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 April 2023 | Partly Justified
A student was studying for a degree in business with a foreign language. The student was affected by mental health difficulties and during their first year of study they had discussed and agreed with the provider what support would be helpful.
Case summary June 2024 | Partly Justified
A student was registered on a full-time MRes programme. At the end of two years of study, students who met certain academic requirements could be considered for transfer onto a PhD programme.
Case summary October 2023 | Justified
A student, Student A, was unhappy with the actions of Student B in their role as a student union officer. Student A spoke with Student B on two occasions in a week about their dissatisfaction. After these conversations Student B complained to the provider that Student A’s behaviour had been threatening.
Case summary March 2024 | Justified
A postgraduate student enrolled on a two-year programme. The second year of the programme was an optional industrial placement. Toward the end of their first year the student successfully secured a placement and provided details to the programme’s placement team.
Case summary July 2021 | Partly Justified
A student was renting a house with three other students. The accommodation agreement was with their higher education provider and the provider was renting the house (and others in the area) from private landlords.
Case summary February 2023 | Justified
A student was suspected of academic misconduct in an online examination. The log-in records showed that the student completed the assessment in less than 4 minutes. Some other students who completed the assessment also took a very short time. These students admitted that they had received information about the questions in the assessment from their peers who had chosen to access it at an earlier time within the permitted window. The information had been shared in a WhatsApp group.
Case summary February 2023 | Not Justified
A student was studying a taught postgraduate programme and had to take an open book exam for one module. After the exam, the provider told the student that it was investigating them for contract cheating. The student was suspected of uploading some questions from the exam to a website, asking for answers from other users. The student admitted that they had posted a question but said they didn’t look at the answers. They said they had some difficult personal circumstances at the time that had affected their judgment.
Case summary January 2024 | Partly Justified
A student asked to move accommodation sites to be nearer other students on their course. The provider agreed to this. After the move, the student complained to the provider about illegal drug taking in the kitchen of the second accommodation. The provider moved the student to a third accommodation site while the allegation was investigated.
Case summary March 2024 | Not Justified
A nursing student was studying on a programme delivered in partnership between provider A and provider B. Provider B was responsible for organising placement opportunities and provider A was responsible for considering any complaints.
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.
