Newly-published data shows the number of complaints brought by students to the OIA has risen again, for the ninth consecutive year.
The OIA has today published its annual Operating Report for the 2025 calendar year. It shows that:
- 4,234 complaints were received during 2025, a 17 per cent increase on 2024, and
- 3,950 complaints were resolved during the year, an eight per cent increase on 2024.
More than 90% of complaints were closed within six months, with the average length of time to process a case being 81 days. The OIA has reduced the average length of time to deal with a student’s complaint from 125 days in 2023.
Helen Megarry, the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education in England and Wales said: “The figures are clear, we have received over 4,000 student complaints for the first time, but the numbers have been increasing for nine years.
“We know how hard universities, colleges and other providers work at supporting individual students, but the complexities of people’s higher education experience, especially those who are disabled, international or mature students is driving a consistent upward trend.
“At the same time, the pressures that have shaped the sector in recent years continue to show themselves: financial constraints*, workforce challenges, rising student needs and heightened expectations around fairness and transparency. Against this background, we have seen high levels of demand, with sustained increases in complaints and indications that further rises remain likely.
“We’ve focused on making our Scheme accessible, timely and responsive to all students, adapting our processes and investing in new ways of working without compromising the quality or independence of our decisions. We now need to further consider how we make our Scheme more efficient to operate, easier for students to use and for providers to work within. This will form a key part of our work during the next 12 months.”
The OIA provides a free service to students but only after they have been through a higher education provider’s internal complaints process. This means the vast majority of complaints are resolved before they reach OIA for independent review.
Helen Megarry added: “Giving students access to our free, independent and impartial complaints scheme is a vital part of the HE landscape, especially as fees increase and the sector continues to see providers under financial pressure. We recognise the worry and pressure that working through a complaints process can create, especially after a student has been through an internal review. With that in mind, we’re particularly proud to have reduced the average time it takes us to resolve a case by more than 40 days in the last two years.”
The OIA’s 2025 Operating Report, provides first review of its activity during the past calendar year. The report sets out that 20 per cent of complaints received favourable outcomes for students. In addition, 50 per cent of complaints were not justified, 20 per cent were not eligible for consideration and nine per cent of cases were either withdrawn or terminated.
The OIA’s Annual Report, due to be published in late April, will provide further detail on the different types of complaint and sector trends identified through outreach and data analysis.
The Operating Report also sets out how the OIA’s good practice work continued to grow in reach and sophistication. The OIA is an independent but integral part of the regulatory system. Its insight and good practice development helps ensure that learning from complaints contributes to better policies, fairer processes and more consistent experiences for future students. The OIA is uniquely placed to see not only where things have gone wrong, but what might prevent similar issues from arising again.
ENDS
Notes to editors
In May 2025, an OfS analysis finds continued pressure on university finances - Office for Students.
For further information, contact communicationsteam@oiahe.org.uk.
- 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.
- Our Scheme is free to students and has been designed to be accessible to all students, without the need for legal representation.
- We have a wide remit to review student complaints about higher education providers in England and Wales, as set out in our Scheme Rules.
- Using our insight to help the higher education sector develop best practice and learn from complaints is a key part of our work.
- Journalists and others can find further information about the Scheme and our work at https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.