The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (the 'OIA') provides an independent scheme for the review of student complaints or appeals. When the University's internal procedures for dealing with complaints and appeals have been exhausted, the University will issue a Completion of Procedures letter. If you are unhappy with the result of your appeal you may choose to take your case to the OIA for an independent review. The OIA will need to receive your application within three months of the date of the University's Completion of Procedures letter.

NB Students do not need to exhaust both the complaints and appeals processes before complaining to the OIA. For example, when a student presents a complaint, there may be clearly-separable aspects that are more relevant to be investigated under the appeals procedures: in which case, both the complaints and appeals procedures may be invoked, and progressed in parallel.  In such cases, if a student is not satisfied with the outcome of one process (e.g. complaint), but is awaiting the result of the other process (e.g. an appeal), the student may submit their application to the OIA within three months of receiving the Completion of Procedures letter for the first process to be completed, and does not need to wait until both processes have been completed.

However, the University continues to also reserve the right to decide, in a given case, which internal procedural route (appeals, complaints, disciplinary, etc.) is most suited to handle the issues presented by a complainant, and not to allow the re-examination of issues that are/have been appropriately reviewed by one process, to also be reviewed by another process in a way that duplicates and does not add specific value.

Further details about the OIA are available from the Academic Office or from the Student Advice and Representation Centre in the Students' Union. You may also download them directly from the Independent Adjudicator's website.