We have today (7 December 2022) published the revised Good Practice Framework: Handling complaints and academic appeals.
This first and main section of the Good Practice Framework sets out guidance on handling complaints and academic appeals in higher education in England and Wales. It is intended to support providers to develop and follow fair processes, and to be a tool to help any provider to evaluate their own processes. It can also be a useful resource for students and those who advise them as guidance on what good complaints and appeals processes should look like.
We are very grateful for the many positive and constructive responses to our consultation on the draft revised version from staff working at providers, student representative bodies, and sector organisations, and for the helpful input from our Steering Group.
The main developments in the revised section are:
- Updating the language of the principles, and separating them into a standalone part of the Good Practice Framework to make it clearer that they apply across all sections of the Framework
- An additional document to explain what we mean when we talk about bias, in response to feedback that identified this as a key area where clarification would be helpful
- New or expanded guidance on what to do when more than one process might apply, complaints about student representative bodies, complaints about behaviour of staff or other students, and group complaints
- Bringing together the guidance on the process for both complaints and appeals to help avoid duplication – but still drawing distinctions between the two processes where necessary.
Following the consultation we have made some further changes and additions to the section to further develop the guidance or clarify the meaning, and added some more case studies to illustrate some points. We have also made some changes to the Principles and Bias documents.
Felicity Mitchell, the Independent Adjudicator said:
“The Good Practice Framework is a cornerstone of our work to share learning from complaints to help improve policies and practices and the student experience. We hope this revised and updated guidance will be helpful to providers, and to students who need to use these processes, as well as those who advise and support them.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For further information please contact Sarah Liddell, Head of Leadership Office, mediarelations@oiahe.org.uk, 0118 959 9813.
- The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) is the independent student complaints ombuds service for higher education in England and Wales. It is the designated operator of the student complaints’ scheme under the Higher Education Act 2004.
- Our Scheme is free to students and has been designed to be accessible to all students, without the need for legal representation.
- We have a wide remit to review student complaints about higher education providers in England and Wales, as set out in our Scheme Rules.
- You can find further information about the Scheme and our work at https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.
- The Good Practice Framework: Handling complaints and academic appeals is the main section of the OIA’s Good Practice Framework which consists of six sections. The new Principles and Bias guidance relate to all sections of the Framework.
- The updated section and the Principles and Bias guidance was published on the Good Practice Framework page of our website in English and in Welsh on 7 December 2022.