Case Summaries

A one-year postgraduate student, student A, complained to their provider early in the academic year that she had been sexually assaulted by another student, student B, and that he had behaved in a harassing and inappropriate way toward her on other occasions. The provider considered whether student B had committed sexual misconduct under its disciplinary procedures.

Student A received an outcome to her complaint shortly before the end of the academic year. The provider confirmed the disciplinary case was concluded and explained what steps had been put in place to ensure student B didn’t have any contact with student A. The provider acknowledged that there had been delays and several other shortcomings in its communication with student A during the process. It apologised to the student and said it was already reviewing its processes to ensure better service in the future.

The provider issued a Completion of Procedures Letter (COP Letter) and the student complained to us. The student explained she had been very distressed by both student B’s conduct and the way her complaint had been dealt with by the provider, causing her mental health to deteriorate significantly. She explained that having the situation hanging over her for most of the academic year had prevented her from completing her studies and she asked for financial compensation.

During our review we contacted the provider to discuss our initial view of the case. The student raised a number of issues in their complaint to us, including complaints about how she was treated during the disciplinary investigation. It would’ve been good practice for the provider to explain what steps the student could take if she was unhappy with the outcome of the complaint, or the way the complaint was handled, and we didn’t think the provider had given the student a proper opportunity to raise her concerns before issuing its COP Letter. While the provider acknowledged in its decision letter that there had been shortcomings in the way it dealt with the case, we were concerned the provider hadn’t properly considered the impact of those issues on student A or provided her with an adequate remedy.

We were also concerned the provider hadn’t properly considered the impact of student B’s conduct on student A. It was also unclear whether the provider had considered whether there was other information it could’ve shared about the outcome of the disciplinary process beyond the very limited information student A had been given.

We invited the provider to consider whether it wanted to put forward an offer to settle the complaint. The provider offered a further apology and £5,000 in compensation for distress and inconvenience. The student wanted to complete her studies but due to the impact the case had had on her, she didn’t want to return to campus in person. The provider also offered to support the student in completing her remaining studies without attendance. The student accepted the provider’s offers and the complaint to us was Settled.