Case Summaries

The provider partly upheld the student’s complaint. It explained that there had been a delay in updating the student’s record after their return to the course, which meant that when the student had contacted the fees office no outstanding fees were showing on their account. But it said the outstanding fees the student had been invoiced for were correct and would not be waived. The provider offered the student a total of £250 for distress and inconvenience caused by delays in its complaints process and the communications about their fees.

The student complained to us because they were unhappy with the remedy offered and the way the provider dealt with their complaint. They wanted their final tuition fee instalment to be refunded. We partly upheld their complaint (we decided it was Partly Justified).
We thought it was reasonable for the provider to have decided it wouldn’t refund the student’s tuition fees because the student had attended during the period in question. But we didn’t think the provider’s offer to resolve the complaint was reasonable. 

The student had told the provider that they didn’t understand the amount they had been invoiced, which was more than the advertised course fee. While the discrepancy in amounts was relatively small, the provider hadn’t engaged with this part of the student’s complaint. It was also unclear why there had been a significant delay in issuing the student’s invoice. 

The student had autism and was affected by severe anxiety. We didn’t think the provider had properly considered the impact of the issues and of the delay in its complaints procedure on them. To put things right for the student we recommended that the provider should apologise, clearly explain to the student how the invoices were calculated and refund any overcharge. We also recommended £750 as compensation for distress and inconvenience and made good practice Recommendations for the provider to review the way it handles complaints.