Case summary November 2020 | Settled
A student made an academic appeal to the provider on the basis of mitigating circumstances relating to their mental health. The student had been unable to access support services and practical elements of their course had been disrupted because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Case summary November 2020 | Not Justified
An international student complained to their provider because their course had been moved to online teaching following the closure of campus during the coronavirus lockdown. They asked for a discount or refund of their tuition fees.
Case summary November 2020 | Not Justified
A student complained to their provider about the disruption to their studies resulting from industrial action, and the coronavirus lockdown. The student wanted financial compensation or a fee refund.
Case summary November 2020 | Not Justified
A student failed a resit exam at their final attempt. They made an academic appeal to the provider after the deadline for appeals, on the ground that they had new evidence which for good reason they had not submitted earlier.
Case summary November 2020 | Partly Justified
A second-year, international student was studying four modules during the year for which they had paid fees of around £13,500. They complained to the provider that it had cancelled half of the expected on-campus learning because of coronavirus lockdown and asked for a refund of tuition fees.
Case summary September 2020 | Not Justified
Several students in a Halls of Residence got into a dispute about noise. Over the course of an evening, a number of messages were exchanged via a group WhatsApp chat, which included offensive language and explicit sexual content.
Case summary September 2020 | Not Justified
A student asked for an extension for a piece of assessed work, because a close family member was undergoing hospital treatment.
Case summary September 2020 | Justified
A student complained to us that their provider would not consider their academic appeal, or a complaint from them.
Case summary September 2020 | Partly Justified
A student disagreed with the decision to award them a Master’s degree, rather than a PhD.
Case summary September 2020 | Not Justified
A student needed an ergonomic chair. The provider agreed to pay for a chair for use on campus; DSA funding covered the cost of a chair for the student to use at home. Following an assessment with a chair specialist, the chair was supplied to the campus.
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.
