Student Complaints Procedure

Most complaints and concerns can be resolved informally at an early stage. Where that’s possible and appropriate, we encourage that approach.

If you feel able to, contact the person you wish to raise the concern with to discuss it with them. You can arrange a meeting, or put your complaint in writing. We recognise you may not feel comfortable doing this. If so, contact another member of staff in your department and raise your concerns with them. This could include your personal tutor or pastoral mentor. You may also consider contacting your Academic Lead for Student Support (Inclusion and Racial Equality).

You can read more details in our Student Complaints Procedure.

The Formal Stage is available if you’re still unhappy after going through an informal approach. The complaint is made in writing.

Before submitting a formal complaint please read our Student Complaints Procedure on our website.

You can submit a formal complaint directly through your Student Records System (SRS) or via MyExeter. More details of how to submit a complaint can be found in the student guide here: Students' Guide (Complaints)

You will be asked to include details of the member of staff with whom you attempted to raise the matter informally, the outcome of this, and why you remain dissatisfied. 

For complaints related to a non-academic service delivery these will be considered by the Head of the service involved (or their nominee).

For complaints related to your academic programme, these are considered by the Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor (or their nominated representative).

If you want to contact us via email in relation to the Complaints procedure the relevant email addresses are:

• For students in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy - ESE-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• For students in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences - HASS-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• For students in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences - HLS-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• For students based at our Penryn Campus - Penryn-Facultycases@ex.ac.uk
• For Post Graduate Research students - pgr-student-cases@exeter.ac.uk

If you are currently a student debtor or for some other reason do not have access to the Student Records System (SRS) in order to submit an application, you may complete and submit the Formal Stage Complaint form to the relevant email address above and ask for the team to load this to the system on your behalf.

If you don’t feel that your complaint has been resolved at the formal stage, you can ask the University’s Student Cases team to review the complaint. Details of when this can happen are listed in our Student Complaints Procedure. If you are currently a student debtor or for some other reason do not have access to the Student Records System (SRS) in order to submit an application, you may complete and submit the Review Stage Complaints form to the relevant email address above and ask for the team to load this to the system on your behalf. Students who have access to SRS must submit their application via the online system.

If you have a complaint about another student or staff member, you can use the complaints procedure to raise this. 

Where you have been affected by the behaviour of a student or staff member that could constitute a disciplinary offence, such as bullying, we can explore whether there is action needed to address that situation.   

First, we'd need to hear from you what has happened, and from the person(s) whose conduct impacted you, as well as anyone else who may have witnessed what happened, to establish what action could be taken.  

Raising a complaint of this nature is a very significant decision, and we absolutely understand that. We take your safety, and that of the wider community, very seriously and while we work through a case our priority is to ensure everyone is safe and that boundaries are in place, so anyone taking part in a case knows where they stand and what to expect. 

Before making a complaint, please get in touch with the University Cases team or Wellbeing team to explore what may be involved and what steps we can take to support.  You may also consider contacting your Academic Lead for Student Support (Racial Equality and Inclusion).

You can contact the University Cases team at studentcases@exeter.ac.uk. 

Please note – while we know it can be upsetting, student cases don’t deal with situations such as a flat mate who won’t do their dishes, or put the bins out. If you are in this situation, speak to our Wellbeing team and they’ll be able to support you.

The University makes every effort to ensure each student has the best possible student experience during their time at Exeter. However, it does recognise that at times students may be dissatisfied with an aspect of University life. The Student Complaint Procedure therefore allows student to raise the following matters:

• A failing in a University service, academic or non-academic
• Misinformation about academic programmes
• Poor teaching or supervision
• Insufficient facilities

If there is a matter that you wish to be investigated but is not covered in the above list, then you should seek advice on the appropriate University procedure to raise this matter.

Only registered students of the University of Exeter can use the Student Complaints Procedure. However, it is possible for a former student to raise a complaint within 30 days of ceasing to be a registered student.

Students are expected to represent themselves and the University is unable to accept complaints from third parties. The only exception to this is at the informal stage where the complainant can ask a member of the Guild or Student Union to represent them if they feel uncomfortable raising their complaint with the person most directly responsible.

Students who want to complain about the same thing can submit a group complaint. In this case students will need to give their expressed consent that they wish to be part of the group complaint (at the formal stage only students who have signed the formal complaint form will be considered as part of the group). The group will need to nominate a member of the group to act as their spokesperson and represent the group during the complaint process. It is also the responsibility of the group spokesperson to report back to members of the group about the outcome of the complaint.

