ANNUAL REPORT 2025

Foreword from the Chair

Our vision is that students are always treated fairly.

A shared commitment to fairness for students must be at the heart of a successful higher education sector that delivers for students and for our wider society. The OIA has a unique and valuable role to play in achieving this vision. In challenging times, it remains vital to keep that sense of fairness at the forefront of decision-making across higher education.

Our Annual Report for 2025 reflects the breadth and depth of our work. We handled more complaints than ever before, providing access to independent, impartial review of students’ unresolved complaints. Demand rose again, with more than 4,000 complaints received for the first time, while we also increased the number of cases we resolved.

Maintaining our focus on accessibility remains a priority. In 2025 we continued to strengthen how we support students to navigate our Scheme, and we also made further improvements to the timeliness of our service, with the majority of complaints closed within six months and average case duration continuing to reduce.

We continued to work with students and their representative bodies, providers, sector organisations, governments, and other ombuds services, to share learning from complaints and contribute to effective resolution. Equality, diversity and inclusion remain vital to the OIA, and important to me, and I am pleased that we have continued to build on our work in this area.

These achievements are made possible by the commitment and skill of colleagues across the organisation, company members, and the Board. I am grateful to our staff team, jointly led by Ben Elger, Chief Executive, and Helen Megarry, Independent Adjudicator, and to my Board colleagues for their support, wisdom, and oversight throughout the year.

Taken together, this report makes a compelling case for not just how the OIA delivered its services in 2025, but why the work of the OIA is more important than ever before.