Goldsmiths MFA students demand refunds after 21 weeks of strike

Students enrolled in the master of fine art programme at Goldsmiths, University of London, are requesting financial compensation for lost instruction. The demand follows 21 weeks of industrial action that has disrupted timetables across the campus.

The dispute has hit the MFA course particularly hard. Ten of the usual 12 tutors for the programme are currently on strike. Florence Sweeney, a part-time student, said many fine art students have received virtually no teaching this term. She described the lack of instruction as a financial drain.

Sweeney noted that the disruption has caused distress among classmates. Some students have moved from other countries to attend the university. They arrived without proper briefings or a structured welcome. Sweeney said she has seen peers become anxious and, in some cases, depressed.

An international student attending a gathering of unhappy students on Friday described the start of the term as shocking. The student told The Guardian that induction sessions kept turning into discussions about the strikes. The student said they had been excited to begin their studies at Goldsmiths.

The current strike by members of the University and College Union is entering its 21st week. It began in April as a marking boycott over proposed job cuts. Management deducted 100% of pay from participating staff. The union argued this amounted to a lockout. Following a formal ballot, a group of UCU members has been on indefinite strike since early June.

Joe Newman, co-president of the Goldsmiths UCU branch, said the action responds to the scale and speed of management cuts. He said students are largely supportive of the strike. Newman added that many students were aghast when told why staff were striking.

Goldsmiths stated that only about 8.5% of its staff are on strike. The university said this leaves most students unaffected. It offered a pause on compulsory redundancies as a compromise. However, it will not drop the 100% pay deductions for the marking boycott. A spokesperson cited the large sums spent to ease the impact on students.

MFA students expressed disappointment over the course fees. The two-year programme charges nearly £15,000 a year for full-time UK students. International students pay £33,000 a year. John Carver, a part-time second-year student, suspended his studies after a departmental meeting at the start of term. He said replacements brought in did not know the students.

James Evans, an international student from the US, said visa and funding restrictions required him to stay on the course. He said he never received marks last year and still lacks feedback on projects from that time. Evans described the current term as having no structure and barely any communication. He said students have been left to their own devices.

The university has been financially squeezed by falling applications in core humanities subjects and erosion of domestic tuition fees. One staff member described the result as non-stop rounds of redundancies and restructuring. The university faces significant financial challenges. A spokesperson said continued disruption risks harming its reputation in the long term.