Student Complaints Procedure

The informal stage could include discussing this issue with the member of staff most directly responsible for the area of work causing concern, with the aim of resolving it as soon as possible. It is expected that both sides will make a genuine and reasonable attempt to resolve any issues at this stage.

In cases of alleged bullying and harassment, you should first seek advice of a Dignity and Respect adviser.

Where your complaint is about a member of staff and you do not feel you can raise this directly you should aim to raise this with another staff member of the relevant Faculty/Service area, for example the Director of Education and Student Experience for your Department or other Professional Services staff in the relevant service. Exceptionally if you feel unable to raise the matter yourself the Students’ Guild Advice Unit in Devon, or the Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union in Cornwall, with your consent, will be willing to help you unless there is a conflict of interest. Before doing so you should see advice from the Students’ Guild Advice Unit in Devon, or the Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union in Cornwall.

The Informal Stage ends when one of the following applies:

• When you have received a written outcome to your informal complaint from the member of staff considering your complaint at the informal stage
• When you have not received a response within 5 working days of requesting a meeting to discuss your complaint with the member of staff responsible for the area of work about which you wish to raise a concern.
• Where you have been unable to arrange a meeting within a reasonable amount of time of contacting the member of staff concerned.
• When no written outcome has been received within 15 working days following a meeting or your email outlining your concerns if a meeting was not necessary (or you have not received an acceptable resolution within the alternative timescale you have agreed with the member of staff), you should email the member of staff advising them you will be making a formal complaint.

If you are a Taught student, and you wish to submit a Formal Complaint about your academic experience to your Faculty having been dissatisfied with outcome of your Informal Complaint, you must put the complaint in writing on the Complaint Form - Formal Stage and send it to the relevant address below:

• Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy - ESE-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences - HASS-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• Faculty of Health and Life Sciences - HLS-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• For students based at our Penryn Campus - Penryn-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk

On receipt your Formal Complaint will passed to the person nominated by the Faculty to consider Formal Complaints. This will usually be the Faculty Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education with the support of the Senior Education Partner for the Faculty.

For all Postgraduate Research wishing to a raise a Formal Complaint about academic experience, once you have completed the informal stage, please send your completed Complaint Form to: pgr-student-cases@exeter.ac.uk

For Services, Formal Complaints should be sent directly to the member of staff nominated by the Service to handle complaints on the relevant Service website.

Your details, the details of the complaint, the remedy sought, and any supporting evidence should be included. You should also explain how you have attempted to raise the matter informally and why you remain dissatisfied. You should attach evidence to the form confirming that the informal stage has been completed. Unless you can demonstrate that you have been unable to receive an informal resolution of your complaint, you may be asked to return to the informal stage before a formal complaint can be considered.

If your complaint is not resolved under the Formal Stage, you may refer it to the University centrally via the Student Cases Office within 10 working days of the date of the final response letter from the Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor or Head of Service (or nominee) under 7.2.7. For your Review Stage complaint to be accepted your will need to demonstrate one or more of the following grounds and provide supporting evidence:

• The new and relevant information is available that for good reason and independently verifiable reasons was not available at the Review Stage and now ought to be considered.
• That at the Review Stage the College or Service failed to follow the University's procedures.
• That the conduct of the investigation into your complaint was subject to bias and/or prejudice against you.
• The decision reached at the Formal Stage is one at which no reasonable body (properly directing itself and taking into account all relevant factors) could have arrived at.

You should send copies of all relevant documentation with the Complaint form - Request for Review to studentcases@exeter.ac.uk.