Category: OIA

  • Student protection is needed in all higher-level learning

    Student protection is needed in all higher-level learning

    With the government’s white paper having a clear policy ambition and focus on higher technical (level 4 and 5) courses, and a pledge to simplify the regulatory framework for higher-level study, gaps in regulatory oversight are still exposing an increasing number of students to risk.

    The Office of the Independent Adjudicator has today published public interest case summaries, where we have named the two providers concerned, in order to highlight the impact of differing regulatory systems leaving gaps for individual students.

    The recent closure of Applied Business Academy (ABA), as detailed in my previous Wonkhe article, shows an ongoing vulnerability where students cannot seek an independent review of their awarding organisation’s actions. This is the case if they are studying for HE qualifications awarded by an Ofqual-regulated awarding organisations as these, unlike universities, are not required to be OIA members.

    While Ofqual regulates the quality and standards of qualifications, it does not oversee student protection, welfare or institutional accountability in the same way the OfS does for registered providers, even where the provider is only validating courses.

    In our experience this regulatory fragmentation leaves students vulnerable. All HE students should be afforded the same protection and recourse as well as the ability to complain about both their delivery and awarding organisation whoever their awarding body is.

    Highlighting the consequences

    In the case of ABA, when the Department for Education instructed the Student Loans Company to suspend tuition fee payments to ABA there were over 2,000 students enrolled on the Diploma in Education and Training (DET) awarded by City and Guilds or the Organisation for Tourism and Hospitality Management.  ABA also ran courses through partnerships with two universities which were not subject to any regulatory concern.

    Since ABA was registered with the OfS, all eligible students could access public student loan funding including those on the DET course. However, when ABA collapsed their route for complaint and level of redress and support was unclear and very different. The DET students lacked the institutional safety net of an OfS-regulated validator. Despite receiving positive feedback and assurance from ABA during their studies, students were told at the time of the closure that there was insufficient evidence to meet qualification requirements, leaving them with no qualification and a debt they would have to repay.

    By contrast, those on courses validated by or franchised from the University of Buckingham or Leeds Trinity University were offered a range of protections and mitigations including, various supported transfer options to localised provision with matched timetabling, transferring to the universities or identified alternative providers. They also benefitted from reimbursements for travel costs to alternative premises or were provided with free transport. Students could also access a record of achievement to support other transfer or exit, webinars and dedicated phone lines with individualised welfare support and guidance sessions. The OIA, to date, has received no complaints from students on these courses.

    Equal funding, unequal accountability?

    We have also today published a case summary about Brit College which was OfS-registered and only ran courses which were awarded by Ofqual-regulated awarding organisations, prior to its existing higher education courses being de-designated.

    Although it has not closed, it has stated on its website that where the OIA has awarded compensation or refunds, “Brit College is currently unable to meet these awards due to financial constraints” and has yet to pay our recommended compensation to any impacted student.

    The students we have received complaints from had completed all the work that had been set, and they had not been given any indication by the college during their studies that the work was not sufficient or was not at the required standard. Nine months after completing the course the college told students that they would need to undertake substantial further work. As Brit College remains open but has refused to pay compensation, it has been formally found in non-compliance with our recommendations.

    In both cases, since the awarding organisations are not within OIA membership we are unable to review any complaints from students about their acts and/or omissions in the time prior to de-designation, as we would if their courses were awarded by universities.

    When the system fails

    The fall out is not just administrative; it is deeply personal. Students are often shocked and distressed to be denied compensation, especially when we have found in their favour. They often feel confused about the lack of protection available to them and, having chosen to study at an OfS-registered provider, feel they have been misled.

    This is compounded when they hear about students at the same provider studying for different qualifications where expectations of the validators are student focused. The qualifications studied via Ofqual-regulated awarding organisations are often gateways to teaching or a technical profession. When a provider fails and there is no one to turn to, they not only lose their tuition fees and time spent studying, but also their career trajectory, and often they cannot afford to take out further loans to start again.

    In the words of one student impacted:

    I completed the DET course as required, maintaining 100% attendance, submitting all coursework and observations on time, and consistently communicating with ABA. In addition to the course fees, I spent money on travel to attend the course, further increasing the financial burden. Despite fulfilling all my responsibilities, I’ve been left without a qualification and have been unable to get a resolution for nearly two years…

    What makes this even more distressing is that I have already started repaying the loan to Student Finance from my personal income – for a course that did not result in a qualification. This feels incredibly unfair and adds to the emotional and financial pressure I am under. I am paying for something I did not receive through no fault of my own.

    Fixing the fault lines

    This is not an isolated incident – it’s a symptom of a sector under strain. With the government’s targets directly referring to higher technical qualifications, backed by the development of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement to give “equal access to student finance for higher level study,” it should now take action to ensure equal access to student protection.

