Goldsmiths MFA Students Request Tuition Refunds After 21-Week Strike

Master of Fine Art students at Goldsmiths, University of London, are demanding tuition refunds after 21 weeks of a tutor strike left them with minimal instruction. The group, which includes part-time and international students, is seeking financial remuneration for the lost learning during the current academic term. Ten of the program’s usual 12 tutors have participated in the industrial action, a disruption that has upended timetables for new arrivals this autumn.

Florence Sweeney, a part-time student, reported that many fine art students received virtually no teaching during the start of the term. She described the situation as a financial drain and noted that classmates became distressed, anxious, or depressed. Some students had traveled from abroad only to arrive without proper briefings or a formal welcome. An unnamed international student told The Guardian that induction sessions frequently turned into discussions about the strike, leaving them shocked by the state of the campus upon arrival.

The dispute involves University and College Union members who entered their 21st week of indefinite strike action in early June. The conflict began in April as a marking boycott over proposed job cuts. Management responded by deducting 100% of pay from participating staff, a move the union characterized as a lockout. Joe Newman, co-president of the Goldsmiths UCU branch, attributed the action to the scale and speed of management's cuts. He said students were largely supportive and often aghast when informed of the reasons for the walkout.

Goldsmiths has faced financial pressure in recent years due to falling applications in humanities and erosion of domestic tuition fees. One staff member described the resulting rounds of redundancies and restructuring as non-stop. The university stated that only about 8.5% of staff were on strike, leaving most students unaffected. A spokesperson said the institution offered compromises, including a pause on compulsory redundancies, but refused to drop the full pay deductions for the initial marking boycott. The university cited the large sums spent to ease student impact and warned that continued disruption risks harming its long-term reputation.

MFA students expressed disappointment given the cost of the two-year course, which charges nearly £15,000 annually for full-time UK students and £33,000 for international students. John Carver, a second-year part-time student, suspended his studies after a dismal departmental meeting at the start of term. He praised regular tutors but criticized replacements for not knowing the students. James Evans, a US international student, said visa and funding restrictions forced him to remain on the course despite the disruption. Evans noted he never received marks or feedback on projects last year and described this year as having no structure and barely any communication.

The university said it is offering regular updates, meetings with schools, and other support to affected students. The strike continues with no scheduled end date, and the next scheduled step is for the union to maintain its position on the pay deductions while the university holds to its compromise package.