UK Quality Code, Advice and Guidance: Concerns, Complaints and Appeals
Publication date: 29 Nov 2018
This Theme sets out the guiding principles which underpin concerns, complaints and appeals handling, offering practical advice and useful resources to help providers operate effective systems. It explains how the processes for someone to raise their dissatisfaction, promotes equality of opportunity and the rights of all students to benefit from a high-quality academic experience, and to access the support they need to succeed.
Expectations and Practices for Concerns, Complaints and Appeals
Expectations
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Expectations
Expectations for quality
Courses are well-designed, provide a high-quality academic experience for all students and enable a student’s achievement to be reliably assessed.
From admission through to completion, all students are provided with the support that they need to succeed in and benefit from higher education.
Practices
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Practices
Core practice for quality
The provider has fair and transparent procedures for handling complaints and appeals which are accessible to all students.
Common practice for quality
The provider reviews its core practices for quality regularly and uses the outcomes to drive improvement and enhancement.
Guiding Principles
- Concerns, complaints and appeals are used to improve the student experience.
- Concerns, complaints and appeals procedures are accessible and inclusive.
- Information is clear and transparent.
- People raising concerns or making complaints or appeals are treated with dignity and respect, and their well-being is properly considered.
- Concerns, complaints and appeals processes are proportionate and allow for cases to be resolved as early as possible.
- Concerns, complaints and appeals procedures are fair and impartial.
- Confidentiality and anonymity are appropriately assured.
- Concerns, complaints and appeals are resolved in as timely a way as possible.
- Good Practice Framework for handing complaints and academic appeals, Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA)
- Case summaries of complaints, Office of the Independent Adjudicators (OIA)
- Guidelines on remedies and redress, Office of the Independent Adjudicators (OIA)
- Completion of Procedures (COP) letter, Office of the Independent Adjudicators (OIA)
- Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Information Commissioner's Office (2022)
- The Data Protection Act 2018: The UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), GOV.UK
- Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) advice, GOV.UK
- The Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO)
- Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Human Rights Act 1998 Article 8, GOV.UK
- Investigatory Powers Act 2016, GOV.UK
- Standards of proof in fitness to practise proceedings, GOV.UK
- Information about Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Complaints, GOV.UK
- Regulatory notifications and complaints scheme (England-only), Office for Students (OfS)
- Welsh language standard
- Papyrus guidance for universities on preventing student suicides, Universities UK (UUK)
- Guidance on whistleblowing, GOV.UK
- Equality Charters, Advance HE
- Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Delivering Learning Opportunities with Others, Office of the Independent Adjudicators (OIA)
- Information Commissioner's Office
- Restorative justice and approaches
- Wales Restorative justice and approaches
- Civil mediation advice
- Guidance on a Model Complaints Handling Procedure, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (2011)