Student complaints and academic appeals

We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf. A complaint will usually be about something that has a direct impact on the complainant.

An academic appeal is a representation against a decision of the Board of Examiners.

Academic appeals will only be considered on the following grounds, supported by evidence:

• Serious mitigating circumstances which the Board of Examiners was not aware of when making their decision
• Procedural irregularities 
• Evidence of prejudice or bias

You may not challenge the academic judgement of the examiners and disagreement with marks awarded is not grounds for appeal.

You also cannot appeal against the final conclusions reached by the individual or panel which considered your mitigating circumstances or any reasonable adjustments you requested for your assessment(s).

Examples of what you can make a complaint about include:

• The quality and standard of any service we provide
• Our failure to provide a service
• Our failure to follow appropriate administrative process
• An application of the regulations
• The quality of your learning experience
• Unfair treatment
• Dissatisfaction with University policy

There are some things we cannot deal with through the Student Complaints Procedure. These include:

• A routine, first-time request for a service. You should submit a query through the Enquiry Hub. 
• A request for information or an explanation of policy or practice. You should submit a query through the Enquiry Hub. 
• A request under Freedom of Information or Data Protection legislation. Please visit the relevant pages on the University website.
• Complaints against the outcomes of disciplinary procedures, including assessment offence penalties. Please refer to the embedded appeals process within the procedure.
• Complaints against Recognised Teaching Centres. You must follow the centre’s internal complaints procedure. 
• Complaints or appeals against admissions decisions. Please refer to the separate Admissions Appeals Procedure
• Complaints from anonymous individuals or un-attributable sources

Any current student, groups of students, or recent alumni can make a complaint or appeal under the relevant procedure.

In most cases you should first raise a complaint through the Enquiry Hub or in direct response to the member of University staff handling your query. It is easier for us to resolve complaints if you raise them as soon as you become aware of the issue.

When complaining please tell us:

• as much as you can about the complaint
• what has gone wrong
• how you would like us to resolve the matter
• what evidence you have to support your complaint

The formal stages of the Student Complaints Procedure (Stages 2 and 3) and all academic appeals are initiated by you sending us a completed submission form, which can be requested from a&c@london.ac.uk.  

Complaints must first be submitted within three calendar months of the event giving rise to the complaint. Where you are requesting escalation to Stage 2 of the Procedure your submission must be made within 4 weeks of conclusion at Stage 1.

You must make an academic appeal within 4 weeks of the formal publication of your assessment results. 

The Student Complaints and Academic Appeals procedures have three stages. 

Stage One – Informal Resolution/Screening

We aim to resolve complaints quickly within the department that provides the service. Resolution could mean an apology, an explanation if something has gone wrong, or immediate action to resolve a problem. Sometimes a matter will have to be referred to more than one member of staff to find the right answer, or escalated to senior managers if initial attempts to resolve are unsuccessful, but we will aim to keep you informed as we go along.

If you remain unhappy following closure at Stage One, you can take your complaint to Stage Two of the procedure.

Academic appeals are screened at Stage One to determine whether they are submitted on valid grounds. 

Stage Two – Complaints: Formal Investigation

Stage Two deals with complaints that have not been resolved at Stage One and those that are complex and require detailed investigation by the Student Resolution and Casework team. 

A submission form should be requested from A&C@london.ac.uk. The process is initiated by the submission of your completed form along with any supporting evidence. All submissions made to this inbox are treated confidentially.

We will:

• Acknowledge receipt within three working days 
• Provide you with an outcome as soon as possible and normally within four weeks.

If our investigation will take longer than four weeks, we will tell you.

Stage Two – Academic appeals

Academic appeals that are confirmed as eligible will first be investigated by the Student Resolution and Casework team before being referred to the Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners for a decision. We will aim to provide an outcome within three weeks of Stage Two being confirmed. 

Stage Three – Review

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome at Stage Two, you may be able to submit your case for review by the independent Chair of the Complaints Resolution Panel, or Representations Panel (Academic Appeals). 

The criteria for making a submission at Stage Three are: 

• that the procedures set out in Stage 1 and Stage 2 were not followed properly; 
• that new evidence, which could not reasonably have been made available during Stage 1 or Stage 2, has come to light and that it might have had a bearing on the decisions we took earlier; 
• that the outcome at Stage 2 was unreasonable
• A Stage Three submission form should be requested from ac-stage3@london.ac.uk. Once you have made a submission we will:
  Refer to the Chair to determine whether one or more of the criteria above are met.
• If the criteria are not met, you will receive an outcome letter, normally within 14 days.
• If the criteria are met, the full Complaints Resolution Panel will be convened. The Panel will normally meet within 28 days of receipt of the case at Stage 3.

If your complaint has completed Stage Three you will be provided with a Completion of Procedures letter. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can submit a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) in accordance with their rules.