Student complaints

This page explains all of the stages of the process if you feel you need to complain about something at the University. This first section gives a brief summary of the process.

You can first try and resolve an issue informally with the member of staff or team involved, but if that doesn't solve the problem, you can speak to the Early Resolution Officer for the School or Service in question. The Early Resolution Officer can look into your concern and provide you with a response. If Early Resolution doesn't solve the problem, you can then make a formal complaint to the University. There can also be times when Early Resolution is not suited to a particular problem. A formal complaint may include an investigation and at the end the University will write to you to let you know the result. If your complaint is not investigated, we will write to you to explain why, and to confirm any decisions made about your complaint. If this doesn't resolve the matter, you may be able to submit a grievance to the Secretary to the University Council, subject to certain criteria, and have your case reviewed.

The flowchart below gives a summary of the complaints process for students.

In all cases, you are strongly encouraged to attempt to resolve a problem at the lowest level possible. A problem should initially be made known to the member of staff who is most directly concerned with the issue: if the problem is explained to them they can often provide an immediate explanation or solution.

If this does not lead to a solution, or it is not appropriate to discuss the issue with the member of staff, there are further steps you can follow to see if a problem can be resolved:

Early Resolution

Every School and Service within the University has an Early Resolution Officer (and at least one Deputy) to act as a first point of contact for students experiencing issues with an academic or non-academic service. If you have attempted to resolve a problem direct with the member(s) of staff involved but believe it has not been resolved, you can contact the relevant Early Resolution Officer. Email addresses and contact details for Early Resolution Officers are provided in the early resolution section of this webpage.

Formal complaint

If early resolution of a problem has been attempted but has not lead to a satisfactory solution, you can submit a formal complaint. You may also wish to submit a formal complaint where early resolution has not been attempted due to the issues being serious or complex in nature. Details on this process and how to submit a formal complaint are provided in the formal complaints section of this webpage.

Your Academic Mentor can provide advice, support and general guidance on academic and non-academic issues. As they will be familiar with you, your circumstances and your programme of study, your personal tutor can often be the best source of advice to either help you understand what may be causing a problem, or to guide you on what you should do next.

If you are concerned about an element of your programme or course, you can contact your Student Voice Representatives. Student Voice Reps are elected representatives who gather student opinion and represent your views at Staff Student Voice Committee (SSVC). In some cases, for example if there is something about your course that you feel is not working and needs changing, talking to your Student Voice Reps who can then discuss the issue at the SSVC may be the best way to get the problem resolved. You can find details on the Student Voice Reps for your programme or course by visiting the Student Voice Representatives section of the Keele Students' Union website

If the issues you are concerned about are not about your programme, you can speak to the Advice and Support at Keele (ASK) service within the Students Union. ASK is a confidential service that operates independently from the University, and gives students advice and support across a wide range of topics. Find out how to contact ASK via this link.

The University's Student Support team is on hand to help students when they are experiencing a wide range of problems, including when something doesn't appear to be going right and you need to do something about it. Students can access support by contacting or visiting the Student Services Hub, which is a one-stop-shop for information, support or guidance, including 1-2-1 support and counselling where needed.

You can also contact the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team if you have questions about the complaints procedure.

The University complaints procedure covers complaints relating to:

• any University Policy, Procedure or Regulation
• academic and non-academic services (excluding academic judgement)
• academic and non-academic facilities
• the conduct or actions of a member or members of staff
• misinformation regarding academic programmes, University services and facilities

The procedure does NOT cover complaints relating to:

• Academic judgement
• Examination board decisions and appeals (details on how to appeal an examination board decision can be found here)
• Appeals against disciplinary decisions (details on how to appeal a disciplinary decision can be found here)
• Any external business operating on University premises
• Keele University Students’ Union (if you have a concern or complaint about the Students' Union, please click here to visit their website for more information)
• Other student members of the University (if you are concerned about the actions of a fellow student, you should first speak to Student Services for confidential support and advice.

