Case Summaries

A small group of students were studying for a health-related course with practical elements. They complained to their provider about the quality and delivery of their first year and disruption to their studies during the second year because of industrial action and the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

The provider told the students that most of their complaint had been raised too late and could not be considered under the provider’s complaints process. It said that measures had been taken to ensure that students can still meet their learning outcomes during the Covid-19 disruption, and that concerns about that disruption could not be considered under the complaints policy.

We decided that the complaint was Partly Justified. We concluded that it was reasonable for the provider to decide that the students’ complaint about course quality and delivery were out of time because they were raised too late. The students didn’t make a complaint during their first year. They first complained in the first term of their second year but although they were told how to progress their complaint if they wished to do so they didn’t take any further action. By the time they raised these concerns again it was too late for the provider to address them.

But we concluded that it was not reasonable for the provider to refuse to consider the students' complaint about disruption caused by the coronavirus lockdown. The provider had not explained what it had done to minimise disruption to the students’ studies or why it was satisfied that it had delivered teaching that was broadly equivalent to its usual arrangements. We recommended that the provider should consider the students’ complaint about the disruption caused by the lockdown.

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