1. Students registered on Common Awards programmes can make a complaint about the academic provision they receive at their Theological Education Institute (TEI). This guidance should be read in conjunction with the University’s “Complaints Procedure for Students” on academic complaints.
2. As part of Durham’s commitment to enhancing the student experience, the Common Awards complaints procedure has been established to deal with academic complaints from students in a fair and transparent manner, and applied consistently within and across TEIs. We recognise that TEIs aim to provide a high standard and quality of service in respect of their academic provision, but it is acknowledged that occasionally things do go wrong.
3. Durham University is accountable for the oversight and approval of complaints policies and procedures for students registered on Common Awards programmes. The University sets standard expectations for TEIs complaints procedures - in line with requirements of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) and the Office for Students (OfS) - but permits TEIs some flexibility within its own Complaints Policies to reflect their own context.
4. This procedure is designed to align with the core principles outlined in the OIA’s Good Practice Framework: Delivering learning opportunities with others.
5. We recognise that TEIs have experience in managing student complaints in line with set policies and processes. Our approach is, therefore, to provide a framework, set of principles, and templates that will give TEIs flexibility to develop the details of their academic complaints policies and processes, while also ensuring consistency across the Common Awards Scheme as a whole.
6. The following documents have been produced to support Theological Education Institutions (TEIs) with the development of policies and processes:
Please note:
Words that are italicised and with a capitalised first letter in the remainder of this Procedure (such as the word 'Complainant') are defined and explained in the section called 'Definitions' in the last section of this Procedure.
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1. This Procedure may be used by:
2. When a group of Students submits a complaint, the TEI will ask the group to nominate one of the Complainants to act as a group representative. The TEI will communicate only with the group representative and expects the group representative to liaise with the other Complainants in the group.
3. Academic complaints may relate to (but are not restricted to) the following matters:
4. The above is not a definitive or exhaustive list; there may be other areas of provision or support which could have an impact on a Student’s experience of their academic programme and their progress in their studies.
5. In cases of doubt as to whether a Student complaint might be considered to be an ‘academic complaint’: the University will Review any complaints referred to it as part of the Stage 3 process to determine whether, or the degree to which, the complaint is included in this definition of ‘academic complaints’. At any stage of their complaints process, members of staff and Students in TEIs may wish to contact the Common Awards Team for advice if required.
6. This Procedure does not cover the following (for which other procedures exist):
1. Complaints will be dealt with efficiently and promptly; however, if the issues are very complex, this may result in a delay to the outcome of the investigation.
2. Complaints will be investigated objectively and independently.
3. The standard of proof in the investigation of complaints is the balance of probabilities, that is, that the matters alleged in the complaint can be shown as more likely than not to be true.
4. Complainants will be given reasoned outcomes in written form.
5. If a complaint is upheld, the TEI will seek to provide an appropriate response and correct any mistakes or misunderstandings.
6. The TEI will use its best endeavours to make changes in response to the recommendations of Investigator
7. Complainants will not be disadvantaged, penalised, or victimised for making a complaint. However, the TEI (at Stage 2) or University (at Stage 3) reserves the right to take action against a Complainant if Misconduct by the Complainant is disclosed in the course of an investigation.
8. Investigators and Reviewers will use their best endeavours to meet the deadlines set out in this Procedure. If it seems likely that a deadline cannot be met, a Complainant will be informed, given reasons, and provided with a revised date that is anticipated for completion.
9. All complaints will be dealt with in confidence. However, Complainants should note:
10. Wherever possible, academic complaints should be dealt with informally at the local level (Stage 1), as matters that are dealt with informally at an early stage have the best chance of being resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of all parties.
1. As a first step to making a complaint under this Procedure, Students are urged to seek to resolve their complaints directly. Academic issues should be discussed with the appropriate academic contact within their TEI.
2. Students who have a complaint to make should raise it as soon as possible. Students should raise a complaint no more than 28 Days after the event that the complaint concerns unless there is good reason for the delay.
3. Even if a formal complaint is received, the TEI should try to resolve the complaint using informal mechanisms in the first instance, where appropriate.
4. The informal resolution stage might include mediation.
5. At the conclusion of any informal resolution attempts, the Student should be informed of the formal complaint procedure and deadline for submitting a formal complaint.
1. The Formal Stage should be instituted only when the informal procedures have been exhausted and the Complainant remains dissatisfied.
2. All TEIs should have a formal mechanism for recording the details of complaints that enter the formal resolution stage and a process for investigating and reporting findings and outcomes to the Student. See Section G for additional guidance on what the TEI Complaints Policy should include.