    Without this, students on higher technical and other level 4/5 courses will continue to have less access to individual remedies and redress than their counterparts studying for an award from a university.

    We note that back in 2020 the DfE expected “all awarding bodies and providers which own an approved Higher Technical Qualification to join the [OIA] scheme” – yet five years on this expectation remains unmet. We have since worked with Ofqual who have confirmed that awarding organisations being in membership of the OIA Scheme is compatible with Ofqual regulation (this was also a recommendation in our recent joint report with SUMS on managing the impact of higher education provider closure).

    Without OIA membership, students unable to complain to the OIA about their awarding organisations will not have access to independent remedies and redress, unlike those studying for university-awarded qualifications.

    Most importantly, in our experience, this is not made clear to, or understood by, students when they embark on their higher education journey.

    We reiterate that this is a student protection gap that urgently needs resolving for students who deserve that same protection. All students – regardless of their awarding organisation – should have access to the same safeguards and redress. That means all awarding organisations in receipt of public money joining the OIA scheme and making student protection, and the obligation to put things right for students, a non-negotiable part of higher education policy.

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  • Disabled students’ rights are still being ignored

    Disabled students’ rights are still being ignored

    In the context of wider financial pressures on providers, universities can be a challenging environment to work in at present.

    So, a crackdown on ensuring all disabled student support plans are both in place and implemented may have fallen to the bottom of the to-do list. Couple that with delays in the Disabled Students’ Allowance system and it’s a pretty bleak picture for disabled students.

    The findings of this year’s Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) annual report echo these concerns.

    Like last year’s report, self-identified disabled students were over-represented in complaints, with the proportion rising for 2024 from a third to just over 40 per cent. Of those who did disclose details of their disability, mental health issues were the largest category selected by students (46 per cent), and specific learning differences accounted for a third.

    A bulk of complaints from students who self-identified as disabled related to support and reasonable adjustments to teaching and assessment not being implemented promptly or at all. This correlates to national trends as shown in Disabled Student UK’s annual survey of 1,200 disabled students across eight UK institutions, where only 39 per cent said they had their support needs implemented.

    Delayed

    OIA make it clear that delays to student support do happen and are not always a serious cause for concern. As they suggest, sometimes it may take a long time to identify what support works best for the student for their course of study, or the process is at a halt because a student’s application for DSA is significantly delayed.

    However, as the annual report highlights:

    there is no culture of accountability in place to ensure that disabled students receive the support that is necessary to place them on an equal footing for success with their peers.

    Additionally, the OIA recommends that providers train and support academic staff in meeting the requirements of the Equality Act, as too often academic staff have not fully understood what is required and, instead, “default to standard [teaching] practices that do not meet disabled students’ needs. As a result disabled students are often left to muddle through at a significant disadvantage to their non-disabled peers.

    Let’s recap

    Last week, the Disabled Students Commission published guidance clarifying the legal responsibilities of providers when it comes to competence standards and reasonable adjustments. Under the Equality Act 2010, providers are accountable for their acts and omissions in relation to disabled students. This includes a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled applicants and students do not experience substantial disadvantages in comparison to non-disabled people.

    As the guidance explains, two considerations that should be used in decision-making as to what constitutes reasonable are whether the adjustment is possible and if there is a reasonable assumption that the adjustment might be effective in reducing substantial disadvantage for a disabled student.

    One of these considerations is whether a reasonable adjustment is financially viable. But while institutions must consider the total resource cost, this factor alone, according to the guidance, rarely automatically precludes an adjustment from being reasonable.

    It’s a squeeze

    A real risk here, given current financial circumstances, is that resources for disabled students continue to be squeezed, potentially making it harder to access adequate support.

    While financial strain alone is not a good enough reason not to implement a lawful duty, there is already significant evidence that disabled students’ needs are not currently being met. With a move towards self-service across student-facing roles, it paints an unpromising picture for future support for disabled students, unless something changes sharpish.

    Both the DSC and the OIA urge further signposting around competence standards for students and staff. The annual report suggests that they still instances where there is no clarity for students or staff within course documents about what competence standards will be assessed.

    If a competence standard is not defined, given that they are exempt from the duty to make reasonable adjustments, it is difficult for a provider to decide if a reasonable adjustment requested by a disabled student is, in fact, reasonable.

    Get it right

    Providers need to ensure that accurate information about competence standards and the possibility of reasonable adjustments is made available to both students and staff, including prospective students.

    Providers and individual staff are operating under strain at the moment, but it’s crucial to remember that supporting disabled students is not optional – it is a legal requirement. These aren’t practices and processes that can be prioritised based on finances, it’s a baseline, legal requirement disabled students are entitled to.

