Case summary May 2022 | Justified
A group of students were on a one-year MA in a practical arts-based subject. The course was new for the provider, and the group was in the first cohort, starting in 2018/2019.
Case summary May 2022 | Partly Justified
A few months into a new five-year MBBS programme to study medicine at an overseas campus, some students complained about their experience so far. They said the course had fallen short of what the provider had promised in advertising material.
Case summary May 2022 | Justified
A student suffered a serious injury in an accident during their studies. Some months later they asked their provider for support for the ongoing impact of their injury on their studies.
Case summary May 2022 | Not Justified
A student experiencing complex mental health difficulties interrupted their studies during their first year. The provider backdated the student’s interruption so that they weren’t charged tuition fees.
Case summary July 2021 | Partly Justified
A student was on a one-year Bar Professional Training Course. In March 2020 the higher education provider stopped all face-to-face teaching because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The student complained to the provider and asked for a refund of tuition fees, saying that in not delivering face-to-face teaching the provider was breaching the terms and conditions of the course. The provider refused to give the student any tuition fee refund.
Case summary July 2021 | Not Justified
A student was on a one-year taught postgraduate course that normally involved a field trip to a country in Asia. The field trip could not go ahead because of the global pandemic in 2020.
Case summary July 2021 | Settled
A group of students on a creative arts-based taught Masters course complained to the provider, before the pandemic, about timetabling issues, particularly in relation to guest lecturers and events, lack of access to facilities and equipment, and pressures created by a larger number of students being admitted on the course.
Case summary July 2021 | Settled
A cohort of students was on a Business-related taught postgraduate course, paying tuition fees of over £24,000. In March 2020 their provider suspended all face-to-face teaching and activities as a result of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Case summary July 2021 | Not Justified
An undergraduate student was expecting to sit an end of year exam for one module but the provider cancelled the exam because of the nationwide lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Case summary July 2021 | Settled
An undergraduate student was expecting to sit an end of year exam for one module but the provider cancelled the exam because of the nationwide lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
We publish summaries of some of the complaints that we review. We always leave out of the summary any information that might identify the student who made the complaint. In some cases we decide that it is in the public interest to publish a summary of a complaint that includes the name of the provider.
