Review of Institutional Complaints and Appeals Procedures in ...

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Recommendation 9: That institutions run additional workshops on informal resolution of complaints and that the OIA identify ways of best sharing practice about informal resolution across the sector. Recommendation 10: That records are kept of the number and type of informal complaints and reported to the institution centrally alongside the statistics of the formal procedures. Formal procedures Recommendation 11: All staff that deal with complaints and appeals procedures should receive training from their institution, supported as appropriate by the OIA, and that this should be extended to academic staff, especially if they are also personal tutors. Recommendation 12: If an institution does not adhere to its own timetable then it should provide a detailed explanation why not. Recommendation 13: All complaints and appeals should be dealt with within three months of it being lodged with the institution. In the small number of cases where the student believes that the institution is dragging its feet, and the student has met the deadlines, they should also be able to go straight to an external body – possibly the OIA. Recommendation 14: Institutional complaints and appeals procedures should not have more than four stages. These could include an informal stage, a formal stage that may include mediation, and an appeals stage. Recommendation 15: Institutions should make explicit that they will respond quickly to any cases where there is a break-down in relationship between the student and the person they are complaining about on the basis of their complaint. Recommendation 16: If students have concerns about whether the procedures has been effectively followed at an early stage of the process they should be able to raise this at the time, rather than having to wait until they reach the OIA. Recommendation 17: There should be clear information on what evidence is required by, or acceptable from, the student as part of the complaints and appeals procedures. There should also be greater clarity about both the burden of proof and standard of proof. 3
Recommendation 18: Students should be given the option of presenting their case in person if they want and also to have support from a friend or students’ union representative if requested. Completing the circle – feeding back to students and students’ unions Recommendation 19: Institutions should make information available about the number of complaints and appeals to students’ union, both the overall number and those upheld in full or in part. This information should also include the data about complaints and appeals concerning all the qualifications that they accredit, even if it is delivered in an FE college or overseas. Recommendation 20: Institutions should also include information about their response to complaints, such as what they have done to review the procedures. Recommendation 21: That the OIA informs the students’ union at the institution of all cases referred to them where the students’ union has supported the student through the process. The OIA should also suggest to students that did not receive support from their students’ union they may want to inform the students’ union of the outcome of their case to prevent similar cases in the future. Perceptions Recommendation 22: That institutions do more to tackle student perceptions of their procedures. Institutions should conduct institution-wide research into the views of their students as part of their annual student surveys. Recommendation 23: That institutions review their procedures on a regular basis and that they include representatives of their students’ union in the process to improve the perception of their fairness. Recommendation 24: That institutions should consider having a student sitting on, or observing, the complaint or appeal panel to reassure students of the robustness and fairness of the procedure. 4
Page 1 and 2: Review of Institutional Complaints
Page 3: List of Recommendations There are a
Page 7 and 8: Finally, I would like to end by cal
Page 9 and 10: comprehensive series of system-wide
Page 11 and 12: Methodology NUS conducted research
Page 13 and 14: circumstances before the exam or as
Page 15 and 16: Informal procedures Informal proced
Page 17 and 18: It would be interesting to see how
Page 19 and 20: and so explanation of the next stag
Page 21 and 22: The project seeks to: • ‘To det
Page 23 and 24: When asked about whether an institu
Page 25 and 26: NUS believes that there should usua
Page 27 and 28: Chart D: How widespread do you thin
Page 29 and 30: distance-learning or the course is
Page 31 and 32: Completing the circle - Feeding bac
Page 33 and 34: Perceptions The first three precept
Page 35 and 36: Annex 1: Responses received from th
Page 37 and 38: - Distributed at enrolment/registra
Page 39 and 40: 14. How many stages does your insti
Page 41 and 42: 26. Are reasons given to the studen
Page 43 and 44: Information about your Institution
Page 45 and 46: Contact For more information please

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