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University watchdog set to allow group complaints

The university complaints watchdog is set to announce changes that will enable students to bring forward complaints as a group.

The Office for the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) has published a consultation document outlining how allowing “large group complaints” from students whose issues have “a high degree of commonality” would facilitate a more effective service.

This move will make it possible to mass claims for compensation linked to disruption caused by Covid-19.

Students can currently only make complaints to the watchdog individually, but the new right would allow students who faced common circumstances to seek redress collectively.

It would also be appropriate in situations where within a larger group, complaints could be divided into sub-complaints if students have been affected in different ways.

In a letter sent to students regarding the new national lockdown, Michelle Donelan, England’s universities minister, advised students who have made, or plan to make, complaints about the quality of tuition they have received to refer the matter to the OIA.

 As the system stands at the moment, students make complaints to their university and go through an internal process first, and can take a matter to the OIA, if they feel it has not been handled effectively.

Students exist in a marketized system that disempowers us at every stage

– NUS Vice-President Hillary Gyebi-Ababio

Under the new proposals, not all students involved in a group complaint would have had to made a complaint to the provider or completed the university’s internal process, and could help institutions that have had a large number of complaints about one issue.

It reads: “We hope that, as well as making the process more straightforward for the students involved, this would be easier for the provider than taking large numbers of complaints through its internal processes.”

Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, NUS Vice-President for higher education, said: “Students exist in a marketized system that disempowers us at every stage: whether by prioritising our fee and rent income over safety, or by forcing us to only ever seek individual compensation for our collective misfortunes.”

Ms Gyebi-Ababio said that “being able to make complaints collectively” would “empower students”.

“In light of another year of turmoil for higher education, I hope that a new proposed process will serve to bring justice to a greater number of students.”

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