If no member of the group is willing to act as the group spokesperson, they may appoint a member of the Guild or Student Union to represent them through the complaints process.

We do understand that raising a complaint can be a new experience for some students and can also be stressful. Unfortunately, as the team administrating the process Faculty Cases Team (FCT) is unable to discuss your complaint with you. Instead, we recommend that you can contact the Students' Guild Advice Unit on advice@exeterguild.com or The Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union on advice@thesu.org.uk who give you guidance on what you can expect from this process. If your complaint raises a wellbeing concern for you, that you contact the Wellbeing service (Streatham and St Luke’s) or Student Support (Penryn) for support. These teams are experienced in helping our students through this process, so please do reach out for support if you need it.

The complaints process is designed to resolve complaints as quickly as possible to minimise impact on students. The process is split into three stages:

• Early Resolution stage
• Formal Stage
• Review Stage

Students must go through the early resolution stage as this gives the student to discuss their concerns directly with the member of staff most responsible for the area of work causing concern with a view to remedying the situation as quickly as possible.

Students who remain dissatisfied can take their complaint to the Formal stage where their complaint will be considered by a senior member of staff within the Faculty or Service who has not been previously involved in the complaint.

If a student remains dissatisfied after the formal stage they move to the Review stage, where they can request of a review of their complaint by a senior member of University staff.

I am sure you will appreciate that for data protection purposes we are only able to discuss your case with members of the University who have a genuine business need to know, and we cannot discuss these matters with third parties without your written consent. If you would like someone to be able to speak with us on your behalf, such as a parent or personal tutor, please email the FCT in advance to confirm that you give consent for us to discuss your case. If any third-party contacts us requesting such information, we are only able to respond to them in general terms regarding the University procedure, not about individual cases. As such, when it comes to having a supporter at your meeting, we assume that in inviting them you are happy for them to be privy to the information discussed. Please note it is your responsibility to forward any information you deem relevant for them to support you such as a meeting location, video link, or copies of the work in question. We will not do this for you.

The University is committed to resolving complaints quickly and efficiently to minimise the impact on students. Complaints should therefore be raised as soon as possible and within 30 calendar days of the issue arising. Complaints raised after this timeframe will usually not be considered unless the student can show good cause why the complaint was not raised in a timely way.

The first step of the process is to raise an informal complaint with the member of staff most directly responsible for area of work about your concerns. This might be module convenor or Director of Education and Student Experience in your Department for academic matters or for services, the relevant manager such as the Info Point Manager. Before submitting your informal complaint, you may want to seek advice. You may either meet with the member of staff or you can, if you prefer, put your concerns in writing. When setting out your complaint you should be clear about what the issues are, the impact they are having and any proposed remedies to resolve the complaint, as well as providing any evidence to support your complaint. The member of staff considering your complaint will provide you with an outcome as quickly as possible.

The University wishes to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and often most issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently at the informal stage. Therefore, all complaints must be considered at the informal stage before the formal stage is started.

If you remain dissatisfied after the informal stage, you may submit a Formal Complaint to the Faculty Cases Team. This should be done on a Formal Complaint Form within 10 working days of receiving the informal outcome. A copy of the informal outcome and any relevant evidence should also be supplied with your Formal Complaint Form. Once you have done this you can expect an acknowledgement of your complaint within five working days and to be invited to a meeting to discuss your complaint. After the meeting your complaint will be investigated, and you will be provided with an outcome to your formal complaint.

A Lead Investigator will be appointed to investigate your complaint. This investigator will be independent and will have not been involved with your complaint at the Informal Stage. Typically for matters relating to educational provision and academic matters the Lead Investigator will be the Associate Pro Vice Chancellor Education for the Faculty or the Associate Dean for Education for delegated Schools within Faculties. If you are complaining about a University service, then typically a Senior Manager within that service will be appointed. If a number of Faculties and/or Services are involved in the complaint a Lead Investigator will be appointed from one of Faculties or Services who will then liaise with relevant staff from other Faculties or Services to consider the aspects of the complaint relating to this Faculty or Service.

The University is committed to resolving complaints quickly and efficiently to minimise the impact on students. Complaints should therefore be raised as soon as possible and within 30 calendar days of the issue arising. Complaints raised after this timeframe will usually not be considered unless the student can show good cause why the complaint was not raised in a timely way.

