very unfair, misleading people judgement like this because I also had other courses in mind, but this course apparently led to work in sports, which is my desire however now I m so upset that I don't even watch football anymore.

Before you accepted the offer, did you receive a document outlining the course, (see post #4 above). If so, does that categorically say that you will receive that licence on completion of study?

The problem with website fluff that is there to sell the course is that it will often be non-committal language. Eg. "Students are expected to work towards...", "graduates will look towards roles in...", "will have exemptions towards..." etc.

You might be able to use the waybackmachine website to see the course page as it was when you enrolled and throughout the course.

Reply 9

Original post
by Admit-One
Before you accepted the offer, did you receive a document outlining the course, (see post #4 above). If so, does that categorically say that you will receive that licence on completion of study?
The problem with website fluff that is there to sell the course is that it will often be non-committal language. Eg. "Students are expected to work towards...", "graduates will look towards roles in...", "will have exemptions towards..." etc.
You might be able to use the waybackmachine website to see the course page as it was when you enrolled and throughout the course.


I understand your point of view. However, if any of us would put misleading information in a job application, what would happen? Anything nice. The law must be the same for everyone. Anyway, I'm already planning to do a master who hopefully should introduce me into a registered profession, and I hope I will be fine. However, these situations should be addressed and produce consequences for misleading students.
I think the point being made here is that the burden of proof required for you to form a legal challenge is very high - you really need documentary evidence these things are said, and the language needs to be explicit that it was a guarantee. Language is analysed pretty precisely in legal contexts which is probably why unis use this non-committal language, because it shields them from legal challenges potentially.

There have been some examples of students suing universities in this manner (not as class action suits that I'm aware of though) and receiving a settlement, for example here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48490572 - that said even in this case the university didn't agree with it and it was settled by the university's insurer's solicitors (probably because settling would be cheaper than successfully defending the case anyway).

In any event if you want to initiate legal action you should firstly discuss it with a solicitor to understand if your case has legal merit and whether it's likely to be successful. Also bear in mind the legal fees, which may make this unrealistic or not worth the cost/time to begin with.

Reply 11

Original post
by artful_lounger
I think the point being made here is that the burden of proof required for you to form a legal challenge is very high - you really need documentary evidence these things are said, and the language needs to be explicit that it was a guarantee. Language is analysed pretty precisely in legal contexts which is probably why unis use this non-committal language, because it shields them from legal challenges potentially.
There have been some examples of students suing universities in this manner (not as class action suits that I'm aware of though) and receiving a settlement, for example here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48490572 - that said even in this case the university didn't agree with it and it was settled by the university's insurer's solicitors (probably because settling would be cheaper than successfully defending the case anyway).
In any event if you want to initiate legal action you should firstly discuss it with a solicitor to understand if your case has legal merit and whether it's likely to be successful. Also bear in mind the legal fees, which may make this unrealistic or not worth the cost/time to begin with.


I could do the same considering what is written on the website, such as broadcast sport technology specialists. However, I m not Chinese and don't have money to spare with a solicitor. For this reason, finding more students in the same situation could make a case. However, I believe I will just take the bright side and try to develop my career in something else. At the end of the day, in the worst-case scenario, I won't pay a penny, considering that I m on a minimum wage job.

Reply 12

Original post
by Ajejee
I could do the same considering what is written on the website, such as broadcast sport technology specialists. However, I m not Chinese and don't have money to spare with a solicitor. For this reason, finding more students in the same situation could make a case. However, I believe I will just take the bright side and try to develop my career in something else. At the end of the day, in the worst-case scenario, I won't pay a penny, considering that I m on a minimum wage job.


And the taxpayers should be way more upset than me paying for something like this.

Reply 13

Original post
by Ajejee
I understand your point of view. However, if any of us would put misleading information in a job application, what would happen? Anything nice. The law must be the same for everyone. Anyway, I'm already planning to do a master who hopefully should introduce me into a registered profession, and I hope I will be fine. However, these situations should be addressed and produce consequences for misleading students.

That hasn't answered my question.

Whatever action you want to take, even a formal complaint, you will need to evidence "I was told I would receive X, and this was not the case".

You've said a few times that you were misled, but haven't given any concrete example. That's what you'll need for any action to succeed.

Reply 14

Original post
by Admit-One
That hasn't answered my question.
Whatever action you want to take, even a formal complaint, you will need to evidence "I was told I would receive X, and this was not the case".
You've said a few times that you were misled, but haven't given any concrete example. That's what you'll need for any action to succeed.


Hi, sorry, maybe I didn't express myself properly. A clear example would be the website stating to get placement with X and Y professional football team and didn't happen. Website stating that graduates are able to secure a range of roles in the football industry, including broadcast sports technology specialists and referee development officers. Considering that they didn't offer any placement and I don't have any experience in these roles, how should I get a job?

