Complaints and Appeals
How to make a complaint
Sometimes things do not go to plan and you may be considering making a complaint. The College's complaint procedures for students are accessible from the Student Portal or the main College Website. These guidelines provide advice if you are considering a complaint and set out the procedures that are in place to enable you to make a complaint.
Discuss first – No matter what type of relationship you have with the College and its staff, if you believe you have a genuine complaint you should not hesitate in bringing it to the College’s attention. Fortunately most issues can usually be resolved informally (Stage 1) without having to go through the formal complaints procedure. This is often achieved through open dialogue, preferably with face-to-face discussion with the person you feel is responsible for the issue or alternatively by sending an email. Alternatively there are lots of staff who can help you and may be able to raise the complaint on your behalf such as a lecturer or programme leader or if the complaint is about them, to another member of staff such as the Student Union President or Head of Compliance & Quality Systems).
Get Support - If you are a student you may prefer to initially talk your concerns through with an independent person, for example someone associated with the Students’ Union, the College’s counselling service or your personal tutor. You can find out more by contacting Student Support.
Formal Written Complaint - Only after trying the informal route should you consider a formal complaint (Stage 2) in accordance with the Complaint Procedures for Students - you can obtain advice from staff or through the procedures and you will be advised on the investigation process, how you may appeal if not happy with the outcome.
Social Media - Please be aware that the College does not consider public social media channels to be the appropriate place to initiate or respond to a complaint, particularly in relation to personal or sensitive information. Please show respect for other members of the College Community by not publicly discussing complaints via social media.
How to make an academic appeal
Academic appeals should not be confused with any case of complaint which should be taken up in accordance with the Complaints Procedures above. An academic appeal is a request for a review decision relating to:
final award outcome;
progression from one stage or level of the course to the next;
assessment on the course.
You can only appeal on the basis that your performance was affected by factors which you were unable or unwilling to divulge before the decision that caused dissatisfaction was reached;
that there has been a material administrative error or
that the decision was not made in accordance with the current regulations for the course, or
that some other material irregularity has occurred.
You cannot make an appeal if an extenuating circumstance could reasonably have been raised before the meeting of the relevant Progression and Award Board against academic judgement (i.e. because you think you should have got a better mark).
If you do consider an appeal you should first read the section in the Academic Regulations available on the student portal and the Appeal Procedures that will be available at the end of the academic year. These documents outline exactly what happens at each stage of an appeal, the timescales for dealing with an appeal and what next steps you can take if you are dissatisfied with the outcome. Additionally you are advised to speak to your tutor and programme leader informally to attempt to resolve the issue or speak to the Head of Compliance & Quality Systems and seek further advice regarding the procedure.
If you still wish to appeal, you must submit your appeal on the Academic Appeal Form available which will be made available to you via the student portal.
Independent Adjudication
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) runs an independent scheme to review student complaints. We are a member of this scheme. If you are unhappy with the outcome you may be able to ask the OIA to review your complaint, appeal, disciplinary case etc. You can find more information about making a complaint to the OIA, what it can and can’t look at and what it can do to put things right here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/students.
You normally need to have completed our own procedures (complaint / appeal / disciplinary) before you complain to the OIA. We will send you a letter called a “Completion of Procedures Letter” when you have reached the end of our processes and there are no further steps you can take internally. If your complaint / appeal is not upheld, we will issue you with a Completion of Procedures Letter automatically. If your complaint or appeal is upheld or partly upheld you can ask for a Completion of Procedures Letter if you want one. You can find more information about Completion of Procedures Letters and when you should expect to receive one here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/providers/completion-of-procedures-letters.
The OIA can generally consider:
Complaints where the provider did not cover subject areas that it said it would
Supervisor not available
Student didn’t benefit from teaching as could not access it (for disability perhaps)
Delivery method did not work for them (as above)
Provider did not support its students adequately
Provider did not follow a reasonable assessment process
The OIA can’t look at a complaint:
Where teaching was not of an adequate standard
That an online teaching session was just not as good as it would have been face to face
That the student’s work was worth a higher mark
Or that a PG student did not get the right academic guidance from their supervisor
They will always look at whether the provider acted reasonably.
The OIA have also included information on the Covid-19 pandemic and how it affects the 2021/22 cohort with a link below:
Coronavirus pandemic FAQs for students