The University wishes to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and therefore has set out the following time frames at each stage of the process:

Informal Stage: Students should complain within 30 calendar days of the issue arising and should receive a response within 5 working days of meeting with/sending their complaint in writing to the member of staff most directly responsible for the area of work.

Formal Stage: Students should make a formal complaint within 10 working days of receiving their informal outcome and should receive a response within 30 calendar days of submitting the formal complaint.

Review Stage: Students should request a review within 10 working days of receiving their formal outcome and should receive a response within 60 calendar days of submitting the review.

At the Formal Stage students are invited to attend a meeting with the lead investigator and in the case of a complaint about an academic matter usually the Senior Education Partner (SEP) or Deputy Education Partner (DEP) for the Faculty. The meeting is organised to allow the student to give a fuller explanation of their complaint and to discuss the details of the issues that are concerned. The meeting is designed to be supportive and is an opportunity for students to provide more information about their complaint. Solutions or outcomes to the complaint will not be given at the meeting instead those investigating will investigate the complaint following the meeting and then provide the student a written outcome along with any remedies that may need to be offered.

Those attending the meeting will have read the paperwork in advance. The student will be welcomed to the meeting by the lead investigator and be introduced to the other people attending the meeting who will explain their role within the meeting. The lead investigator will also explain how the meeting will work. After this the student will be invited to give their perspective on their complaint and provide further details and evidence that may not have been included in their original form. The lead investigator may then ask some clarifying questions about the student's complaint. The student will then be invited to give their view on any potential remedies that would resolve their complaint. The lead investigator will explain the next steps of the investigation to the student and will then bring the meeting to a close.

You are welcome to have a supporter present at the meeting. This could be a Guild advisor, a member of the wellbeing team, a personal or academic tutor, a fellow student or a member of your family or a friend. Supporters can attend the meeting to provide emotional support, but students are expected to speak for themselves. Supporters may be permitted to contribute to the meeting, but this is at the discretion of the Lead Investigator who will chair of the meeting.

Typically, a standard meeting will last between 30 – 50 minutes, though some cases are more complex. We do appreciate that students may not have experienced a meeting of this nature before and may feel anxious. However, please be assured the meeting is designed to be supportive and to give the student opportunity to explain their complaint and as stated above the student may bring a supporter to the meeting. We also appreciate that some people find they need more time to outline their case and therefore, we try to allow time for this wherever possible. If the student requires a break during the meeting this will be accommodated.

A member of the FCT will be present to take minutes of the meeting. After the meeting a copy of the minutes will be sent to the student for their comments. A confirmed set of minutes for the meeting will be sent to the student with their outcome.

Visual and audio recordings of the meeting by the University or the student are prohibited. The use of audio recording equipment may be permitted at the discretion of the Chair by way of reasonable adjustment. You will receive a set of minutes from the meeting as a record of proceedings, which you can refer to if required.

Prior to the meeting the FCT team will send the student an email informing them who will be considering the complaint and at least two options for meeting dates and times. If the student is not able to make any of the proposed dates, then new dates will be found. If a student can no longer make a confirmed meeting, the meeting can be arranged, but this will likely lead to a delay in the outcome being supplied to the student. Students are permitted to forgo their right to a meeting if they wish and the complaint will be considered on the basis of the students form and any evidence the student may have supplied.

The investigator will investigate the concerns raised by the student. This will generally include speaking to the staff involved in the complaint and reviewing case files, correspondence and other documents to decide on the outcome of the complaint. What steps have been taken to investigate the complaint at the formal stage will generally be outlined in the outcome letter. However, in some cases crucial pieces of evidence may be included with the outcome for the student’s reference and if the investigator meets formally with a member of staff to discuss the complaint this meeting will be minuted with a copy of the minutes being provided to the student.

The outcome letter informs student of the outcome of their complaint. The complaint will be either:

• Upheld (the investigator decides the complaint is justified)
• Partially Upheld (the investigators decides part of the complaints are justified)
• Not Upheld (the investigator decides the complaint is not justified)

The letter will provide details of how this decision was reached and will also provide remedies to the complaint if necessary.

You may submit a Complaint Review form to the University Cases Team. This should be done within 10 working days of receiving the Formal Complaint Outcome. You should be mindful of the timeframes involved and the grounds on which you can request a review. To ensure reviews are considered objectively they are handled by the University Student Cases team rather than members of the FCT who may have already been involved in your case. Therefore, if you have any questions about submitting a Complaint Review, you should contact studentcases@exeter.ac.uk.