The University of Sussex is offering students up to £100 if they suffered “distress and inconvenience” during recent strikes, becoming the first British university to give compensation to students in the middle of industrial action.

The move is a sign of the increasing efforts by universities to resolve student complaints swiftly and head off action through the courts or regulators that could lead to more damaging penalties.

Sussex launched its “industrial action ex gratia scheme” this week, with an email to all students inviting them to apply for cash payouts resulting from the national University and College Union (UCU) strikes that took place in November and December.

Kelly Coate, pro-vice chancellor for education and students, wrote in the email: “We do recognise that some students may have experienced distress and/or inconvenience during the strike days. So we have moved quickly to provide an opportunity for you to tell us if you feel you experienced any distress and inconvenience – and to what extent – and have decided to launch an ‘ex-gratia’ payment scheme in respect of this – which is now open. The University of Sussex believes this is important to offer its students.”

Sussex was one of 60 UK universities where staff voted to take eight days of strike action over pay or pensions. In addition staff are still taking action short of a strike, such as working strictly to contracted hours, not covering for absent colleagues and refusing to reschedule lectures or classes lost to industrial action.

Students can apply for payments through an online form on the university’s website. It asks students to rate the “distress and inconvenience” to their learning as minor, moderate or significant, as well as details of modules or supervisions affected, and their attendance record.

Sussex said it was following guidance from the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), with £40 for minor distress and inconvenience, increasing to £100 for significant distress and inconvenience.

Jim Dickinson, associate editor of the Wonkhe higher education policy website, said the OIA had indicated that lost learning opportunities were grounds for students to claim compensation from universities. “It looks to me like Sussex has got ahead of the curve here, rather than waiting for complaints to come in and end up with the OIA or the courts. They’ve got in front of that and developed a compensation scheme before being caught out by individual complaints,” he said.

While many universities compensated their students after the previous industrial action in 2018, Sussex is the first to offer compensation in the midst of an ongoing dispute, which could see further strikes later this year.

Dickinson noted parallels between Sussex’s offer and the automatic delay repayment schemes operated by railway companies.

“What we are starting to see is a fundamental change in the relationship between students and universities that is much more focused on the individual rights of students to get what it is they were promised,” Dickinson said.

Jo Grady, the UCU’s general secretary, said she wasn’t surprised universities were mollifying students whose studies had been “disrupted by avoidable strike action”.

“Students have told us that they are right behind us when it comes to the fight for fair pay and decent pensions in higher education, and the employers’ main focus should be on avoiding any further disruption by resolving these disputes as quickly as possible,” Grady said.

Talks between UCU and employers over contributions to the University Superannuation Scheme (USS) at the core of the dispute are taking place this month, with UCU warning that further industrial action is likely unless the matter is resolved.

UCU has reopened strike ballots at a further 37 universities, which may see more universities affected after balloting closes on 28 January.