University students’ complaints rocket 25pc

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) received a record 2,012 complaints about institutions in England and Wales last year, up from 1,605 the previous year.

The rise, in the year that fees were tripled to £9,000, is expected to continue as students feel the effect of the hike, the OIA warned.

The adjudicator said in its annual report: “The upward trend shows no sign of slowing down and the expectation is that complaint numbers will continue to rise as the impact of increased fees is felt.”

OIA chief executive Rob Behrens said: “We haven’t seen the full impact of the fee increase yet, because most complaints are from third year students and the fees do not apply to them yet.

“The government is encouraging students to behave like consumers and I think that has had an impact.”

In total, student complaints have increased for the seventh year in a row, the OIA said.

Most complaints were over issues that students believed had affected their academic progress or final results. “These are important matters that can have a significant bearing on a student’s future,” Mr Behrens said.

The grievances cover everything from issues over a student’s academic status to discrimination, disciplinary matters and misconduct, such as plagiarism.

The majority (69 per cent) related to academic status, the adjudicator said, which “reflects the importance to students of achieving a first class or upper second class honours degree, or postgraduate qualification”. The OIA received most complaints about business and administrative studies courses, followed by subjects allied to medicine.

Of the complaints last year, 59 per cent were found to be “not justified”. Around 8 per cent were partly justified, 4 per cent were justified, 6 per cent were settled and the others were not eligible, suspended or withdrawn.