Case Summaries
Back to Case SummariesStudent protection - PI112502
Public interest case November 2025 | Justified
This case summary about ABA College illustrates the impact on individual students where there is a gap in student protection.
Public interest information
This case summary about ABA College illustrates the impact on individual students where there is a gap in student protection. We have frequently raised concerns about protections for students who study for HE qualifications awarded by organisations that are not OIA members. This case illustrates the real life impact of this situation. By sharing this information we hope to influence a change in student protection. You can read more information about the background in our Wonkhe article.
This case summary also illustrates the impact on students of an insolvency regime which does not prioritise students who are treated as unsecured creditors once a provider goes into liquidation.
ABA was also found to be non-compliant on another matter as reported in our Annual Report 2024.
In 2024 we received individual complaints from four students who had been studying at ABA for a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (DET). The DET was awarded by City & Guilds.
The complaints are almost identical, so we have summarised one student’s experience.
The student began the course in January 2023 and completed their studies in December 2023. By the end of their course, the student had received provisional pass marks from ABA for all their assessed work.
Between January and July 2024, the student was in communication with ABA, asking when they would receive their DET certificate. In July, ABA told the student that it was still waiting for some information from City & Guilds. The student contacted City & Guilds, and was told that City & Guilds had no record of any completed work on their account. The student did not receive any further information until September, when ABA told the student that they had carried out a review. This review had identified that there were gaps in the work submitted by all students on the DET and it was likely that they would need to complete additional assessed work before City & Guilds could issue the qualification.
The student complained to ABA that it was unfair to be expected to do further work almost a year after completing the course. The student also asked what further work would be required. Initially, ABA did not reply and the student complained to us.
In October 2024, ABA closed and went into voluntary liquidation. ABA told the student that it could not offer any further support and that they would need to complete their studies at another provider.
Although ABA is a member of our Scheme, City & Guilds is not. We can only review the actions of ABA but we did seek information from City & Guilds. It told us that in March 2025 it had completed a review of ABA’s assessment portfolios. There was not enough information for it to be satisfied that the requirements of the qualification had been met by any of the DET students at ABA and it could not therefore issue the qualification to those students. It was supporting students by offering them information about alternative course providers.
We upheld the student’s complaint (we decided that it was Justified). The student had completed all of the work that had been set and had not been given any indication by ABA during their studies that their work was not of the required standard. This was unfair and was a significant systemic failure in ABA’s quality assurance processes.
As a result of the closure of ABA, the student is unable to complete any additional work at ABA. The only way for the student to achieve the qualification is to begin again, and to pay the tuition fee again, in full, to another provider. This was unfair and was a significant systemic failure in ABA’s student protection planning.
In circumstances where there have been such failings, we would normally recommend that a provider should either refund the student’s tuition fees in full or meet any additional tuition fee costs that the student would now incur to obtain their qualification. We would also consider an additional payment, recognising either the student’s disappointment at not being able to complete the qualification, or recognising the distress and inconvenience caused to the student during the period of additional study.
ABA is in liquidation and the liquidators have informed us that they would not be able to comply with any Recommendation we might make. Accordingly, we have not made any Recommendations for financial compensation, but we have issued a Complaint Outcome document to the student that they can provide in support of a claim to the liquidators as an unsecured creditor. We have not made any good practice Recommendations to ABA because it has closed and is no longer delivering any HE courses. We shared information about the complaints with the Office for Students (OfS), Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual.
We have great sympathy for the student (and the others who complained to us) and draw attention to the high level of emotional distress they experienced, compounded by poor communication from ABA and then by its closure. The student is now repaying their student loan for the qualification that they have been unable to complete, through no fault of their own.