College not playing the game....

[paradigm]

Looking for some thoughts/ideas from the experts here!

A family member recently completed (successfully) a professional course run by a London-based private college. Things went well until towards the end of the 3rd (final) year a formal written academic complaint had to be lodged in relation to non-trivial matters. After extensive correspondence (since last July) the College has consistently failed to seriously address and consider the issues raised or to respond to questions asked - the last response took 5 weeks to receive (after a reminder) and consisted of two sentences (only) - dialogue with the College must now be considered as exhausted without any attempt having been made towards resolution.

Looking at the full Course Terms and Conditions there is (unbelievably) no provision of an internal complaints procedure or academic appeals procedure and no routes to ADR are offered. They do not hold university style exam boards at the end of a course where borderline, disadvantaged, etc. candidates can be considered and fair decisions reached.

There appear to be two bodies presently accrediting the course for professional membership (there was a third but they recently withdrew their accreditation). The College is remarkably reticent on matters of course accreditation. The first body approached appears to share the same offices and telephone number as the College itself and they are presently avoiding a dialogue by telephone ever since the reason for the enquiry was made known. The second body, yet to be approached, may prove to be equally ineffectual. The College is NOT a member of any of the organisations who take up complaints raised against their registered member institutions, e.g. the OFS (Office for Students).

The student in question is very able and appears to have strong and valid grounds for complaint - a fair and satisfactory solution has been suggested by the student which would be quite straightforward and easy to implement.

How can pressure best be exerted in a situation such as this? There does not seem to be an appropriate Ombudsman service? One possibility might be to invoke the Consumer Rights Act (via Trading Standards?) on the basis of 'paid for services' not being of an acceptable standard - which would be central to the complaint being made. However this would not be the first choice of action.

Of course, it may be that a private college with (presumably) no public funding is accountable to no-one and can effectively 'do what they like' ?

Any thoughts or ideas would be most welcome.

paradigm

[PinkDalek]

One possibility might be to invoke the Consumer Rights Act (via Trading Standards?) on the basis of 'paid for services' not being of an acceptable standard - which would be central to the complaint being made.

That was a suggestion in the thread when you asked at Legal Issues last July:

viewtopic.php?p=239241#p239241

There was also an alternative route suggested at the foot of that thread.

[paradigm]

Thanks PinkDalek.

Yes, there is much more information and clarity available now and the issue can be described in much more accurate way.

The CRA route is reserved as a 'last resort'.

Regarding the (excellent) alternative route suggested, the college in question is unfortunately not a member of the OIA/OIAHE scheme (or seemingly any other similar scheme) and therefore this route cannot be taken.

Any member thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks to all.

paradigm

[paradigm]

Unfortunately very little response to this issue!

Some further thoughts to perhaps stimulate discussion are as follows:

The alleged course accreditation bodies have proved to be of no assistance.
Neither body is featured in the UKAS (The United Kingdom Accreditation Service) database of UK bodies empowered to accredit.  (UKAS is the sole national body to oversee accreditation within the UK recognised by Government). The question arises as to who authorises the accreditation powers of the bodies? Perhaps this may be a case for the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)? Is there any other more appropriate agency?

The reasons why the CRA (Consumer Rights Act) might not be the first choice for action are:
It is uncertain how the CRA might handle this type of complaint.
The CRA can only decree that the deficient services (in this case) must be 'put right' or that a refund of some kind should be made. The time window for 'putting things right' has passed as the course has completed so we are looking at the refund option only - liable to involve the Small Claims Court.

Are there any agencies in place to uphold a 'right to appeal'?

A college with no provision of a documented internal complaints procedure or academic appeals procedure and no routes to ADR offered. Any agencies to appeal to about this?

The College could be invited to participate in ADR, etc. Any recommended agencies to host this?

Raising some publicity regarding the operation and methods of this particular college could be a possibility. Again, not an attractive route and unlikely to produce the fair and correct outcome we are seeking.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

paradigm

[dspp]

Unfortunately very little response to this issue!...
Any suggestions would be welcome.

paradigm

For perhaps understandable reasons you are being somewhat coy about the underlying issue. Also you appear to have explored some of the more obvious avenues. That makes it a little difficult to evaluate options.

Are you able to give a little hint as the underlying issue, e.g.
- student has completed course and been awarded qualification, but final outcome way different than en-route results; or
- student has experienced non-academic extra-curricular issues.

Regarding where to turn, you appear to have already considered most things and be - so far - sequencing escalation in an understandable way. Personally the three approaches I think you may end up using together (i.e. simultaneously) are:
- small claims court +
- MP +
- media campaign.

regards, dspp

[paradigm]

Thanks dspp.

Your comments are most welcome and entirely understandable. I attempted to keep the (already long) original post short - however some extra information is as follows:

The student in question achieved a final overall mark of 69% which is borderline for the threshold of 70% required for a Pass with Distinction.  The substance of the academic complaints (lodged long before the final mark was ever known) highlighted to the College how the candidate was unfairly disadvantaged academically in several significant respects during the final year of the course.  A university exam board in my experience would take a wider overall view of a borderline candidate, especially one with valid academic complaints (possibly, e.g. looking at marks from earlier years of the course and performance in practical/project work, seminars, etc.).  All the available information would be duly considered and the most likely decision in a case such as this would be to round the 69% up to 70% and award a Pass with Distinction. However this particular College does not hold university-style exam boards (or their equivalent) at the end of a course where borderline, disadvantaged, etc. candidates can be considered and fair and proper decisions reached.

