Case Summaries

The student submitted a complaint to the original course provider. The student explained they were unable to accept the transfer support package because they had young children, which meant they were unable to travel to the new provider. They said this left them without compensation for the tuition and maintenance loans they had incurred for their first and second years. They also requested compensation for loss of earnings after giving up paid employment to join the course, and additional compensation for distress and inconvenience for the impact of the situation on their mental health.

The provider did not uphold the student’s complaint, explaining the transfer support package had been developed to support students with the additional costs of needing to extend their studies, rather than to compensate them for the tuition and maintenance loans they had taken out prior to the course closure. The provider didn’t uphold the student’s request for compensation for loss of earnings because it decided the student’s decision to give up paid employment to join the course wasn’t related to the PSRB’s decision to withdraw its accreditation. However, the provider invited the student to provide further evidence about the impact on their mental health, which it would be willing to consider.

While the provider didn’t uphold the student’s individual complaint, it offered the student a Cert HE exit award and £7,500 under the compensation package that had been developed for all affected students, in addition to a £2,000 support payment that had already been made.

The student was unhappy with the provider’s decision not to uphold their complaint and complained to us. During our review we contacted the provider to discuss our initial view of the case and invited it to consider whether it would be willing to explore settling the complaint. We set out our initial view that the provider’s compensation offer was unreasonable because it didn’t properly take into account the student’s individual circumstances. They had been left unable to complete the course, with a significant loan debt, through no fault of their own. While the provider had offered a Cert HE exit award, this was in the context of the PSRB’s view that the course was inadequate. The student would not be able to use the exit award in the future to transfer onto the same professional qualification for the full amount of credits they had studied. Nor did the exit award allow the student to enter the professional workforce at a different level. We were also concerned about the reasonableness of asking the student for additional evidence before it would re-consider the distress and inconvenience component of its financial offer when it was clear from their circumstances the situation would’ve caused the student additional distress.

The provider re-considered the circumstances and the remedies the student had initially requested. It agreed the student’s circumstances were unusual and offered to put forward an alternative offer of a full tuition fee refund to SLC, just over £28,000 for loss of earnings, and £7,000 for distress and inconvenience in full and final settlement of the complaint. The student accepted the offer and the complaint was Settled.