How will the OIA deal with my complaint?
Our procedures are informal. We will generally review a complaint based on information provided to us by the parties. We are not like a court. We expect to decide most complaints without the need for face to face meetings or hearings.
When we receive your Scheme Application Form, we will send a copy of the information you have sent us to the higher education institution concerned.
Our first step is to make sure that the complaint is something which we can look at. We will let you know if we cannot look at your complaint.
If your complaint is something we can look at, our Reviewer may ask the higher education institution to provide us with further information. Its response will normally be sent to you for your comments.
Sometimes we make a decision on the information a student has sent us without a full investigation.
Our Reviewer may need to ask you or the institution for some further information before issuing a decision.
The Reviewer will normally issue a draft decision so that the parties can comment on any material inaccuracies.
Finally, the Reviewer will issue a formal decision to the parties and, if the complaint is justified, it will usually be accompanied by the Reviewer’s recommendations.
What can the OIA do?
Where a complaint is wholly or partly justified the Reviewer may
recommend that the higher education institution does something or
refrains from doing something. For example,
- We might recommend that the institution should take steps to
assist the student in some way;
- We might refer the complaint back to the higher education institution
to be looked at afresh because the internal procedures of the institution
have not been properly followed;
- We might recommend that the institution should change the way
it handles complaints, or change its internal procedures;
- We might recommend that compensation is payable.
What happens after the OIA Decision?
Higher education institutions are expected to comply with the formal
decision of the Reviewer and any recommendations in full. We consider
non-compliance to be a very serious matter which will be reported
to our Board and publicised in our annual report.
Recommendations
are not binding on the student who has complained. |
