University students’ complaints about the Covid pandemic disrupting their studies led to more than 1,000 appeals to the higher education watchdog in England and Wales last year.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) received a record 2,763 appeals from students unhappy at the way their complaints had been handled by their universities in 2021. More than a thousand of those were related to the effects of campus Covid measures, treble the number in the first year of the pandemic.

More than one in four appeals were upheld or deemed to be justified by the watchdog. But the number of appeals understates the number of individuals involved – the OIA said that 16% of Covid disruption complaints were from groups of about 10 to 30 students, including one joint appeal from a group of more than 400 students.

Students on design, creative and performing arts courses were among those most directly affected, according to the OIA, raising issues such as access to equipment and studio space or lost opportunities to exhibit work.

“More widely, complaints from students across a range of subject areas often related to practical experiences that were disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions. Students complained about lack of access to laboratories, cancelled or changed projects, placements and study abroad opportunities,” the OIA said in its annual report published on Wednesday.

In one case outlined by the OIA, a group of postgraduates on a healthcare research course complained about problems with laboratory work and feedback, frequent timetable changes and the ending of lab-based projects during a pandemic lockdown. The institution offered £1,000 each in compensation but the students took their case to the OIA and were eventually offered £2,500 to settle.

The OIA said that some complaints included disruption arising from strikes and industrial action as well as campus closures during lockdown.

Felicity Mitchell, the independent adjudicator for higher education, said that 2021 had been “dominated” by the impact of the pandemic.

“Many students experienced disruption to their lives and to their studies, and providers worked hard to deliver learning and support while balancing complex considerations and risks,” Mitchell said.

Overall the OIA was involved in directing compensation of £792,500 and a further £512,000 in settlement agreements, for a total of £1.3m – significantly higher than the total of £742,000 in 2020.

The highest individual award for a student was £68,000, while 60 students received £5,000 or more. In one complaint, a group of students studying medicine at the overseas campus of a British university received £24,000 after a damning report by the General Medical Council. The OIA ruled that the students had been led to believe that teaching and practice would be in English but in fact the local language was used in clinical consultations.

The OIA does not name the institutions involved, other than in rare cases where they refuse to comply with an OIA ruling.

The OIA only hears appeals from students after they have exhausted their institution’s internal procedures and remain unhappy with the response.