Student complaints: universities pay out more than £1 million

A group of 400 students was awarded compensation totalling £640,000 as a rising number of grievances from medics and international students pushed complaints to record levels in England and Wales yet again.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) has released data detailing the cases it dealt with in 2022, when 2,850 complaints were received by the ombudsman – a 3 per cent increase on 2021.

Among the complaints settled – but excluded from the overall figures because of its volume – was a case related to a group of more than 400 students at a provider who complained about disruption to their arts-based courses caused by the pandemic. Although the institution in question is not named in the report, a group complaint from students at the Royal College of Art was already in the public domain.

It was decided that these complaints were “partly justified because the provider had not properly addressed some of the issues the students had raised about the disruption to their courses and had not provided sufficient information to show that it took reasonable steps to deliver the learning opportunities that it had promised”, the OIA’s report says. “We also thought that it took the provider too long to consider the complaints.”

The students received remedies based on how badly they had been affected by the disruption, ranging from an apology to £2,000 in compensation.

Aside from this case, students across England and Wales were awarded a total of £1,050,114 in financial remedies and settlement agreements relating to their complaints in 2022, a decrease on the £1.3 million awarded in 2021 but still way above the £742,132 paid out in 2020.

The highest single amount of compensation was more than £48,000, while 49 students received £5,000 or more.

In total, 3 per cent of cases were found to be justified, 7 per cent were partly justified and 15 per cent were settled in favour of the student; the rest were rejected.

One case highlighted by the OIA concerned a student with a mental health condition on a health-related course who could not start their placement on time and missed mandatory induction sessions. Their provider was told that it should have done more to resolve the issue, and it was recommended that the institution partially refund tuition fees and provide compensation.

Elsewhere, a group of students on a distance learning course who said their experience did not match that sold to them in marketing materials was also awarded compensation.

One student whose complaint was not upheld was accused of inappropriate behaviour and breaching their provider’s code of conduct. The OIA found that the provider’s response – a final written warning and restricting the student’s access to certain buildings – was proportionate.

Felicity Mitchell, the outgoing independent adjudicator, said the “increasing levels of distress among students who are struggling to cope” was a “major concern”.

“At the same time, the pressures on providers make it more difficult for them to support students effectively,” she added.

“In this challenging context, we received and closed our highest ever number of complaints, and shared learning from complaints through our good practice and outreach work. I am pleased to be leaving the OIA in robust health and well placed to continue its important work.”

When complaints were broken down by geography, the OIA found that a significant number came from non-European Union students, reflecting their growing presence in university populations across the country. Such students accounted for 19 per cent of the student body in England and Wales in the period 2021-22, but 27 per cent of the complaints.

With 447 complaints, business and management continued to be the most complained-about subject area, but the OIA noted a sizeable increase in the past two years in the number of grievances from students pursuing subjects related to medicine.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com