    Understandably in the current climate, some may feel resistant to adding additional responsibilities to an already heavy workload, especially as the number of students declaring a disability in recent years has increased. But addressing students’ needs proactively avoids the much greater financial and reputational costs associated with complaints and compensation. If institutions feel they don’t have the time or capacity to prioritise inclusive practices now, they risk spending a greater amount of time, money and resources later managing avoidable grievances.

    And if that isn’t enough, surely disabled students deserve better than having their legal rights to equity perpetually sidelined or ignored.

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  • Here’s how institutions are faring in handling harassment and sexual misconduct complaints

    Here’s how institutions are faring in handling harassment and sexual misconduct complaints

    Evidence suggests that significant numbers of students experience or are affected by harassment and sexual misconduct each year. Yet student complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) about harassment and sexual misconduct have historically formed a very small proportion of our overall caseload.

    The number of complaints about harassment and sexual misconduct we have received has been rising slowly but steadily in recent months. This may in part be a result of greater visibility at providers about mechanisms to disclose, such as “report and support” tools. This is a positive step, but there is more to be done to raise students’ confidence in how their providers can respond to reports.

    Today we have published ten case summaries and a casework note on harassment and sexual misconduct, highlighting some key issues for providers to consider when addressing complaints. Although these examples focus on sexual misconduct, the broad principles of good practice can apply across other forms of harassment.

    Taking reports seriously

    Our recent casework shows that some providers are demonstrating, via the disciplinary action they take against students reported for harassment and sexual misconduct, how seriously they view breaches of their codes of conduct. We’ve seen providers taking swift action to investigate, make findings and apply penalties. In some cases, we have seen well-reasoned and documented decisions and clearly explained outcomes.

    However, we have upheld a high proportion of the complaints we have reviewed about harassment and sexual misconduct. We have identified procedural errors and unfairness that have significantly undermined the value of the process for reporting students, and the validity of findings made against reported students.

    Overall, providers seem to have more confidence in addressing the disciplinary aspect of these complaints. Disciplinary processes are usually well established and are supported by guidance and tools such as classification of the severity of any breaches of a code of conduct and accompanying tariffs of penalties.

    There is less certainty and consistency of approach across the sector in responding to the reporting student. There may be fine nuances between a disclosure, a report or a complaint about harassment and sexual misconduct, and the manner of response to each might be slightly different. Many providers intend to be led by the reporting student’s needs, which is an admirable principle – but not always effective if the student has not been clearly informed about the options available to them and the differences between these routes.

    Sharing an outcome

    In several cases, providers haven’t understood that informing a reporting student that a disciplinary process has taken place is not a complete outcome.

    Providers need to consider how they can support students and lessen the impact upon them of the harassment or sexual misconduct they have experienced. This is especially important when the report concerns the conduct of a member of staff. In our experience, providers have tended to be more transparent about incidents between two students than they have been when a member of staff is involved.

    While providers have particular responsibilities to their employees that may be different to the obligations they have towards students, the imbalance of power makes it even more important that students understand how their complaint has been investigated and what will happen next.

    Gathering and probing evidence

    We recognise that complaints about harassment and sexual misconduct are often complex, and may involve events that unfold over a period of time, multiple incidents or involve numerous individuals. There can be constraints because of concurrent police action, which may not result in a clear outcome for several months. Cases may involve claims and counter-complaints, or turn on the credibility of the parties on nuanced issues such as consent.

    Our experience suggests that in some cases, decision makers have not fully understood the importance of moving carefully through a process that genuinely gives all parties an opportunity to tell their own story and allows for gaps and inconsistencies to be explored. It is right that all parties in these processes must be treated with respect, with kindness, and with an awareness of the impact that re-visiting an experience of harassment or sexual misconduct may have.

    But panel members who must test evidence appear to feel constrained in asking questions. Trying to re-examine or gather additional evidence at a later date can place an undue burden on all parties and prevent individuals from moving forward.

    Consultation on a new section of the Good Practice Framework

    The increased focus on tackling harassment and sexual misconduct across the sector – including the new E6 OfS regulatory condition that applies to some of the providers in our membership – is to be welcomed. The emphasis on clear information that is easy to access, and on well-resourced training for both staff and students may go some way to addressing some issues we have seen in complaints.

    In 2025, we will consult on a new section of the Good Practice Framework addressing these complex issues. It will build on the learning we have identified from our rising volume of casework. Our intention will be to draw together in one place the principles that apply to complaints about harassment and misconduct.

    We look forward to engaging with the sector to benefit from the extensive expertise of hands-on practitioners, to make this as useful a resource as possible. If you’d like to feed in at an early stage, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

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