Unfinished courses, false advertising, poor teaching quality? You can get refunds. UK consumer law protects students from misleading marketing, course cancellations, and substandard education.
UK students are protected as consumers under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, giving you powerful rights to refunds when education providers fail to deliver what was promised. Whether it's course cancellations, misleading advertising, poor teaching quality, or substandard facilities, you have legal recourse.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) actively enforces consumer protection in higher education, requiring universities to provide accurate information about course content, teaching quality, facilities, and career prospects. When providers breach these requirements, students can claim partial or full refunds.
Your rights vary depending on the situation: full refunds for cancelled courses, 14-day cooling-off for distance learning, proportional refunds for poor quality or withdrawn modules, and compensation when courses don't match advertising. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) provides free dispute resolution for higher education complaints.
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Common questions about education course refunds and student consumer rights
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