If you are on a placement, your complaint should be submitted to the placement provider using their procedure.

Anyone who is a current student and those accepted onto a course of study at the University are able to make a complaint under Regulation B7. Complaints should normally be made no later than eight weeks after the event concerned.

If you have recently finished your programme of study at the University, you can still submit a formal complaint but you need to be aware of the time limit for doing so.

If you are studying at a university that is in a partnership with Keele University you can submit a complaint, but we will help you identify whether the matter is better dealt with using our processes or those of the partner university.

A group of students can also make a complaint under Regulation B7 providing that it is individually signed by each student in the group. A group of students making a complaint should have a nominated representative within the group to act as the primary contact.

In exceptional cases, complaints can be made anonymously. However, this must be done via Advice & Support at Keele (ASK) within the Students’ Union, or one of the Students' Union elected officers.

A complaint can be made to an Early Resolution Officer up to eight weeks after the event concerned. If you are not satisfied with the result of your complaint after it has been dealt with by the Early Resolution Officer, you have ten calendar days from the date of the email sent by the Officer to then make a formal complaint.

If your case does not appear appropriate for Early Resolution due to its seriousness or complexity, then you can submit a formal complaint. Again, this can be submitted up to eight weeks after the event concerned.

In all cases, the University encourages students to make concerns known to staff as soon as possible.

Normally, a formal complaint is made when a student is not satisfied with Early Resolution of a problem. Details on how to get help from the appropriate Early Resolution Officer can be found in the section, Early Resolution, above. If you are not sure whether Early Resolution is the right way of dealing with your concerns, you should get some further advice from the ASK service within the Students' Union. Please see the section, Who can I go to for advice and assistance? for their contact details.

If after taking advice you want to go ahead with submitting a formal complaint, please download the Student Complaint Submission Form using this link.

Once you have submitted the form, it will initially be acknowledged by the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct team. The form will be reviewed and you will then be notified in writing (normally by email) to confirm whether your complaint will be looked into or not. If you have not provided all of the relevant supporting evidence with your complaint, you will be asked to provide this as soon as possible.

Where appropriate, the University may offer to resolve your formal complaint without holding an investigation. In addition, the University may reject your formal complaint, find immediately that it cannot be upheld, or refer your case back to be looked into at the Early Resolution stage, without holding an investigation. The University will confirm any decision and the reasons why in writing.

If your complaint is accepted for investigation, either a member of the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct team will act as the Investigating Officer, or the Academic Registrar will appoint a separate member of staff to act as the Investigating Officer. This will depend on the nature and complexity of your complaint.

An investigation may include: meeting with you to get further information and to clarify the complaint; meeting with any other members of the University involved in the issues for information and their version of events; and gathering any other relevant evidence. The purpose of the investigation is to establish the facts related to the problems you describe in your complaint, and to do this in a way that is fair to everyone involved.

For any meetings you are asked to attend during the investigation, you are able to have someone in the meeting venue with you for support, and this can be helpful. 

Once the investigation is complete, you will be given a draft copy of the report on the investigation so that you can comment on the factual accuracy of what is reported (this may not be the same as agreeing with any conclusions that have been made). The Investigating Officer will take any comments you make into account in the final version of the report, which will include their recommendations, based on their findings, on anything the University may do in light of your case. This final version of the report will be sent to the Academic Registrar who will consider it and make the final decision on your complaint. You will be notified of the Academic Registrar's decision in writing.

As mentioned above there are occasions when a complaint may not be accepted by the University. This can include occasions when what has been described in the complaint falls under a separate Regulation, for example if your complaint is in fact an appeal against a result. You would then be directed to the appropriate process. Another reason for not accepting a complaint can be because what has been described is not eligible under Regulation B7, and this is explained in the section What can I complain about? found above. Finally, complaints may be rejected at any stage if they are found to be frivolous, vexatious or malicious in nature, and students may find themselves subject to Regulation B1, Student Discipline, if this is the case.

