We have today published a casework note and some case summaries of complaints on service issues, including consumer rights.
The casework note sets out some of the issues we see in complaints about service issues, including consumer rights, and identifies some areas of good practice, and the case summaries illustrate some of these.
We categorise a broad range of complaints from students as complaints about service issues. The complaints are often about the student’s experience of their course and raise issues such as teaching, course delivery, supervision, and course related facilities. Sometimes the complaints are about non-course service issues that relate to the wider student experience, for example the provision of welfare services like careers guidance and advice. We draw a distinction between complaints about course-based service issues and non-course service issues when we report on complaints within our Annual Reports. We also have a separate category for complaints about financial issues such as fees and funding.
Many of the complaints we see involve there being some sort of gap between what was promised, or what the student had expected, and what was actually delivered. These complaints can relate to the student’s consumer rights. The complaints we have reviewed illustrate how delays in addressing complaints can mean that opportunities to take practical steps to put things right are lost.
We hope the casework note and the case summaries will be helpful to providers, student representative bodies and students.
ENDS
Notes to editors
For further information please contact Lisa Ivey, Communications & Service Improvement Officer, mediarelations@oiahe.org.uk, 0118 959 9813.
1. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) is the independent student complaints ombuds service for higher education in England and Wales. It is the designated operator of the student complaints’ scheme under the Higher Education Act 2004.
2. Our Scheme is free to students and has been designed to be accessible to all students, without the need for legal representation.
3. We have a wide remit to review student complaints about higher education providers in England and Wales, as set out in our Scheme Rules.
4. We publish casework notes and case summaries as part of our wider work to share learning from complaints and provide good practice guidance, including our Good Practice Framework.
5. You can find further information about the Scheme and our work at https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.