An analysis of case work and sector engagement during 2025 in the Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s Annual Report highlights how the higher education system is under strain.
The report confirms the OIA made 107 good practice recommendations to higher education providers during the year. Around a fifth referred to training for staff who carry out processes and procedures.
Universities, colleges and other providers were recommended to pay more than £1.8million in compensation to students who complained to the OIA during 2025.
Barring 2024, the sum is the highest in the OIA’s 21-year history by some way. It is split between £875,933 offered to students when cases were judged to be justified or partly justified, and £962,979 offered in settlements between students and their higher education provider before a formal decision was reached.
The largest single payments were £38,000 as part of a settlement, and £15,600 in a recommendation following a review. A total of 165 students received £5,000 or more, of whom 26 received £10,000 or more.
Many of these higher amounts included partial tuition fee refunds, while others are for disappointment or distress and inconvenience.
Helen Megarry, Independent Adjudicator of Higher Education in England and Wales, said: “Our analysis shows clearly yet again that the higher education system is under growing strain. Every recommendation or payment is an indication that a student has not received the service they expect at a time when fees and cost of living pressures are increasing.
“They demonstrate a concerning picture across the country which leaders need to consider how to act on.
“We only see the tip of the iceberg - unhappy students who have reached the end of our complaints scheme after first negotiating their own provider’s process.”
Financial compensation is usually a last resort as there are other solutions available in complaints such as asking providers to re-examine cases.
The figures are contained in the OIA’s 2025 Annual Report, which adds: “Most of the complaints raised with us prematurely are brought by students who have begun the process but feel that they have waited too long for a decision. Delays are a symptom of a system under strain and may be one impact of the financial challenges facing providers.”
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Headlines in casework
- Academic appeals remained the biggest complaint category in 2025.
- Service issues increased from 30 to 33 per cent of complaints closed, pointing to ongoing pressure in individual provider delivery and complaint handling.
- While the sector continues to grapple with artificial intelligence challenges, it has not been an area of rapid growth within casework.
Ongoing themes
The three main themes of our 2024 Annual Report have continued in 2025:
- complaints from students at the end of an academic appeal process,
- complaints from disabled students, and
- complaints about bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.
In more than two-thirds of the academic appeal complaints in 2025, students raised a personal circumstance they said had impacted on their ability to engage with their learning or perform well in assessments. Students often raise other concerns alongside their personal circumstances, for example about the quality of teaching, supervision, feedback or pastoral support.
A total of 42 per cent of students complaining to the OIA disclosed a disability, and complaints involving reasonable adjustments were more likely to be upheld or settled. Cases where agreed support was not implemented properly, where communication was unclear, or where responsibility for putting support in place was not sufficiently well understood continued to arise. Small failures in process can have a significant impact where a student is relying on agreed adjustments. Failure to provide reasonable adjustments featured in 20 per cent of Justified cases we received from disabled students. Around 11 per cent of the academic appeals referred to disability support.
The OIA continued to uphold a high proportion of the complaints involving harassment and sexual misconduct. During 2025 new best practice guidance on these issues was developed, which will be published this year. Although the number of complaints about harassment and sexual misconduct has risen, as a proportion of overall cases it is consistent with recent years at just above five per cent.
Most often complaints in this area were about the conduct of another student, but some complaints relate to staff behaviour. These rarely involved physical contact and were more likely to relate to how staff spoke to students or provided feedback on their work.
International students
This year, as in the past, international students remained overrepresented in complaints, especially in cases involving fees, refunds, deposits, attendance and visa-related issues. These trends cut across different course types. Their cases provide clear signals about where processes can break down, particularly at key transition points such as enrolment and withdrawal. Clear information, accurate advice and careful handling of fees and visas remain essential to reducing complaints in these areas.
Complaints by type of course
Complaints from students on Business and Management courses rose slightly, reflecting a steady growth in overall student numbers over recent years. Subjects allied to medicine saw a small decrease, broadly in line with sector numbers.
Biological and Sport sciences was the most underrepresented subject area, and Law continues to be the most overrepresented subject area.
The OIA’s Annual Report states: “The complaints we receive reveal a system that is resource intensive for providers and not always well understood by students. While providers are making efforts to increase accessibility and flexibility, the volume of cases and the nature of the complaints suggest that the current approach is not working as effectively as intended. Overall, this points to a process under strain: one that is fair on paper, and appropriately publicised in provider’s student-facing materials, but does not consistently resolve issues at the point they arise, leading instead to challenges through the academic appeal stages.”
Ends
For further information, contact communicationsteam@oiahe.org.uk.
Notes for editors:
- Our Operating Report for 2025, published in February, set out overall complaint figures.
- We will not be publishing further statistics or details relating to case summaries.