Students 'making more complaints against universities'

Wed 16 Jun 2010

A growing number of students are making complaints against universities in England and Wales.

According to the Office for the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), 1,007 complaints were submitted in 2009.

This is 12 per cent up on the previous year and almost twice the amount recorded in 2005.

Figures also showed that nearly a fifth of the complaints made by students were either completely upheld or said to be partly justified.

The OIA statistics revealed that in one case, a university had to pay out £45,000 to a PhD student in a dispute that was not resolved for more than three years.

Universities minister David Willetts has therefore suggested that higher education institutions look at improving their internal complaints processes and provide students with clear information.

He said an effective complaints procedure would help universities to better understand the requirements and expectations of students.

Stephen Hart, senior solicitor at Winckworth Sherwood, added: "David Willetts is right to stress to universities the need to improve their internal complaints processes.

"These should be focused on dealing with complaints speedily and fairly.

"The case of the PhD student, which took three years to resolve, is a good example of an aggrieved situation being made worse by delay.

"Our advice to universities is to have a casework unit - preferably a student complaints team or, if necessary, their HR team - to deal with more serious student complaints.

"This should mean that they will be dealt with expeditiously.

"There is also a role for governors here to make sure that their university focuses on performance management for academics and the overall student experience."