Our complaints procedure

If you have a concern about an aspect of your student experience at Sussex, you can let us know. See the options available, including our complaints procedure.

Student complaints procedure

At the University of Sussex, we are committed to providing you with the best experience possible by creating excellent and supportive learning environments and high standards of service delivery for all students.

However, we recognise that there may be occasions when you are dissatisfied with an aspect of your experience. In order for us to put things right, we need you to let us know as soon as you can when you experience an issue. If you have a concern about an aspect of your student experience at Sussex, see the options available, including our Student Complaints Procedure [PDF 210.51KB], parts of which are summarised below.

Raising your concerns

Your views are important. You may wish to contact us to address any concerns you have.

Submitting a complaint is one option but other options are available.

You could try:

• giving feedback
• speaking to advisors in the Student Centre
• raising your concern informally with the team involved.

We encourage you to consider all options.

Another approach, such as mediation for residents complaints, might give you a better outcome.

What can be considered as a complaint

Our student complaints procedure may be able to address your concerns.

It covers the following areas:

• the delivery of teaching and supervision
• a non-academic University service, such as a front desk
• information in a handbook or promotional material
• facilities, such as buildings on campus
• the conduct of a member of University staff.

Time limits

You should make your complaint immediately – typically within four weeks of the event that has caused concern. If you’re complaining about a series of related events, contact us after the final event.

Additionally, there are time limits beyond the first complaint stage that you must observe.

We may exceptionally consider complaints outside of our time limits, at the discretion of the University. Serious complaints relating to members of staff are likely to fall within this exception.

If you submit a complaint outside of our time limits, and we don’t consider it exceptional, we will issue you with a letter explaining that you’re out of time. This is called a Completion of Procedures letter. You can use this to contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

Who’s eligible to complain

You can follow the student complaints procedure if you’re a:

• current registered student studying at Sussex or IDS
• recent graduate, up to three months after you have left the University
• student who has recently withdrawn (temporarily or permanently) up to three months after withdrawing
• student complaining about something that took place during their most recent period of registration.

In all cases, you’re expected to raise your complaint within our time limits.

If you’re studying at a partner institution, you may be eligible to complain to us. See more about partner institution complaints.

Issues that we will not handle through the complaints procedure

• a concern about a decision made by an academic body regarding student progression, academic assessment and awards, which would normally be considered under the academic appeals process
• a concern raised by a student about the outcome of their own disciplinary process
• a concern about a decision made under other specific regulations, such as fitness to practise
• matters relating to the Student Loans Company, which has its own complaints procedure 
• a concern about the Students' Union, which has its own complaints procedure
• an instance of lawful speech because of a viewpoint expressed.

How to submit your complaint

If you have a concern, the first thing to do is tell us.

Stage 1 - Early resolution

To submit your initial complaint, get in touch with the relevant service provider. If you don’t know the contact details of the service provider, email complaints@sussex.ac.uk for assistance.

State clearly what you are dissatisfied with, and how you would like your complaint to be resolved.

You should contact them immediately after the incident – ideally within four weeks.

An early resolution outcome must be sent to you in writing and a copy will also be provided to the Student Complaints Team. 

You should get an outcome within four weeks of your complaint being categorised as a Stage 1 complaint. In some circumstances, it may take longer. We will tell you if this is the case.

Stage 2 - Investigation

If you have received a response to your early resolution complaint, and the outcome hasn’t addressed your concerns, you can ask for it to be investigated further. This is known as a Stage 2 complaint.

In rare cases, we may take a decision to escalate a complaint straight to Stage 2 if there are exceptional circumstances. If this happens, we will let you know after you submit your initial complaint.

To request your complaint to be considered at this stage, fill in an investigation request form.

You should submit your complaint within four weeks of receiving your early resolution outcome.

What happens at the investigation stage

All Stage 2 complaints are overseen by the University's Head of Complaints, Conduct and Funding (CCF). The Complaints Team manages this process on their behalf.

Before we investigate Stage 2 complaints, we will:

• send an auto-reply to your form submission
• contact you about your complaint, usually within five working days, and may ask for more details so we fully understand your concerns
• confirm whether we’re investigating your complaint at Stage 2.

As part of the investigation:

1. the Head of Complaints, Conduct and Funding will usually appoint a senior member of University staff (the investigator) to look into your complaint
2. the investigator will consider all appropriate complaint documentation, and
3. the investigator writes a report explaining their findings.

You may be contacted by the investigator for more information to help them during this process.

The Head of Complaints, Conduct and Funding will write you a letter to conclude your Stage 2 complaint, taking into account the investigator’s findings.