If you have submitted a formal complaint but are not satisfied with how it was dealt with, in exceptional circumstances you may submit a grievance to the University Council. Regulation B.7.9.1 states that grievances can only be submitted on one or more of the following grounds:

• There was a procedural irregularity prior to or in the conduct of the complaint investigation.
• There is new evidence that can be substantiated, including extenuating circumstances, which was not known at the time, and may have affected the outcome had it been known and that there is a valid reason for not making it known at the time.

A grievance to Council must be submitted within fourteen calendar days of the date of the complaint investigation outcome letter, and it must be sent to the Secretary to Council.  For further information on how to submit a grievance of this type, click here.

If you you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a complaint but do not have grounds to submit a grievance you may be able to apply for a review of your complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) providing that the case you take to the OIA is eligible under its rules. Should you decide to make a complaint to the OIA, you must request a Completion of Procedures letter from the University and you have one month from the date of your complaint outcome letter to do this. You should request the Completion of Procedures letter from the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Manager by email on complaints@keele.ac.uk.

Full information for students on bringing a case to the OIA can be found on their website: www.oiahe.org.uk. Please note that the OIA will normally only review issues that have been dealt with through the University’s internal procedures.

Informal matters and early resolution complaints

If you raise an issue or submit an Early Resolution complaint and you do not receive an acknowledgement within five working days, it is recommended that you first attempt to contact the member of staff or Early Resolution Officer dealing with your concerns. If you continue to receive no response, you should contact the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team who will attempt to progress the matter for you.

Formal complaints

If you submit a formal complaint, a member of the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct team will send you an acknowledgement within two working days. If you send in your complaint during a period when the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Office is not open, such as the Christmas vacation, you will get an automated email response straight away explaining when the office will re-open. You will get an acknowledgement from the Complaints team within two working days of the office re-opening if this is the case.

After sending you an acknowledgement, the Complaints team will send you an update within two weeks. This update will vary depending on your case. It may be a request for more information, an explanation of why your complaint cannot be dealt with by the Academic Registrar, confirmation that your concerns will be looked into, or something else.

If you are told that your case is going to be looked into, the Complaints team will continue to update you on progress, ask for information or evidence, and ask you to respond to draft reports and similar items. You should have an update from the Complaints team at least every four weeks.

The University aims to deal with formal complaints as quickly as possible and will provide you with an indication of when an investigation will be completed. However, investigations do need to be thorough and fair which can lead to delays if, for example, extra information needs to be gathered. The Complaints team will explain the reasons for any delays in its regular updates to you.

If at any point during the investigation of your complaint you are advised that you will receive contact or correspondence within a specified time scale and you do not receive this, it is again recommended that you first attempt to contact the member of staff investigating your complaint for an update. If you are unsuccessful in doing so, please contact the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team who will look into the matter for you.

In addition to the information on this web page, academic and non-academic staff can contact the Complaints team for guidance and information on the student complaints process, and how best to help any students who may need to make use of the process:

Email: complaints@keele.ac.uk
Telephone: 01782 (7)33952 or 01782 (7)34004

If a student makes a complaint against you, you may find it helpful in the first instance to seek support from your line manager. As a member of staff, there are a number of services within the University that you can access for support should a student submit a complaint that involves you. The Occupational Health Service and the Staff Counselling Service, both within the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, are services that you can contact to request support and advice if you find yourself in this situation. These services can be contacted through the following means:

Occupational Health Service - Room DH0.15, ground floor, Dorothy Hodgkin Building. Tel: 01782 733733 / 733550, email: b.j.allen@keele.ac.uk or visit www.keele.ac.uk/dohs/occupationalhealthservice/

Staff Counselling Service - Room DH0.17, ground floor, Dorothy Hodgkin Building. Tel: 01782 679989, email: staffcounselling@uhns.nhs.uk or visit www.keele.ac.uk/staffsupport

The University has a set procedure for processing and investigating any complaints that are submitted formally by students, as set out on this webpage, and governed by Regulation B7 (Student Complaints).