ANNUAL REPORT 2023 - Trends in complaints

We include in this section some information about patterns and trends in our complaints data. The complaints we see reflect a broad range of issues that matter to students. They also show that some students are proportionately much more likely to complain to us than others.

Any wider interpretation of our data should be approached with caution, because the number of students who complain to us is still very small in relation to the student body as a whole and many factors can influence a student’s decision to pursue a complaint. The contextualisation of the data we include in this Report by reference to wider information about the student population is more limited than usual this year due to the delay in publishing HESA data for 2022-23.

Complaints received

In 2023 we received 3,137 complaints, our highest ever number and an increase of 10% on 2022 (2,850).

This continues the trend of annual increases since 2017. In 2023 the rise has been driven by complaints from postgraduate and non-EU students, with complaints from home undergraduate students reducing slightly. There has been an overall increase in complaints relating to academic appeals.

The proportion of complaints about providers in England and providers in Wales remains very similar to recent years.

Number of complaints received per year

We continued to hear of higher volumes of complaints in providers, and this is supported by the information we have from providers about the number of Completion of Procedures (COP) Letters they issued in 2023 at the end of their internal processes. From our engagement with students and higher education providers, we also continued to hear that some students are finding it difficult with the other challenges they are facing to pursue their complaints, and that some providers are finding it difficult to progress complaints effectively through their internal procedures in the context of other pressures.

Complaints received by complaint category

In 2023 the rebalancing of our caseload away from complaints relating to service issues (teaching, course delivery, supervision and course-related facilities) back towards complaints relating to academic appeals continued. Complaints relating to academic appeals accounted for 45% of the complaints we received in 2023, up from 38% in 2022, while the proportion of complaints relating to service issues reduced to 34% (38% in 2022). This continued rebalancing was at least in part related to reaching the end of complaints directly arising from the pandemic, but we think it is also related to the rise in complaints from international students (see below).

The number of complaints in our other complaint categories remained relatively small and at a similar level to 2022. Collectively these categories accounted for 21% of case receipts, a slightly lower proportion than last year (24%).

Complaints received by area of study - Top 10

We consistently receive more complaints from students on Business and management courses, which mainly reflects the high overall number of students in this subject area. However, we saw a substantial increase in the number of complaints from students on these courses in 2023, which in the context of the rise in complaints from non-EU and postgraduate students we think is likely to be related to a high concentration of international postgraduate students studying in this area.

Complaint numbers by subject area can be quite variable, partly because numbers are fairly small once broken down in this way, but the distribution for other areas of study in 2023 is broadly similar to 2022.

Complaints received by student domicile

We saw a significant rise in the number of complaints from non-EU students in 2023, up around 330 on the previous year. It is notable that this increase has come in a year when the number of complaints from home students remained broadly stable and there was a reduction in the number of complaints from EU students. Non-EU students have long been overrepresented in complaints to us (as an indicative comparison, these students accounted for 19% of the student body in England and Wales as reported in HESA statistics for 2021/22, although it is likely that the proportion may have increased somewhat since then) and now account for 36% of complaints to us (27% in 2022). We explore some of the issues we see in complaints from international students under the Themes in complaints section.

Complaints received by level of study

A consistent feature of the complaints we receive is the significant overrepresentation of PhD and other postgraduate students. In 2022 this overrepresentation had been less marked, but in 2023 we saw a substantial increase in the number of complaints from these students and together they accounted for nearly half of all complaints to us (as an indicative comparison, PhD and other postgraduate students made up 28% of the overall student population in England and Wales as reported in HESA statistics for 2021/22, although again the proportion may have increased somewhat since then). We have in previous years discussed the likely reasons for the overrepresentation, including that there are some issues that only affect postgraduate or PhD students such as issues with the PhD supervisory relationship. Another factor is the number of postgraduates who are international students, with the additional challenges that can bring: just over half of postgraduate student complaints to us in 2023 came from international students.

Complaints closed

In 2023, we closed 3,352 complaints, an increase of 19% from 2022 (2,821), and we met our key performance indicator (KPI) of closing 75% of complaints within six months of receipt.

The outcome of complaints

In total, 21% of cases were Justified, Partly Justified, or Settled in favour of the student. This is a decrease on last year (25%), in part because of the reduction in complaints about service issues and the increase in complaints relating to academic appeals (proportionately fewer complaints relating to academic appeals are upheld). We settled 12% of complaints in 2023, a slightly lower proportion than in 2022 (15%) but still exceeding our KPI. The proportion of outcomes is similar for complaints about providers in both England and Wales.

The proportion of cases that were Not Justified rose in 2023. Some of these complaints were Not Justified because the provider had made a reasonable offer to the student during the internal processes to resolve the complaint and it remained open for the student to accept (these complaints are shown separately from other Not Justified complaints on the chart above). We continue to engage with students and student advisers about our approach and what we consider to be reasonable so that students can make an informed decision about whether pursuing their complaint is likely to lead to the outcome they are hoping for.

In 2023 the proportion of complaints that we decided were Not Eligible for us to look at under our Rules reduced to 16%, the lowest level for many years.

Around 80% of ineligible cases were where the student had come to us before they had completed the provider’s internal processes. We continued to try to make it clear to students when they can complain to us, and to emphasise that they normally need to complete those processes first. We also progressed work to better understand why some students complain to us too soon. We gathered information from some of those whose complaint had not been eligible and from some student advisers. Most of the students told us that they knew we may not be able to accept their complaint for review but had decided to submit it anyway. The most common reasons put forward were that their complaint was taking too long in the internal processes and that they thought complaining to us would move it forward, and concerns about whether they would get a fair outcome from the internal processes. We are now looking at how we can use the insights from this work to try to reduce the number of premature complaints.

Legal challenges to our decisions

Our case decisions can be challenged by judicial review. During 2023 we received a total of 10 new judicial review claims, compared to four in 2022. This follows a period of many years over which there had been a steady downward trend in the number of claims received. There are no clear reasons for the increase in 2023, and it is also not yet clear whether a higher level of claims is likely to continue longer term.

Eight of the claims received in 2023 were refused permission and we are waiting for the court to reach a decision on one of them. Permission was granted in relation to one claim, and based on the Judge’s ruling we made an offer to the student to reopen their complaint, which the student accepted.

Judicial review cases often provide useful learning and insights for us, and reflections from judges on our decisions and processes.

During the year we also received two county court legal claims, one of which was discontinued and the other struck out.