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The Complaints Procedure

To make a complaint you must follow the formal Student Complaints Procedure. It outlines what grounds you can complain on, what steps you must take to submit your complaint, and what decisions the University can make.

Local Resolution

The procedure asks that you first complain at the local level. It is often best to try and resolve things with the people/services directly involved. If there’s a reason you don’t feel comfortable doing this, for example in cases of harassment, it may be appropriate to skip this step and complaint to the head of service (such as your Head of School).

Central Resolution

If you are unhappy with the response at the local level, or if you don’t feel able to complain directly to the service/person involved, you can formally complain to the University’s Complaints Officer. This involves using the University’s Case Creator tool to submit. Read our article on making a complaint for more information.

Timeframes

Once submitted, you should have your complaint acknowledge by the Complaints Officer within 5 working days.

The University aims to make a reasoned judgement on complaints within 20 working days, however complex cases can take longer to give time for proper investigation.

Possible Outcomes

The outcome will depend on the details of the case. They will take your desired outcome into consideration when making a decision. The decisions they can make include:

  • Resolving the matter informally, for example through mediation
  • Upholding the complaint and taking appropriate action (this might be your desired outcome or something different)
  • Dismissing the complaint if they feel there is no case to answer
  • Dismissing the complaint if they judge it to be trivial, vexatious or malicious (they can also take further action against you if this is the case)

If you have any questions about the procedure, or an outcome you have been given, please contact LUU Advice. We can also advise on what to do if you’re unhappy with the response. Read our related articles for further information.