Complaints Procedure

Complaints by Students

Aims

To provide a process for dealing with student complaints and to maintain the standards required by Awarding Bodies and by the College’s own internal Quality Assurance procedures.

Objectives

• To give an overview of the student complaints procedure at the European College of Business and Management.
• To provide guidance on the role of the internal verifier. 

Overview

• Complaints will be dealt with as quickly as possible.
• Complaints will be dealt with in confidence, as far as this is possible.
• Written, dated records should be kept by both complainant and the person dealing with the complaint at all stages.
• Where possible, a complaint should go through the informal stage before going on to the formal stage.
   

This procedure can be found in all student handbooks.
The procedure is to be followed for any complaints excluding ones related to assessment decisions and to equal opportunities/harassment.
 

1. If a complaint is neither very serious nor requiring immediate action, the matter may be raised through the system of student representatives.
    
2. Where this is not appropriate, the complaint may be raised informally by speaking directly to the appropriate person (this may be tutor, course tutor, or other*, as decided by the complainant). The complaint may be resolved at this point.
    
3. If the complaint is of a more serious nature, and/or if the complainant feels unable to raise the complaint informally as in step 2, a formal complaint may be made as follows:
   
   
   1. The complaint should be made in writing to the responsible line manager or to the Programme Manager. The complaint will be acknowledged in writing within 3 days.  Within the same time the person(s) complained about will be informed of the nature of the complaint, and that there will be an investigation into the complaint.
       
   2. The person dealing with the complaint will investigate the complaint. Where there is any conflict of interest, an independent investigating officer may be appointed. All involved parties (including the person{s} complained about) will be invited to comment on the validity of the complaint.
       
   3. The person dealing with the complaint will complete the investigation, draw a conclusion, and inform, in writing, all parties concerned of the conclusion, normally within 15 working days.
       
   4. The outcome of the investigation will be recorded and filed, and any further actions taken as appropriate.
      
       
4. If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of stage 3, s/he may make an appeal, in writing, to the Director, within 5 working days of receipt of the written conclusion (see 3.iii).
    
5. The Director will review the complaint and will normally respond to the appeal within a further 5 working days. Any outcome will be recorded and filed.
    
6. If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of stage 5, s/he may make an appeal, in writing, to the Chairman of the college, within 5 working days of receipt of the Director’s response.
    
7. The Chairman will review the complaint and will normally respond to the appeal within a further 5 working days. Any outcome will be recorded and filed.
    
8. The Chairman’s decision will be final.

*‘Other’ may be a training manager or other responsible person within a partner company. In the event that such a complaint is made, the complaint will be brought to the attention of the relevant Programme Manager as soon as is practically possible, and before any action.