Remote classes during the pandemic caused a record number of complaints against universities, figures reveal.

It comes as some universities still insist on continuing with online lectures, despite growing anger from students.

Many claim that ‘blended’ learning – a mix of face-to-face and online – is better for students as it allows them to rewatch lectures.

But data from the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) tells a different story.

The body received 2,763 complaints from students in 2021, up 6 per cent on 2020 levels and 17 per cent more than in 2019.

The OIA said ‘some students found that they weren’t getting the learning experiences that they reasonably expected’, affected by the ‘cumulative impact of the pandemic and industrial action’.

It also found that some students had struggled with technology, ‘especially in online timed exams’.

A number found it difficult to make the technology work at all, while for others poor typing skills had affected their performance.

The overall financial compensation awarded to students in 2021 was £1,304,379, ‘significantly higher than in previous years’.

The biggest single payout was just over £68,000, while 63 students received more than £5,000.

The proportion of complaints relating to the pandemic had risen since 2020, at 37 per cent of complaints, compared with 12 per cent in 2020.

In total, 27 per cent of complaints were seen as ‘justified’.

The Government has pledged a crackdown on remote learning this summer.

Yesterday universities minister Michelle Donelan said: ‘I have been very clear that students deserve quality, transparency and value.

Students deserve a fair deal and it is good to see this process working with compensation payouts increasing to over £1.3million and more complaints upheld than ever before.’