A BRADFORD university student is among over 300,000 people across the country backing a petition which calls for this year's tuition fees to be reimbursed.

A number of petitions have been circulating online claiming the quality of their education has been affected by two rounds of lecturer strikes and the coronavirus.

Students in the UK currently pay £9,250 per academic year - a fee that doesn't seem to add up, according to Mahnoor Akhlaq, a second year journalism student at the University of Leeds.

Mahnoor worked out that she lost an estimated £1810.36 from teaching missed due to university strikes lasting a four and a half weeks. And now, in light of the pandemic, she has made a loss of £1608.68 from four weeks of teaching missed.

Mahnoor told the Telegraph & Argus: "I feel like we haven't had a fulfilling academic year.

"I don't feel like I've learnt enough to really come out of second year.

"I thought I would have so much knowledge but still feel like I'm in first year.

"I'm not saying I haven't learnt anything but I feel like it has impacted us, especially for our course because we have a lot of practical stuff.

"Our teachers have really put in the effort and we know they're always on the other side of an email.

"I don't feel we've had our money's worth.

"If you could see where the money went and see how it was invested maybe students would be more understanding.

"University isn't about education anymore. It's become marketised."

A University of Leeds spokesperson said: “Our students, in common with those at other universities, are going through difficult times, with two recent periods of strike action now followed by coronavirus.

“The country is facing unprecedented challenges and, in line with Government guidance, we have swiftly moved our teaching online to protect the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff.

“We are ensuring our students are supported remotely and are confident that, despite the current problems, students at Leeds will continue to receive a high-quality education and we will not be offering tuition fee refunds.”

While University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said: "University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said: “Students understand that our working conditions are their learning conditions, and the support they offered to staff during the strikes was phenomenal. We made clear from the outset that the strikes were only necessary because of universities’ refusal to negotiate properly with us on key issues around working conditions, pay and pensions and we are pleased that students continued to demand action from their vice-chancellors and principals to move the disputes on.

“Staff have responded magnificently to the current crisis, moving to online teaching to support millions of students and working on research into the virus. However, this is an unprecedented and incredibly difficult situation and any students who are struggling should contact their institution for further advice on the help and support available to them.

"The coronavirus crisis should force us to look properly at the manner in which our universities are funded and how much students have to pay to study. Universities are a critical part of the social and economic fabric of our society whose importance will become ever greater as we deal with the current crisis and look to recover from it.”