Office of the Independent Adjudicator - News and Press Releases

News

Press Notice: High Court Dismisses Claim In Plagiarism Case

The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal the Court of Appeal decision in the case of The Queen on the application of Shelley Maxwell v OIA on the grounds that the application does not raise “a point of law of general public importance.”

The OIA welcomes this decision by the Supreme Court which brings this long-running case to a conclusion.

The High Court has dismissed the claim for judicial review of the OIA’s decision in a case brought by Mr Hazim Mustafa, a former student at Queen Mary University of London.

The OIA welcomes this decision as giving clarity on the extent to which the OIA can consider complaints from students in cases which include an allegation of plagiarism.

Felicity Mitchell, the Deputy Adjudicator, commented: “This is an important judgment that confirms the centrality of academic judgment in decisions relating to plagiarism. The OIA's role is to review the process and fairness of plagiarism investigations, not to interfere with that central judgment. ”

For more infomation, you can read and download the press notice and judgment.

Press Notice: Mustafa High Court Judgment

Download and view the Mustafa High Court Judgment

Press Notice: Memorandum of Understanding between OIA and QAA

Rob & QAA

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that recognises their complementary and distinctive roles, and commits both sides to sharing information relevant to developing the risk-based approach to regulation in higher education. Read the full press notice and the Memorandum.

(Rob Behrens and Anthony McClaran signing the Memorandum of Understanding)

Press Notice: Memorandum of Understanding between OIA and QAA

Download and view the Memorandum of Understanding between OIA and QAA

Press Notice: Supreme Court refuses permission to appeal in OIA Disability Discrimination case

The OIA welcomes this decision by the Supreme Court which brings this long-running case to a conclusion.

The OIA welcomes this decision by the Supreme Court which brings this long-running case to a conclusion. For more information, please read the Press Notice.

Press Notice: Maxwell Supreme Court Decision

Important information regarding emails sent to the OIA

Unfortunately we have had a recent problem with our email. If you have replied to an email sent by an individual at the OIA between 17-23 October we may not have received it. Please resend your message to the individual using the format firstname.surname@oiahe.org.uk or find your case-handler’s email address here.

This does not affect emails sent to casework@oiahe.org.uk, workshops@oiahe.org.uk or any other generic email address.

If you are unsure what to do please call us on 0118 959 9813. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Pathway 3

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) has published its response to the ‘Pathway 3 Consultation - Towards Early Resolution and Effective Complaints Handling’ as requested in the Government’s Higher Education White Paper, Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System (Cm 8122, June 2011). The Pathway 3 Consultation sought views from across the Higher Education sector and beyond on effective strategies to promote the early resolution of complaints and appeals and better all-round complaints handling in universities.

Key issues in the Pathway 3 Consultation included consideration of:

Whether or not to create campus ombudsmen, and associated support networks;
The development of mediation on campus;
The creation of a good practice framework for complaints and appeals processes including the incorporation of effective time-frames for handling,
The possible development of an OIA ‘kite-mark’ accreditation;
The introduction of a revised funding mechanism for the OIA Scheme which contains a case-related element.

View and download Pathway 3

Press Notice: Pathway 3

OIA Annual Letters

The OIA has today published Annual Letters to all universities within the OIA Scheme, setting out the complaints handling performance record of each university, benchmarked against universities of a similar size. This follows two rounds of consultation with the sector, and change in the OIA Scheme Rules in December 2011.

The purpose of the Letters is to:

1. Increase public scrutiny of complaints handling records in universities;

2. Increase complainant confidence in university complaints handling processes;

3. Encourage universities to review their performance in a comparative context.

View and download the Annual Letters

Press Notice: OIA Annual Letters