A group of students’ unions have written to the competition watchdog, urging it to “take action to uphold students’ rights” over tuition fees and rent payments amid the pandemic. The open letter, backed by student leaders at 19 universities across the UK, calls on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to help students asking for blanket fee refunds as a result of Covid-19 disruption. It urges the regulator to address the “broken” complaints process for students claiming refunds, and help advise students on their ability to withhold fee payments “if they have lost out” due to the pandemic. The letter, which has also been signed by National Union of Students (NUS) president Larissa Kennedy, says: “Students need an external organisation with no vested interest other than upholding students’ rights to step in and give them the power to seek collective fee justice. The CMA must act now.”