NUS comments on student complaints report

Responding to the publication of the Annual Report of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), NUS Vice President for Higher Education, Aaron Porter, said:

“It is positive that the time the OIA takes to deal with students’ complaints is decreasing. However, we are concerned that between 2006 and 2008, there was a 54% increase in the number of complaints* to the OIA.

“As the independent adjudicator has noted, there are still some concerns about the length of time taken by institutions themselves to deal with complaints. NUS’ own review of complaints, published in February, found that half of all advisers in students' unions had dealt with complaints that took over a year to be resolved.

“Many universities need to work much harder to make their complaints procedures more efficient and transparent.”