ANNUAL REPORT 2024 - Putting things right

Where we uphold all or part of a complaint, we try to identify an appropriate remedy that puts the student back into the position they would have been in if the problem had not occurred. When students complain to us, they may have a clear idea about what outcome they are looking for. Often this relates to continuing with their studies, for example being allowed to rejoin a course, have another attempt at an assessment, or progress with different support in place. For some students the opportunity to be heard and to be offered a clearer explanation or an apology is very important. Students often say that they hope that their provider will act differently towards other students in the future.

Some students might not be certain what is possible or what would be helpful before they make a complaint. During our review process we can explore this by discussing what they are hoping to achieve by making their complaint.

We have a broad discretion to consider the outcomes that are most appropriate for the individual circumstances. We take account of what students tell us they would like, and what providers tell us is practical. Where we have been able to facilitate an agreed resolution to a complaint, we record it as a settlement.

Reaching a settlement can be beneficial to both parties. It can offer a quicker route to addressing the student’s concerns. It may feel like a less adversarial process, which can be the starting point of rebuilding a more positive relationship. We can suggest the same wide range of actions to put something right for the student in settled cases as we can in complaints that are resolved with a written decision.

In 2024, we resolved 552 cases by settlement. In a significant number of these cases, providers exercised their discretion to consider new evidence about a student’s personal circumstances that, had it been available at the time when the student’s case was originally considered, would have resulted in a different outcome. It is usually reasonable for providers to expect students to seek help promptly when difficult personal circumstances are having an impact on their studies. But it is also essential for providers to recognise that it can be very difficult for some students to obtain and supply relevant supporting information during a crisis. The cases we have received have included students experiencing serious personal health difficulties, bereavements, severe financial hardship, and being the victims of violent crime. Providers should consider principles of proportionality and fairness when making decisions that affect students. It is relevant to consider the investment of time and resources that students have committed to their studies and the significant impact of not being able to continue with those studies when considering student’s circumstances. In some cases where the underlying circumstances have been very serious, it will be unfair to reject student’s claims just because the student did not follow administrative processes.

Other outcomes from settlements included:

• A provider offered to give a student access to their marked exam script to provide additional assurance that no error had been made in transcribing the marks into the provider’s centralised system
• A provider accepted that a penalty for going over the word-count of an assessment should not have been applied. It removed the ten-mark penalty from the student’s mark
• A provider offered to consider a student’s appeal against a decision to terminate their studies. The provider had previously rejected the student’s appeal because it was submitted after the deadline. The provider accepted that there was no evidence that the student had been properly informed of its decision to terminate their studies or about their right of appeal.

Sometimes we need to carry out a detailed review of what has happened to understand why the student is dissatisfied and to decide if there is something the provider should do to put things right. Where we decide that a complaint is Justified or Partly Justified, we usually make Recommendations. In 2024, we made Recommendations in 306 of the complaints we closed.

Recommendations can be focused on putting things right for the individual students who have complained, or they can be focused on improving what a provider does in the future. We describe these as “good practice Recommendations”. In 2024 we made good practice Recommendations in 144 complaints. We referred providers to guidance available in the Good Practice Framework. Common themes across several recommendations related to ensuring that adequate records are kept at the initial stages of a process; training staff operating processes on the burden and standard of proof and giving sufficiently detailed reasons for decisions made; and completing processes in a timely manner.

Other Recommendations included that providers should:

• amend information available to prospective students to ensure it is accurate, for example, about visa requirements and about student accommodation options
• clarify information about key progress points for existing students, for example, protocols for signing-off student placement hours, and the process for agreeing with a supervisor when a postgraduate research thesis is ready for examination
• update their regulations to address emerging issues. For example, to include more information about the use of generative AI, and to support this with information in course handbooks and module specifications about what is permitted for specific assessments. And to reconsider processes for complaints about disruption to teaching to take account of both academic impacts and financial impacts on students
• review their procedures to ensure they are compatible with the Good Practice Framework. For example, by clarifying when students studying at a delivery partner have a right of appeal to the awarding partner, and by issuing Completion of Procedures letters to appropriately advise students of their right to complain to us
• provide training for their staff, for example to all staff involved in academic appeals, academic engagement and fitness to study processes setting out the provider’s obligations towards disabled students under the Equality Act 2010 and ensuring greater awareness of the processes to use when agreeing and reviewing reasonable adjustments.

Financial outcomes

Sometimes students are seeking financial remedies. We will usually consider financial remedies if a student

• has been incorrectly charged for their tuition fees, or for accommodation costs
• has had additional costs because of something the provider has done or not done
• did not receive the service that they could reasonably expect for which they had paid tuition or other fees
• has lost income because of something the provider has done or not done
• has been caused distress or inconvenience by something the provider has done or not done, and this has not been put right by a practical action.

In 2024, the total amount of financial compensation offered to students following a Recommendation was £677,785. In addition, £1,809,805 was offered to students as part of a settlement. The highest single amount of financial compensation was £63,650. 143 students received amounts of £5,000 or more, of whom 74 received £10,000 or more. The larger sums of compensation were agreed in instances where there had been serious disruption to a student’s studies for prolonged periods, or where a provider’s actions had led to the student being unable to complete the qualification which they were studying for. Some of the higher amounts awarded reflect the high costs international students have faced (including tuition fees and visa costs). In a small number of cases where a provider has treated a student unfairly for a long time, or repeatedly missed opportunities to put things right, we have recommended compensation above £5,000 for distress and inconvenience.

Learning from complaints that are not upheld

In some of the complaints we review the provider has already accepted that something had gone wrong. In 2024, we decided that 293 complaints brought to us were Not Justified because the provider had already made a reasonable offer to put things right. At the end of our process, the providers re-made these offers to the students.

Just over 50% of the complaints we completed in 2024 were Not Justified. Even in the complaints that we do not uphold and where the provider has not made an offer to the student, there is important learning for providers about how students have experienced their formal processes. In our experience, a lack of clarity or compassion in the way a decision is communicated can make the difference between a student accepting a decision or continuing to pursue their complaint.

Compliance

In 2024, 93% of our student-centred Recommendations and 82% of our good practice Recommendations were complied with on time. This is a significant improvement from 2023 (where it was 86% and 63% respectively). Complying with our Recommendations in a timely way is important to enable students to move forward and to ensure that other students benefit from improved processes as soon as possible.

In 2024 providers did not comply with our Recommendations in three instances.