3. Except in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the TEI, the TEI will not consider complaints under this Procedure if:
4. A complaint may be made even if legal, court, or tribunal proceedings have been commenced, or if a Police investigation into a mater related to the complaint is being undertaken. In such cases, however, the TEI will usually suspend the investigation of a complaint pending the outcome of the legal, court, or tribunal proceedings or the Police investigation.
5. Students are not permitted to initiate more than one formal procedure simultaneously for the same or related matters.
6. If a Student wishes to make a formal complaint, the Student should complete a TEI Student Complaint Form (Common Awards have provided a template for TEIs to use if they wish) and submit the Form to the relevant person within their TEI.
7. Within 7 Days of the TEI receiving a Complaint Form, the TEI will acknowledge receipt of a Complaint Form and undertake some of or all the following:
(a) Ask the Complainant to complete fully, correct, clarify, simplify, shorten, or provide better evidence of some of or all the matters complained about;
(b) Ask the Complainant if the Complainant would like the complaint to be dealt with by mediation and conciliation, that is, by a voluntary process where an impartial, independent third party helps the parties involved in the complaint to resolve issues confidentially and subject to an agreed timescale (see Durham University Mediation Service);
(c) Interview the Complainant;
(d) Advise the Complainant of a different procedure to follow;
(e) In most cases, send the Complaint Form to an appropriate person (or, if the complaint is about more than one issue, to appropriate people) in the area or service which is the subject of the complaint;
(f) Take such other action which, in the opinion of the TEI, is helpful or reasonable for addressing the complaint;
(g) Initiate an investigation of the complaint.
8. Complaints must be investigated by a party independent of the source or focus of the complaint (the Investigator). Under normal circumstances, the Principal of the TEI would investigate the complaint, although this responsibility might be delegated to an appropriate member of core staff. Note, however:
9. The Investigator may:
(a) Ask to interview the Complainant and other relevant parties as part of the Formal Stage;
(b) Take other appropriate action to investigate the complaint expeditiously and fairly, taking into consideration the nature of the complaint.
10. The TEI’s academic complaints policy should provide information on which members of staff Students should contact at each stage of the process and where they can seek out advice and support during the complaints process.
11. When appropriate, a Complainant may also seek advice from:
12. In any meeting held with TEI staff under this Procedure, a Complainant has the right to be accompanied by a current member of the TEI or University community or a Durham Students' Union representative. The TEI does not normally permit legal representation at such meetings but will consider requests by Complainants for legal representation at the meetings. The decision as to whether to permit legal representation will be taken by the TEI Principal and will be at the TEI’s discretion.
13. The TEI does not consider it necessary for Students to seek independent legal advice in respect of complaints. It is entirely at Students discretion and cost if they choose to do so.
14. Provisions should be made for hearings to be held in very exceptional circumstances (for example, in particularly complex cases, or those involving disciplinary issues). Where exceptionally, in the view of the TEI, a hearing is required, clear processes should be communicated to all parties to ensure fairness and transparency and to maximise the opportunities to resolve the complaint.
15. The TEI will use its best endeavours to ensure that the Complainant receives a written Investigation Report that sets out the reasons for the decision within 42 Days of receipt of the completed Complaints Form. The Students’ TEI should keep them up to date about the progress of any complaints process and must tell the Student if there is any reason why it will take longer than 42 Days to complete the process.
16. Possible outcome recommended in the Investigation Report include:
(a) The complaint (or part of it) is upheld or dismissed;
(b) A resolution reached in co-operation with the department or service area which is the subject of the complaint;
(c) Compensation may be recommended;
(d) An apology given;
(e) Recommendations for change are made to the relevant decision-making body of the TEI;
(f) Such other outcomes as the Investigator or Panel of Investigators considers appropriate in the circumstances.
17. When a complaint is upheld, the TEI will explain how and when it will implement any remedy.
18. The Investigation Report will also give information about:
(a) The Complainant's right to request a University Review of the outcome of the investigation of the complaint;
(b) The grounds on which a Complainant may request a Review;
(c) The time limit for requesting a Review;
(d) The procedure for requesting a Review;
(e) Where and how to access support.
19. Durham University will ask the Students’ TEI to conduct an internal Review following on from any complaints that reach Stages 2 or 3 to identify whether there are any areas of practice or provision that might be improved.
1. If the Complainant remains dissatisfied once the TEI’s informal and formal procedures are exhausted, the Complainant must be informed of their right to request a Review by the University. The Complainant may request a Review of the Formal stage Investigation Report by directly contacting the Durham University’s Common Awards office (common.awards@durham.ac.uk) within 14 Days of receiving the Investigation Report.
