Contact our specialist education law solicitors today to see how we can help you. Speak to one of our team on 01633 240743 or click the ‘Contact us’ button to send us an email and one of our lawyers will call you back at a time to suit you.
How can we help?
Our university solicitors at Watkins & Gunn understand that students pay substantial amounts of money to study at university and also invest a significant amount of time with their studies. As such, students should receive the support and services they have paid for. Our higher education lawyers can help you raise a valid and robust formal complaint in order to increase the prospects of a successful and swift resolution.
Our higher education solicitors can help you navigate the complex processes and procedures via the University’s internal complaints procedure and regulations. Universities across England and Wales will have their own individual policies or regulations, so it important to know the exact deadlines and grounds of complaint that apply. It is therefore important to contact our university lawyers urgently as there usually are very tight deadlines to raise a valid formal complaint or appeal.
A complaints process may involve various steps or stages, limited grounds or may require certain documentation to support your complaint. Our education law solicitors are experienced in dealing with many universities across England and Wales and are therefore can confidently guide you through the complaints process.
What is classed as a formal complaint?
Students may raise concerns and complaints with staff members (such as a lecturer), but these complaints may not be considered and dealt with as a ‘formal complaint’. The process of starting a formal complaint will be set out within the University’s own rules and may require certain forms to be completed and certain grounds to be met.
A formal complaint can include several different concerns including inadequate supervision, administrative errors, lack of appropriate facilities or failures to meet specific obligations.
Our university law solicitors can help navigate the complex process of raising a valid formal complaint. Our higher education lawyers provide full, fair and balanced advice. Our education law experts understand that students who have not yet completed their studies will want to maintain their relationship with staff members, so we will look to help draft a fair, balanced and robust formal complaint.
Complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA)
The OIA is an independent student complaints body for England and Wales. The OIA receives and responds to complaints from university students regarding their higher education provider. If the OIA considers that a complaint is eligible and justified, they can look to make recommendations to put things right.
A student may be tempted to submit a complaint to the OIA without raising a formal complaint to the University first. However, the OIA may require you to exhaust the University’s internal complaints process first before being able to submit a complaint to the OIA.
Our higher education law solicitors can help you submit a robust complaint from the very start of the University’s internal process and can also help you to submit a complaint to the OIA. The OIA will usually require you to have been provided a ‘Completion of Procedures’ letter from your university before being permitted to submit a complaint to the OIA.
A complaint to the OIA can be a swift and cost-effective alternative to brining a claim with the Court. You can read more about the OIA and how we can help you to make a complaint here.
Why instruct us?
Our university solicitors are higher education law specialists who are experienced in drafting and submitting formal complaints. Our university lawyers will help to draft a robust complaint from the very outset in order to ensure your complaint has the best possible chance of success.
University law can involve complicated processes with strict rules, deadlines and regulations. Our university solicitors can help you navigate these complex processes and make sure that your complaint is clear, concise and robust. Our higher education solicitors will provide clear advice on the prospects of your complaint and inform you the best possible way to achieve your outcomes.
Other services
Our university law solicitors assist students with several other university related disputes including:
- Academic Misconduct Appeals
- Degree Classification Appeals
- Disciplinary Appeals (non‐academic misconduct)
- Plagiarism appeals
- University Fitness to Practise appeals
- Disputes/appeals with PhD
- Further and Higher Education Funding
- Complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA)