Representing a student
A student can ask someone else to represent them in their complaint to us, for example a students’ union representative, a friend or relative. We will need the student’s permission to communicate with that person, which they can give by completing section two of our Complaint Form.
If you are representing a student through our process you will need to make sure that you:
- understand their complaint;
- know what outcome the student wants;
- can and will act in the student’s best interests and keep them fully informed throughout the process.
Once you have been appointed as a student’s representative, we will normally only correspond with you.
If a group of students has a complaint about the same issue(s), they may appoint one of their group to represent the whole group.
Our procedures are informal, so it is not usually necessary to use a lawyer. For this reason, we will not normally recommend that a provider should contribute towards a student’s legal costs, even if we decide the complaint is Justified.
Making a complaint to us does not prevent a student from bringing legal proceedings against the provider if they are unhappy with our final decision.
For more information on how to make a complaint on behalf of the student, please see our student hub.