Reply 15

Original post
by Ajejee
Hi, sorry, maybe I didn't express myself properly. A clear example would be the website stating to get placement with X and Y professional football team and didn't happen.

Yes, It would be a clear example if the website said "students are guaranteed a placement at a partner club" or somesuch.
Original post
by Ajejee
Website stating that graduates are able to secure a range of roles in the football industry, including broadcast sports technology specialists and referee development officers.

This is much less clear IMO. Anyone could secure a range of roles in the football industry, regardless of what professional or academic qualifications they held.
Original post
by Ajejee
Considering that they didn't offer any placement and I don't have any experience in these roles, how should I get a job?

I don't work in recruitment and can't answer this I'm afraid.

Reply 16

Original post
by Ajejee
The evidence are on their website, but they removed that student will gain the Uefa C. All the other information about placement with professional teams and job prospects is still there.


As @Admit-One has said, it's likely that the university concerned has used non-committal language and that you have misinterpreted it as meaning more than it was intended to.

Admit-One mentioned the waybackmachine website -- this is here: https://web.archive.org/

If you find the current page on for this course on the university's web site, you can paste that URL into rthe wayback machine site, and look at the archived copies of that page to see what was there at the time.

I've guessed at what programme you're referring to, and even back in 2017 the page said "You will develop a coaching profile and work towards your ... Level 2 (UEFA C) and Level 3 (UEFA B) coaching licenses." [emphasis added]

There's no suggestion that you would receive those licences as part of your programme -- but you would be able to make progress towards getting them.

I agree with other posters that you should seek legal advice before proceeding. If you sue and lose, the legal costs could be significant as you may have to pay the university's legal costs too. (I am not a lawyer, but your lawyer should be able to advice on this point.)

Reply 17

Original post
by martin7
As @Admit-One has said, it's likely that the university concerned has used non-committal language and that you have misinterpreted it as meaning more than it was intended to.
Admit-One mentioned the waybackmachine website -- this is here: https://web.archive.org/
If you find the current page on for this course on the university's web site, you can paste that URL into rthe wayback machine site, and look at the archived copies of that page to see what was there at the time.
I've guessed at what programme you're referring to, and even back in 2017 the page said "You will develop a coaching profile and work towards your ... Level 2 (UEFA C) and Level 3 (UEFA B) coaching licenses." [emphasis added]
There's no suggestion that you would receive those licences as part of your programme -- but you would be able to make progress towards getting them.
I agree with other posters that you should seek legal advice before proceeding. If you sue and lose, the legal costs could be significant as you may have to pay the university's legal costs too. (I am not a lawyer, but your lawyer should be able to advice on this point.)


Hi, I'm not going to proceed alone it was intended to find more people with similar issues and also understand other people opinion about it. I understand what has been said above, and I agree to some extent. To my understanding, it is not misinterpreting but misleading. I believe everyone who went to university studied ethics as part of their dissertation. Is this behaviour ethical? In any case, I enjoyed my studies and at least I tried to realise my dream to work in sport. I have achieved a very good grade,which will help me to develop my career into something else. Thank you, everyone, for contributing to this thread. I will be very careful next time I choose a course.

Reply 18

Original post
by Ajejee
Has anyone considered starting a class action against universities that sell degrees that do not enhance employment opportunities and use false advertising?

The claim you suggest would not satisfy the criteria for class actions in the UK.

Reply 19

Original post
by Stiffy Byng
The claim you suggest would not satisfy the criteria for class actions in the UK.


Hi for obvious reason I can't name the university. However, looking at the article above where a student got 60k, my situation is similar. Let's try again in bullet point:

1) Career prospects over exaggerat as I mention above stuff like broadcast sport technology specialists and I didn't study anything about

2) Placement with X and Y professional team, which never happened

3) When I joined, they also said I would gain a Uefa C License and didn't happen

Besides this, regarding the job opportunity after graduation, there is no way I can get to work into an academy or become a pathways manager without a Uefa badge and experience. I didn't have any luck as a sports development officer, not even interview and is not an issue to write down a proper CV or cover letter because I have also asked for help from the national career service.

My point out of this situation is beside the student being misled by choosing a course hoping in a dream career or simply a job in the sports industry, which will be very difficult. What about the taxpayers? What about all of you who have to pay for this situation? Because I graduated with a first and I didn't make any progress from my minimum wage job. If this is all normal and doesn't satisfy any criteria to stop false advertising, that's fine. Alone I'm not even going to send a complain because as I said I can get on with a master that qualify me into a healthcare profession and hopefully I will be fine.

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