University of Leeds scraps resit fees

Em O'Riley on 8 February 2024

Today (Thursday 8th February), the university announced it is removing fees for resits.

Resitting an assessment previously cost £2 per credit with a £50 administration fee. This meant that a single assessment worth all of the module credits could cost a student £90.

In a joint statement from the University and LUU, they said the removal of fees was a step in removing barriers to education.

Many students in Leeds are struggling from cost of living pressures. The critical extent of this problem was evidenced in an investigation for The Gryphon last month, which found that hardship fund applications had increased by 394%.

The University said it is responding to student feedback about the ‘hidden costs’ of university. In a context where living costs are rising disproportionately to the real-time value of maintenance loans, a resit fee is an unaffordable possibility to many.

The statement also cites student wellbeing as a reason for removing the cost pressure, “we also know that having to pay resit fees can add to the mental and emotional stress they may already be facing because their assessments haven’t gone to plan”.

The Gryphon spoke to Bethan Corner, the LUU Education Officer, who initiated the campaign to remove resit fees as part of her platform of addressing the hidden/additional costs of university. Unlike other proposals which would be course- or faculty-specific, resit fees are university wide. For Bethan, this meant this move was a “real win that we could do around hidden and additional costs”. She spoke about hearing from students who could not progress on their course, and had to drop out of university, because they could not afford the resit fee.

Bethan said the university were open to the idea from the beginning. Surplus profits from the 2022-23 academic year made the removal of fees possible beginning in January 2024.

The change means that no student would pay for resits for assessments taken from the January 2024 assessment period. Any student who has already paid for a resit following this will receive a refund. The removal of fees does not apply to assessments taken before January 2024.

On the possible critique that removing fees would de-incentivise students from working hard for their first-try assessments, Bethan said this was not a major consideration. She said that resits, especially those in the summer holidays, were already difficult enough for students and the net gain outweighs the small minority who may misuse this process.

The full University of Leeds and LUU statement is available from the following link

Sheaf St. closure: “Thank you and Goodnight!”

Em O'Riley on 8 November 2023

Last week, independent bar, café and music venue Sheaf St. announced it was closing its doors.

The venue, which opened in 2017, was a core part of the vibrant music scene in Leeds.

The Gryphon spoke to Josh Igoe, an events manager for the University of Leeds BPM electronic music and DJ society. He said Sheaf St would be “dearly missed by all who went and all those they supported”.

Josh, who DJs under the name Anop, paid credit to the venue for facilitating society events so enthusiastically, “few clubs in Leeds supported the local scene as much as Sheaf”.

Despite the oft-repeated joke of the unavoidable number of aspiring DJs in Leeds, new talent can have a difficult time raising their profile.

It’s a competitive scene, and many clubs are unwilling to take the risk of new, less experienced DJs.

Instead, and with several key exceptions, much of the highly commercialised nightlife in the city exhibits a predictable, homogenous mix.

Conversely Sheaf St provided a place for up-and-coming artists, including students, hosting open deck nights with BPM as well as events including a workshop with DJ Adam Pits.

Image: Josh Igoe

Venues are facing disastrously perfect storm of conditions, outlined by the owners of Sheaf St. in a statement on their website, “low attendance, rising costs, increasing fees, significantly reduced spend per head, and skyrocketing utilities and stock costs”

The continuing Cost of Living Crisis, means millions in the UK are having to make incredibly difficult decisions about spending. Outdated perceptions of students living rich off of their maintenance loans hides the reality, as loan increases stagnate versus rising inflation.

According to Unipol, a housing charity, the average cost of rent in England is only £24 below the average maintenance loan. This means a majority of students have little to no excess maintenance loan left after they’ve paid for accommodation.

Data from the National Union of Students found that 96% of students are ‘cutting back’ on expenses, with a third of those in the study were living on less than £50 a month after rent and bills.

Nightlife is thus an expensive luxury, and one of the first things go.

However, the closure of Sheaf St draws in additional, more localised considerations.

Sheaf St. said: “The nightlife industry is a vital economic driver for our city…We believe Leeds doesn’t fully recognise this asset”.

Similarly to the Tetley building, the closure of which The Gryphon covered last month, Sheaf St cited the Aire Park Development as a significant factor in their closure.

Image: Leeds City Council

Aire Park, a 3-hectare development project in the Southbank area (across the river below Call Lane), aims to ‘regenerate’ a previously industrial area of Holbeck. It raises concerns about gentrification and the damage to pre-existing businesses and residents in the pursuit of constructed communities.

The Gryphon is awaiting a response from the developers and council in regards to these concerns around Aire Park.

Accompanying the announcement, Sheaf St. updated their website to say:

“THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT! YOU LOVELY PEOPLE!”.

Image: Sheaf St. website

Their upbeat farewell cements the underlying rallying cry of “Support your Local!”, passed down for decades. A prompt, for those who financially can, to ditch the Spoons and put your money where it matters.