There is no evidence that the College has investigated or even considered the complaints, especially in relation to the final award.

The valid academic complaints could also be outlined if necessary, however this would take much more space and would probably not add much to the information. Trust this gives a better perspective of the issue.

Kind regards, paradigm

[dspp]

Thanks dspp.

Your comments are most welcome and entirely understandable. I attempted to keep the (already long) original post short - however some extra information is as follows:

The student in question achieved a final overall mark of 69% which is borderline for the threshold of 70% required for a Pass with Distinction.  The substance of the academic complaints (lodged long before the final mark was ever known) highlighted to the College how the candidate was unfairly disadvantaged academically in several significant respects during the final year of the course.  A university exam board in my experience would take a wider overall view of a borderline candidate, especially one with valid academic complaints (possibly, e.g. looking at marks from earlier years of the course and performance in practical/project work, seminars, etc.).  All the available information would be duly considered and the most likely decision in a case such as this would be to round the 69% up to 70% and award a Pass with Distinction. However this particular College does not hold university-style exam boards (or their equivalent) at the end of a course where borderline, disadvantaged, etc. candidates can be considered and fair and proper decisions reached.

There is no evidence that the College has investigated or even considered the complaints, especially in relation to the final award.

The valid academic complaints could also be outlined if necessary, however this would take much more space and would probably not add much to the information. Trust this gives a better perspective of the issue.

Kind regards, paradigm

Thank you for the extra info which helps very much.

This puts the student into the category of 'buyers regret' rather than one of the other categories. This in turn makes the range of options available much smaller, given everything else you have described. I am sure it is not an accident that the college is not registered with / a member of one of the various schemes.

I don't think you'd have any success with a small claims court - "I'm suing because I didn't get a 1st" is hardly likely to get much more than entertainment value in a court, and the student might not want to be on the receiving end of the media attention that results. The spin the college media would put on the riposte could seriously embarass the student, "The College adheres to strict rigour in allocating marks, there is no grade inflation here" is the sort of thing that one might expect. Any MP would think that through in advance and hesitate to engage. So that closes down all three of my earlier suggestions.

Rightly or wrongly, this means, in effect, that the student likely cannot get redress. The most they can achieve is revenge, perhaps cloaked in the disguise of "educating" other prospective buyers/students. Is that a sensible course of action to put energy into, and a sensible frame of mind for the student to embark on the next phase of their life ? It might well be a valid effort, but only if the college's actions were very egregious, (e.g. the classes were awful from the beginning, no student feedback was ever given, etc) and nothing I've seen you write up until now suggests that is the central issue here.

I appreciate this is probably not what you wanted to hear. Am I missing anything ?

regards, dspp

[paradigm]

Thanks dspp - your helpful comments are much appreciated.

It is of course difficult for anyone to comment without intimate knowledege of all the aspects.

A resort to the CRA would be on the basis that the 'services' provided during the final year of the course were deficient and discrimatory in several respects.

For example (trying to remain brief), a major component of assessment was a series of 5 course study assignments, equally weighted in marks. The first 2 were declared to be learning exercises (i.e. formative) in advance of the later 3 (more summative). The feedback received for the first 2 (after a very long delay) was of no help in improving the following case studies and no reasons at all were provided for the allocation of some unexpectedly very low section marks. Also, there were 2 markers ('A' & 'B') involved for the class (marking half the scripts each). 'A' provided excellent and copious annotated scrip feedback (as specified for inclusion in a final portfolio for submission) while 'B' did not. Also, students comparing notes, observed two different mark ranges between the markers, 'A' generally high and 'B' much lower. A formal request was made for proper feedback - a second attempt was eventually received after 15 weeks which proved to be of little improvement. The final 3 case studies had therefore to be submitted in haste without constructive formative feedback having ever been received. This candidate scored the top class mark in a major essay assgnment earlier in the year and the marks and comments relating to the first 2 case studies, marked by 'B', were not recognisable in relation to the work submitted. This was only one issue - there were others, both academic and non-academic.

The CRA requires that services must be delivered 'reasonably professionally and timeously'.
It was in relation to a possibly favourable outcome from the CRA that I earlier anticipated a likely consequential resort to the Small Claims Court!

Agreed, it is definitely no accident that the College has strictly avoided being a member of any of the voluntary schemes for adjudication, etc. It seems unbelievable that a college within the UK in year 2020 can operate in this way.
Potential candidates really do need to be made aware and take care before enroling with a college such as we are discussing!

The plan now must be to lodge complaints:
Via the CRA.
With the ASA relating to misleading information on the college website regarding course accreditation.
With UKAS relating to the standing of the alleged accreditation bodies.

Suitable comments on relevant forums, Trustpilot, etc. may also be in order.

Unfortunately none of these options are liable to lead towards the desired and fair result.

Kind regards, paradigm

[dspp]

......Unfortunately none of these options are liable to lead towards the desired and fair result.

Kind regards, paradigm

Yes, there is often a lot more going on behind the scenes. Good luck.

regards, dspp

[Nocton]

A few words of wisdom from a long working life. Give it up! As dspp has said there is not a good chance of success in the courts or elsewhere. The student has got a pass, which is close to a distinction. So if they go for a job it should be a good basis for a decent job. The danger of pursuing this further, apart from the year time taken, is that the student will get a reputation for being 'difficult' which will not be good for future employment. These days, much more than years ago before the internet and social media, these things are easily discovered. It may take a long while for some, but most of us realise that life is not fair. Put it behind you, accept it and move on.