Submitting a Complaint

The University is committed to resolving complaints quickly and efficiently to minimise the impact on students. Complaints should therefore be raised as soon as possible and within 30 calendar days of the issue arising. Complaints raised after this timeframe will usually not be considered unless the student can show good cause why the complaint was not raised in a timely way.

The first step of the process is to raise an informal complaint with the member of staff most directly responsible for area of work about your concerns. This might be module convenor or Director of Education and Student Experience in your Department for academic matters or for services, the relevant manager such as the Info Point Manager. Before submitting your informal complaint, you may want to seek advice. You may either meet with the member of staff or you can, if you prefer, put your concerns in writing. When setting out your complaint you should be clear about what the issues are, the impact they are having and any proposed remedies to resolve the complaint, as well as providing any evidence to support your complaint. The member of staff considering your complaint will provide you with an outcome as quickly as possible.

The University wishes to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and often most issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently at the informal stage. Therefore, all complaints must be considered at the informal stage before the formal stage is started.

If you remain dissatisfied after the informal stage, you may submit a Formal Complaint to the Faculty Cases Team. This should be done on a Formal Complaint Form within 10 working days of receiving the informal outcome. A copy of the informal outcome and any relevant evidence should also be supplied with your Formal Complaint Form. Once you have done this you can expect an acknowledgement of your complaint within five working days and to be invited to a meeting to discuss your complaint. After the meeting your complaint will be investigated, and you will be provided with an outcome to your formal complaint.

A Lead Investigator will be appointed to investigate your complaint. This investigator will be independent and will have not been involved with your complaint at the Informal Stage. Typically for matters relating to educational provision and academic matters the Lead Investigator will be the Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Education for the Faculty or the Associate Dean for Education for delegated Schools within Faculties. If you are complaining about a University service, then typically a Senior Manager within that service will be appointed. If a number of Faculties and/or Services are involved in the complaint a Lead Investigator will be appointed from one of Faculties or Services who will then liaise with relevant staff from other Faculties or Services to consider the aspects of the complaint relating to this Faculty or Service.