OIA publishes Annual Report for 2022
|
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education has
published its Annual Report for 2022. The Report includes
information about: The number and outcomes of complaints we
received and closed Trends in complaints Examples of the complaints
students made to us How we share learning from complaints How we
work with others in the higher education sector Information about
developments in our organisation over the year. Ben Elger,
Chief...Request free trial
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education has published its Annual Report for 2022. The Report includes information about:
Ben Elger, Chief Executive, said: “2022 was again a complex and challenging year in our external environment. We worked extensively with others in the regulatory landscape to contribute to thinking around relevant policy developments including free speech legislation, to help promote a joined-up approach and a focus on key issues affecting students. We welcomed the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act which will in due course expand our remit in Wales as part of a more integrated tertiary sector. We also continued to grow capacity alongside our ongoing focus on efficiency to manage our rising caseload.” Felicity Mitchell, Independent Adjudicator said: “My last full year as Independent Adjudicator was another difficult year for students and providers. We are seeing increasing levels of distress among students who are struggling to cope and this is a major concern. At the same time the pressures on providers make it more difficult for them to support students effectively. In this challenging context, we received and closed our highest ever number of complaints, and shared learning from complaints through our good practice and outreach work. I am pleased to be leaving the OIA in robust health and well placed to continue its important work.” Report in detail Complaint numbers and outcomes For the fifth year running, we received and closed more complaints than ever before.
The nature of complaints The proportion of complaints about academic appeals (which includes complaints about academic matters such as assessments, progression and grades) rose to 38% (29% in 2021). The proportion of complaints about service issues (teaching, course delivery, supervision and course-related facilities) fell to 38% (45% in 2021). This rebalancing of our caseload is likely to reflect the end of the “no detriment” or safety net policies that had been in place during the pandemic and had resulted in fewer appeals, as well as the reduction through the year in the number of complaints related to Covid-19 disruption. The number of complaints in other complaint categories remained relatively small, but collectively these categories accounted for 24% of case receipts. This is slightly lower than in 2021 (27%).
Sharing learning from complaints We published the revised and updated version of our Good Practice Framework: Handling complaints and academic appeals following a consultation process during the year. We continued to share learning from complaints, publishing information and guidance and continuing our successful outreach programme. Our webinar and online workshop programme attracted participants from student representative bodies and providers across England and Wales, and from the full range of our varied membership. We resumed our in-person visits to providers and student representative bodies. We also held student discussion groups to hear directly from students about their experiences, and introduced discussion groups with student advisers. Case summaries Our Report includes several case summaries which illustrate some of the kinds of complaints we saw during the year. These include:
In addition we summarise our review of the complaint from a large group of over 400 students about disruption to their arts-based courses during the pandemic. |