MINISTERS are under increasing pressure to compensate university students for the educational and financial losses forced on them during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Campaigners spoke of students being “pushed to the brink” by the government’s mishandling of the crisis, as opposition MPs sought a rapid review with the power to recommend compensation.

The Department for Education has confirmed that students in England will not be allowed to return to in-person lessons before May 17, by which time most courses will have already finished.