student complaints and disciplinary issues seminar

On Thursday 20 May 2010 in Oxford our Professional Regulatory team held a seminar focusing on the three key themes of student complaints, student discipline and civil claims.  Please view the slides from the presentation below.

student complaints: an evolving landscape

The annual report of the Independent Adjudicator for higher education shows a continuing rise of students bringing complaints to the Adjudicator. The Adjudicator can only hear complaints from students once an HEI’s procedures have been completed and the relevant certificate produced. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s findings corroborate evidence that HEIs are dealing with a substantial rise in the number of students who are making complaints.

To deal with such an expansion of complaints it is essential for Institutes to have adequate structures and procedures in place. Student complaints can take up considerable resources in their determination.

We were delighted to welcome Baroness Ruth Deech as a speaker at the seminar. As the first Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education and a former Principal of an Oxford College, Baroness Deech has a huge amount of experience and advice to share with delegates. 

student discipline: how to avoid the pitfalls by having the right structure in place

Increasingly, students are challenging disciplinary processes in general and, in particular, fitness to practice processes. Such challenges create a need to ensure that an HEI has in place procedures that are scrupulously fair but also robust and able to withstand judicial scrutiny.

A common problem faced by HEIs relates to those students who, during their course, commit an act that calls into question their suitability to register with their future professional regulator. This is a particular problem for students whose actions call into question their fitness to practise after graduation. This problem has been recognised by the OIA in its annual reports and the Government in its recent White Paper in relation to health professions.

student civil claims: how to avoid them

A third strand to the seminar reflects the increasing number of civil claims being made by students. When a claim is commenced by a student in the courts a huge amount of time and cost can be expended in its defence. Whilst robust procedures as to gathering evidence and dealing with the

substance of a claim are essential, the effectiveness of those procedures can be enhanced by the use of innovative mechanisms for both avoiding claims and dealing with them. Such mechanisms could include the use of, for example, pre-action mediation.

Our expert speakers will explain the evolution of the student complaints landscape. They will provide first hand knowledge, experience and case studies of claims and explain the structures that need to be in place to avoid a number of pitfalls. A full programme is outlined below, with our speaker details.

seminar programme

>>view the events archive.