You should get an outcome within two months. In some circumstances it may take longer. We will tell you if this is the case.

Stage 3 - Review

If you have received an investigation response, and you continue to have concerns, you can ask for a review.

A review is not a reinvestigation but considers complaints on three grounds.

These are:

(a) there were procedural irregularities in the investigation of the complaint, which had a material effect on the outcome
(b) new evidence can be presented which wasn’t available earlier in the process and you were unable to reasonably do so
(c) the outcome of the investigation is unreasonable based on the weight of the evidence.

If you consider any of the three grounds to be relevant to your complaint, you can request a review.

You should request a review within four weeks of receiving your Stage 2 outcome. Requests received later than this are not normally considered.

All Stage 3 reviews are conducted by the Director for the Student Experience (or their nominee). The Complaints Team liaises with you on their behalf.

Where the Director has been involved in an earlier stage of your complaint, they will pass the review over to another Director or member of the University Executive Team.

Before we conduct a review, we will:

1. send an auto-reply to your review submission
2. contact you about your review request, usually within five working days, and may ask for more details
3. confirm whether we’re reviewing your complaint.

You will be notified of the outcome of your review, and the reason for the decision, normally within four weeks of the date your request was accepted. This is a Completion of Procedures document. In some circumstances it may take longer than four weeks. We will tell you if this is the case.

Partner institution complaint review

If you’re studying a Sussex course run by a partner institution, you may be eligible to ask us to review your complaint. A review is not a re-investigation of your complaint; we assess what happened with your complaint at the partner institution.

In the first instance, you must submit your complaint to the partner institution that’s providing your course. Don’t send it to us before you have done this.

The partner institution will respond to your complaint according to its own process. It will progress your complaint to the conclusion of its investigation stage.

Once the investigation stage is complete, your partner institution will confirm that your complaint can be considered further by us, if you choose.

If your complaint is not eligible to be considered by us, you should pursue your complaint further with your partner institution.

Eligibility

We can only review your complaint if your concern relates to:

1. The quality of your learning opportunities
2. The academic standards of the award.

We cannot consider complaints relating to:

• academic judgement
• your partner institution’s services
• the conduct of staff not employed directly by us – contact the HR department of your partner institution
• other aspects of your experience at the partner institution.

Our decision about whether we can review your complaint is final.

Time limit

You must contact us within four weeks of receiving the formal complaint outcome from your partner institution.

We will not generally consider complaints outside this time frame. Our decision is final.

Requesting a complaint review

To request a review, fill in the partner institution complaint review form.

For details on what happens in this process, see the Review section above.

Completion of Procedures

You will get a Completion of Procedures document when we have reached a point where we cannot pursue your complaint any further.

The University’s decision on this is final.

You can use your document to request an independent review.

Independent review

If you have exhausted our complaints process, or you have received a Completion of Procedures document, you may wish to contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA).

The OIA provides an independent scheme for the review of university student complaints and appeals.

Our principles throughout the process

Our Student Complaints Procedure operates on a set of principles. They ensure fairness and confidence for everyone through the process. Some principles have been outlined above.

The other principles cover things such as:

• our expectations, including behaving with dignity and respect
• privacy and confidentiality
• group complaints
• being accompanied or represented.

You can also view a full version of the Student Complaints Procedure [PDF 210.51KB].

Reasonable adjustments

If you have a disability which impacts your ability to engage with the Student Complaints Procedure you are encouraged to request reasonable adjustments to ensure that you are not at any disadvantage during the process for a reason relating to your disability. The University encourages such requests and will endeavour to accommodate them when appropriate and proportionate. Reasonable adjustments can include:

Requesting a phone or Zoom call to talk through the procedure or any information that has been provided via email.
Requesting a trusted person be present in any meeting for support. Please note that, unless they are an agreed representative in an advocacy role, they cannot speak on your behalf.
Requesting a reasonable extension to provide any relevant information.

If you want to request any reasonable adjustments, contact complaints@sussex.ac.uk and we'll work with you to accommodate any needs you may have.

• Other complaints

  If you are not a current student at Sussex see other ways to give feedback or make a complaint.

  If your complaint is not personal to you, but you have a serious concern about one of the following happening at the University, you can use our Raising Concerns process to make a report:

   

  • the committing of a criminal offence (e.g. fraud);
  • failure to comply with a legal obligation (this may include, for example, obligations relating to freedom of speech and academic freedom, obligations under the Equality Act 2010, or compliance with the University’s Charter and Statutes);
  • a miscarriage of justice;
  • endangering the health or safety of any individual;
  • damage to the environment; or
  • deliberate concealment of information tending to show any matter failing within the above.

See more from Complain about the University