2. Reviews are to be requested using the Common Awards Complaints Review proforma – Stage 3.
3. The only grounds of requesting a Review are:
(a) The identification of a procedural irregularity during the Formal Stage; or
(b) Provision of new material evidence together with a valid reason why it was not previously submitted; or
(c) The outcome of the Formal Stage was unreasonable in all the circumstances of the case.
4. The University will determine whether to Review the complaint to ascertain whether the TEI’s policy and processes had been implemented correctly. If procedural irregularities are identified, the complaint might be referred back to the TEI for re-investigation.
5. The request for a Review will be acknowledged within 7 Days and a Reviewer appointed to conduct the Review
6. An Investigator who has had no previous involvement with the complaint and who is independent of the Complainant will review the Investigation Report as Reviewer
7. A Reviewer may seek further information as part of the Review; however, a Reviewer will not usually consider the issues afresh or undertake a further investigation. The Reviewer may consult with members of the TEI and/or Durham University staff if he or she deems it appropriate in particular cases. Complete confidentiality cannot be always guaranteed if effective action is to be taken on an academic complaint. Therefore, students are asked to sign a disclaimer on the University’s complaints proformas authorising the investigating authority to consult others and share information on a need to know basis. Staff dealing with complaints must, however, ensure that information disclosed by the student appealing is only disclosed to third parties on a need to know basis. Normally no information is disclosed to anyone outside the University, including the student’s parents, without the express permission of the student.
8. The Common Awards team will use its best endeavours to ensure that the Complainant receives a Review Report within 28 Days of a request for a Review being received. If there is likely to be a delay, the Complainant will be informed of the reason and a revised timescale given.
9. If a Reviewer upholds one or more aspects of a Review, the Complainant will be provided with information about outcomes (such as those set out in paragraph B(20) above), which may include a new Investigation of the complaint by an Investigator not previously involved with the complaint or Complainant
10. There are no other opportunities for the complaint to be pursued within the University.
11. During Stage 3, when appropriate, a Complainant may seek advice from:
12. In any meeting held with University staff under this Procedure, a Complainant has the right to be accompanied by a current member of the TEI or University community or a Durham Students' Union representative. The University does not normally permit legal representation at such meetings but will consider requests by Complainants for legal representation at the meetings. The decision as to whether to permit legal representation will be taken by the University Secretary (or the University Secretary' s nominee) and will be at the University's sole discretion.
13. The University does not consider it necessary for Students to seek independent legal advice in respect of complaints. It is entirely at Students discretion and cost if they choose to do so.
14. The Complainant will be given a Completion of Procedures Letter and informed of the right to submit a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, the time limit within which to do so, and where and how to access advice and support. Students have a maximum of 12 months to bring their complaint to the OIA.
1. There should be one academic complaints policy and process for each TEI - including multi-centre TEIs - covering all Common Awards programmes being delivered. TEIs with more than one validating university may wish for the policy to cover students on programmes outwith the Common Awards Scheme.
2. TEIs are responsible for creating and reviewing their own complaints policy, but all complaints policies (and any proposed changes) must be approved by the University before they are published to students. TEIs may adopt the model complaints policy, or may decide to draft their own. See our Templates and Forms page for the TEI template Complaints Policy.
3. All TEI policies must include:
4. TEIs should ensure that the policy is both publicised to, and easily accessible for, Students.
Monitoring and review
5. TEI Management Committees are required to monitor the management, operation, and review of its complaints processes – including the information, support, and advice to students and complainants – in relation to the quality and standards of the academic provision for Common Awards programmes. See our page on TEI Management Committees for more information.
6. TEIs are asked to reflect on matters relating to complaints from Students, and the identification and training of investigators – as part of Annual Self-Evaluation and Periodic External Review (where relevant TEI policies are also reviewed by Durham) to identify any practice or provision that might be enhanced in light of the complaints. It is recognised that complaints may provide useful feedback from students, and where appropriate, will can be used to improve provision See our page on annual, periodic and external review for more information.
Training
7. TEIs must ensure that all members of staff involved in the complaint process are appropriately inducted, trained, and supported, and that they are fully aware of the relevant TEI and Common Awards policies and procedures.
Record keeping
8. TEIs must keep clear formal records of details of complaints that enter the formal resolution stages. TEIs must observe effective record-keeping to ensure that any decisions made throughout the complaints process are clearly documented for review and referral to the University or the Office of the Independent Adjudicator where required, and in line with GDPR requirements.
Further Information
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