OIA SCHEME CONSULTATION

Scheme Consultation

We exist to help students resolve complaints fairly and independently when things have gone wrong. Every year, thousands of students come to us at what is often a difficult and stressful point in their lives. In 2025, we received more than 4,000 complaints for the first time, alongside a continued rise in enquiries from students, providers, representatives and advisers.

As the education landscape continues to evolve, we believe it is important that our Scheme evolves too. This consultation sets out proposed changes intended to make the Scheme clearer, easier to navigate, and more accessible for the people who use it, while continuing to reflect our statutory responsibilities and independent role.

The proposals build on extensive reflection over a sustained period of time, informed by our casework experience, engagement with students and providers, developments in consumer protection and public policy, and changes across the education sector in both England and Wales. They also recognise the strengths of the current Scheme and the work that has shaped it over many years. The existing framework has supported the review of many thousands of complaints and has played an important role in the development of independent student redress. This consultation is therefore intended to build on that foundation rather than depart from it.

The proposed approach would move towards a shorter, more principles-led Scheme, supported by clearer explanatory material. We think this could help students and providers better understand what the OIA can and cannot do, how we exercise our discretion, and what people can expect when bringing or responding to a complaint. At a time when students are navigating increasingly complex systems and pressures, clarity and accessibility matter.

The consultation also includes proposals intended to reflect developments in Wales’s tertiary education system, changes to the point at which someone may be considered a student for the purposes of the Scheme, and a revised time limit for bringing complaints. These proposals have been informed by evidence from our casework and operational data. For example, in 2025 the average time taken for a complaint to reach us after the end of a provider’s procedures was just over three months, which has informed the proposed revision to the current 12-month time limit.

We are consulting on a draft Scheme because we want to understand whether the proposed approach is workable, clear and proportionate for those who use it. We are particularly keen to hear from students, students’ representatives, providers, advisers, sector bodies and others with an interest in student complaints and redress.

The OIA’s Scheme is independent, and decisions about its future remain a matter for the OIA. However, engagement with those who use and interact with the Scheme is an important part of ensuring that it remains effective, accessible and trusted.

For this pre-launch consultation, we have provided a copy of the proposed explanatory note as well as the scheme itself. We have done this as we believe it is important for anyone who wishes to comment to see both documents given the significant nature of the changes. In future though, we are only required to consult formally on changes to the scheme, not the explanatory note.

We welcome a broad range of perspectives as part of this consultation and thank you for your time and thoughts.

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