Accessibility Tools
Sign in
Click to Search Click to Search

Complaints

Had an issue on your course or with another student or in halls? Maybe you should consider a complaint.

 

You won’t be treated any differently by the University if you do complain, unless its false and used as a way to harass particular staff members or students. 

 

Our Advice Team will be able to review your potential complaint at any stage, including before you submit it, and advisers can attend any complaints meetings and provide support throughout the process.

 

 

 

Time Frame for your Complaint

 

You have three months from the date of your issue to successfully complain. 

It’s one month if you have left university. 

 

 

 

Informal solution or Stage 1

Here is the essential information regarding submitting your initial complaint:

  • Contact someone directly within your faculty, such as your personal tutor or programme leader and make it clear it’s an informal complaint.
  • You can detail ‘Stage 1 complaint’ within the subject line of your email.
  • Bullet point your issues in a chronological order and ask for a resolution or meeting with the relevant staff.
  • You can complain as a group; one person will need to appoint themselves the lead and the other students involved will detail their name and student number in support. You must attach relevant evidence to support your complaint.

 

You should then receive a written outcome to your informal complaint within 28 calendar days.

 

You will have 14 working days to submit a formal complaint if you are unhappy with your informal complaint outcome

 

 

 

Formal solution or Stage 2

 

Here is the essential information regarding submitting stage 2 of a complaint:

 

  • Fill out a formal complaint form, detail what the issues are and how it has affected you. Make sure you evidence it and specify your intended outcome. 
  • You can complete this stage as a group complaint.
  • Once submitted, your complaint will be considered by an impartial staff member from the University.
  • Depending on the complaint you may be asked to attend a meeting with your investigator who will fairly look at the issues raised. (We may be able to accompany you) 
  • Send your completed form to: Complaints@edgehill.ac.uk 

 

You should get a written outcome to your formal complaint within 36 calendar days.

 

 

 

Review (Or, Stage 3)

 

If you’re unhappy with the Stage 2 outcome you can ask for the formal decision to be reviewed, where all the original evidence and material will be considered by the Vice chancellor or someone equivalent.

 

The review must meet one of the grounds for appeal:
 

  • the investigation of the complaint was not conducted fairly;
  • the investigation failed to take account of relevant material;
  • new evidence has since come to light which, for valid reasons, you were unable to provide earlier in the complaints process and which would have materially affected the decision made at Stage 2;
  • or that the decision reached was wholly unreasonable

 

If you want to apply then complete the Review Request Form, along with a statement with your reasoning for the review.This is the final internal complaint stage.

 

Send your completed review to Complaints@edgehill.ac.uk

 

The form must be submitted within 14 working days of the Stage 2 decision letter.

 

You should get a written outcome to your review within 28 calendar days.

 

 

 

Office of Independent Adjudicator (OIA)

 

If you’re still unhappy after the stage 3 outcome you will have exhausted your internal processes and be sent a Completion of Procedure letter from the university. Your only option will be to submit an external complaint to the OIA. 

 

The OIA regulate universities and will look at whether Edge Hill have followed their procedure and whether the complaint was dealt with appropriately.

 

The OIA have the power to change the University’s decision, or refer you back to a previous stage, they can also make the university offer compensation. By taking your complaint to the OIA this may also have financial implications on the university. 

 

You will have 12 months to complain to the OIA from the date of your Completion of Procedure letter. You will need to draft a complaint statement and supply them with documents from the internal investigation.

 

The important thing to remember is we can support you at any stage!

 

 

 

Helpful Links