Students getting increasingly infuriated as complaints to universities reach record highs

Complaints and grievances made to the university ombudsman about UK institutions have reached record highs after a steady rise over the past few years. 

Most of the blame for this sharp increase has been placed on the harsh financial realities facing universities, leading to wage discrepancy and students’ needs not being met.  

The statistics provide proof of the dissatisfaction felt, with student complaint numbers rising from 3,613 in 2024 to 4,234 in 2025.  

However, many of these complaints proved fruitless, with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE) deeming 50% of the complaints as unjustified. A further 20% were deemed ineligible and 9% withdrawn.  

Only 20% were resolved in the student’s favour, ruled as justified, partially justified, or settled.  

At the University of Manchester, 47 [staff members] lodged formal complaints in the 2024-25 period

Rising levels of complaints are also being mirrored within the higher education teaching community.  

At the University of Manchester, 47 individuals lodged formal complaints in the 2024-2025 period. Although this is a minor number compared to the 11,000 teaching staff at the institution, it still represents a 260% rise from the 13 lodged in 2018-2019. 

The reason for these increases is uncertain. Finances are often labelled as the root cause, which then stems into wider problems.  

Financial difficulty reduces the amount of teaching staff, and leaves students feeling that their expectations of the university have not been adequately met.  

Alternately, staff working in hybrid conditions, both on and off sites, leads to poor conflict resolution and more formal investigations being demanded.  

Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick, explained: “Stress leads to greater human conflict and there is a great deal more stress in UK universities these days … workloads go up, morale falls, and job satisfaction decreases.” 

Resolving complaints is also a costly and time-consuming process, on average costing the OIAHE £1,700 per case

Many complaints become dismissed due to their “trivial” nature, where students and staff alike are choosing to begin the formal complaint process before attempting to resolve matters themselves.  

Although the complaints process is important, its misuse has potential to discredit the system and lead to more dissatisfaction than it can correct.  

Resolving complaints is also a costly and time-consuming process, on average costing the OIAHE £1,700 per case.  

More than 90% of complaints are closed within six months. The average case length is now 81 days in 2025, down significantly from 125 days in 2023.  

As these systems aim to become more transparent and helpful, the increasing number of complaints is unlikely to resolve without a significant financial change.