The Regulations provide a means for you to raise a complaint about any service the University provides and to get that issue resolved.
Complaints can be about:
- Concerns relating to academic programmes or services; or
- your student experience, including relationships with administrators or support services.
If you wish to complain about concerns relating to you academic programme or services, these must be made before the Board of Examiners has decided your result. You cannot use the complaints procedure to appeal against a Board of Examiners’ decision.
Who can use this process?
This procedure applies to all students on programmes of the University. The term ‘student’ includes those who have left the University within the 3 previous months, for whatever reason. Please note, however, that it is a principle of our complaints procedure that any complaints must be made within 3 months of the event(s) concerned.
If you are enrolled on a University Award delivered at a Partner College you should use the College’s own procedures. Once these are exhausted, you have a right to pursue the complaint with the University.
How do you make a complaint?
If you have a complaint, it is in everyone’s interest that you raise it as soon as possible.
Before you begin formal proceedings, we would encourage you firstly to try and resolve the issue informally, either by speaking directly with those concerned or with your Personal Tutor, Programme Leader or the Students’ Union Advice Centre. If an informal approach is unable to resolve the issue, only then should you begin formal proceedings. Further guidance for both staff and students on informal resolution of complaints can be found here.
Each school/professional service area has a local complaints advisor. If you are unsure who to contact, please email contention@lincoln.ac.uk
Formal Procedure
To make a formal complaint you must fill in the complaints form on OneUni. You can do this by selecting the support tab > Select Contention > Select the Complaints form.
If you have been withdrawn from the University and no longer have access to OneUni you can contact a Governance Officer who will send you a form (SCP1), for you to complete.
In your form you must:
- Outline how you’ve tried to resolve it informally
- Set out what your complaint is about and the negative impact it has had
- Set out what your preferred outcome should be from your complaint
- Provide evidence for your complaint and all other relevant material.
Please be aware: issues and evidence not introduced at this stage won’t normally be accepted for consideration at subsequent stages.
Once your complaint has been received your Head of School (or nominated senior member of staff) will carry out an investigation into your case and conclude it within 20 working days. When they have completed their investigation you will receive a report of their findings.
If your complaint is upheld in whole or in part then they will set out how the issue will be resolved and you will receive an apology and/or other appropriate remedies.
If, upon receipt of this letter, you are not satisfied with the outcome (because you feel material elements of your complaint have not been addressed, or that you haven’t been offered a fair resolution) then you have 10 working days to request an Independent Review. You can do this by filling out the Complaint Review proforma, stating the reason for your dissatisfaction with the first stage’s outcome and providing evidence to support that claim. This should be submitted to the Student Complaints Officer handling your case.
There are two possible further steps to the complaints procedure after the Head of School investigation:
- Independent Review
- Complaint Hearing
Further details of these latter stages are set out in the Regulations. If you have exhausted the University’s internal processes and you remain dissatisfied, you have the opportunity to take your complaint further by approaching the national Office for the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) who will consider reviewing your case.
What if your complaint is about your Head of School, and is very serious?
In some cases, it may be necessary to deviate from the set complaints procedure. If your complaint relates to, or contains criticism of your Head of School, then the Student Complaints Officer will arrange for another Head of School to investigate your case.
If the complaint is of a very serious nature it may be referred directly to a more advanced stage. If you need advice on whether your case requires an advanced referral, you are welcome to discuss it with the Governance Team.
How long will each stage take?
Time taken for:
- Head of School stage: 20 working days
- Independent Reviewer stage: 10 working days
- Complaint Hearing, with Panel to meet and deliver its decision: 20 working days
Please note that these timescales are guidelines only. The University reserves the right to extend them in cases where keeping to a tight time-frame might prevent a fair and just resolution.
You are expected to assist the process by responding to requests for information and attend meetings in a prompt manner. If you fail to do so without good reason, you will be issued with a letter requesting a response by a set deadline. Failure to meet this deadline will result in your complaint being withdrawn.
