Case Summaries
Back to Case SummariesStudent transfer - CS122408
Case summary December 2024 | Partly Justified
A disabled student was studying a foundation year at provider A. Provider A had a partnership with provider B that allowed students studying the foundation year to apply to transfer directly into a degree programme offered by provider B. The student’s agreed reasonable adjustments weren’t properly put in place for their second semester exams, so the student was offered the opportunity to re-sit the exams as a first attempt during the summer re-sit period.
The student then complained to provider A that the issues they experienced with their reasonable adjustments meant they’d missed the application window to transfer to provider B because their re-sit results weren’t available until after the deadline had passed.
The provider partly upheld the student’s complaint, acknowledging reasonable adjustments hadn’t been properly put in place and that the student had now lost the opportunity to apply to transfer to provider B. It offered the student a £2,000 partial tuition fee refund, £1,000 compensation for distress and inconvenience and an apology. The student complained to us because they were unhappy with the provider’s offer. They asked for a full refund of their tuition fee and maintenance loans for the year, an enhanced sum for distress and inconvenience and a full apology. The student said they hadn’t received the apology the provider said it would make.
We partly upheld the student’s complaint (we decided it was Partly Justified). We decided it was reasonable for the provider not to have offered a full tuition fee refund. The student had received tuition and had use of the provider’s facilities and resources throughout the year and had successfully achieved their award. We also decided it was reasonable for the provider not to have refunded the student’s maintenance loan because they would’ve incurred general living expenses whether or not they were studying.
The student had missed the opportunity to apply to transfer to provider B. We noted that, students aren’t guaranteed a place and it was not possible to say whether the student’s application would have been accepted had they applied. But losing the opportunity to apply caused the student significant distress. We didn’t think the amount of compensation offered properly addressed the extent of the distress and inconvenience that had been caused because the student’s reasonable adjustments were not in place. The provider was also unable to demonstrate that it had apologised to the student. To put things right for the student we recommended £2,500 as compensation for distress and inconvenience, a full apology and that the provider re-make its offer of a partial tuition fee refund. The provider had already taken steps to improve its procedures for ensuring reasonable adjustments are in place for exams.