Vice-chancellors have suggested scrapping the ancient visitor system in favour of a higher education ombudsman.
This would usher in a uniform system of dealing with student complaints and appeals in universities.
Previously the vice-chancellors have argued that the visitor system, in which a figurehead such as the Queen or a local bishop is the final arbiter of disputes, has served them well and that scrapping it would be a threat to their autonomy.
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals raises the prospect of an ombudsman in a consultation paper published today. It stops short of recommending immediate reform because it would require legislative changes but the paper does acknowledge that the system is flawed because it is not perceived as independent and transparent.
The paper recommends short-term improvements and proposes setting up regional complaints review panels that could provide a new tier in the complaints process, adding an independent and external element. The panels would replace the diverse internal systems in the new universities, which do not have a visitor but are subject to judicial review. In old universities in the short term, it is suggested, the visitor could be used as a last resort.
Greg Ward, policy advisor at the Standing Conference of Principals and a member of the CVCP's working group on complaints, said: "We took the view that we should improve the system as much as we can now, but that we should keep our minds open about the future."
The Quality Assurance Agency is the latest body to call for a government-led review of the system. Under pressure from ministers, it spent three years attempting to implement the Dearing recommendation that universities should have independent and external procedures for complaints. It scrapped its plans for external review, saying that Dearing's requirements could only be met through a constitutional review of old and new universities.
The National Union of Students has been campaigning for an ombudsman.
There are also concerns that the system will fall foul of the European convention on human rights, which demands "a fair and public hearing" for the determination of people's civil rights. The convention will apply to Britain from October this year.
Education law expert Gary Attle said: "Most now acknowledge that there is going to have to be reform of the visitor system. We do not quite yet know how the Human Rights Act will impact, but we all know the visitor system cannot carry on as it is."
Mr Attle, of solicitors Mills and Reeve, said the problem was that the visitorial jurisdiction rules out any further court action by the complainant. "Is it fair to refuse the student access to court?" he asked.
Abolition of the visitor system would require legislative changes. Ministers are said to be privately keen for change but reluctant to interfere in the constitution of chartered universities.
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