Student Complaints and Academic Appeals

We define a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction regarding our actions, inactions, or the quality of service provided by us or on our behalf. Typically, a complaint concerns an issue that directly affects the complainant.

An academic appeal is a formal request to review a decision made by the Board of Examiners.

Academic appeals will only be considered if supported by evidence and based on the following grounds:

• Significant mitigating circumstances that were unknown to the Board of Examiners at the time of their decision
• Procedural irregularities in the decision-making process.
• Evidence of prejudice or bias

Appeals cannot be made against academic judgment, meaning disagreement with awarded marks is not a valid reason for appeal.

Additionally, you cannot appeal the final conclusions of a panel or individual who reviewed your mitigating circumstances or any reasonable adjustments requested for your assessments.

Examples of issues you can raise a complaint about include:

• The quality and standard of any service provided
• Failure to deliver a promised service
• Errors or failures in administrative processes
• Misapplication of regulations
• The quality of your learning experience
• Unfair treatment
• Dissatisfaction with a university policy

Certain matters cannot be addressed through the Student Complaints Procedure. These include:

• A routine, first-time request for a service. You should submit a query through the Enquiry Hub.
• A request for information or an explanation of policy or practice. You should submit a query through the Enquiry Hub.
• A request under Freedom of Information or Data Protection legislation. Please visit the relevant pages on the University website.
• Complaints against the outcomes of disciplinary procedures, including assessment offence penalties. Please refer to the embedded appeals process within the procedure.
• Complaints against Recognised Teaching Centres. You must follow the centre’s internal complaints procedure.
• Complaints or appeals against admissions decisions. Please refer to the separate Admissions Appeals Procedure.
• Complaints from anonymous individuals or un-attributable sources.

Current students, groups of students, and recent alumni are eligible to submit a complaint or appeal under the appropriate procedure.

If you have a complaint, you should first raise it through the Enquiry Hub or directly with the University staff member handling your query. Reporting issues as soon as you become aware of them allows us to address them more effectively.

When submitting a complaint, please include:

• A clear and detailed description of the complaint
• An explanation of what went wrong
• Your preferred resolution
• Any supporting evidence

To proceed with the formal stages of the Student Complaints Procedure (Stages 2 and 3) or an academic appeal, you must complete and submit a formal submission form, which can be requested from luminaopenuniversity@gmail.com.

Complaints must be submitted within three calendar months of the incident that led to the complaint. If you wish to escalate your complaint to Stage 2 of the procedure, you must do so within four weeks of the conclusion of Stage 1.

Academic appeals must be submitted within four weeks of the official publication of your assessment results.

When submitting a complaint, please include:

• A clear and detailed description of the complaint
• An explanation of what went wrong
• Your preferred resolution
• Any supporting evidence

To proceed with the formal stages of the Student Complaints Procedure (Stages 2 and 3) or an academic appeal, you must complete and submit a formal submission form, which can be requested from luminaopenuniversity@gmail.com.

The Student Complaints and Academic Appeals procedures consist of three stages.

Stage One – Informal Resolution/Screening

We aim to resolve complaints quickly within the department responsible for the service. Resolution may involve an apology, an explanation if something has gone wrong, or immediate action to address the issue. In some cases, the matter may need to be referred to additional staff members or escalated to senior management if initial attempts to resolve it are unsuccessful. We will keep you informed throughout the process.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome at Stage One, you may escalate your complaint to Stage Two.

Stage Two – Complaints: Formal Investigation

Stage Two addresses complaints that remain unresolved at Stage One or require a detailed investigation by the Student Resolution and Casework team.

To initiate Stage Two, you must request a submission form from A&C@london.ac.uk and submit it along with supporting evidence. All submissions are handled confidentially.

We will:

• Acknowledge receipt within three working days.
• Provide an outcome as soon as possible, usually within four weeks.
• Inform you if the investigation takes longer than four weeks.

Stage Two – Academic Appeals

If an academic appeal is deemed eligible, the Student Resolution and Casework team will conduct an initial investigation before referring it to the Chair of the relevant Board of Examiners for a final decision. We aim to provide an outcome within three weeks of confirming Stage Two.

Stage Three – Review

If you are dissatisfied with the Stage Two outcome, you may submit your case for review by the independent Chair of the Complaints Resolution Panel or the Representations Panel (for Academic Appeals).

To qualify for Stage Three, one or more of the following criteria must be met:

• The procedures in Stage One and Stage Two were not followed correctly.
• New evidence has emerged that could not reasonably have been presented earlier and may have influenced previous decisions.
• The Stage Two outcome was unreasonable.
• To proceed, request a Stage Three submission form from luminauniversity@gmail.com. Once a submission is made we will: Refer to the Chair to determine whether one or more of the criteria above are met.
• The Chair will assess if the criteria are met.
• If not, you will receive an outcome letter, typically within 14 days.
• If the criteria are met, the full Complaints Resolution Panel will convene, usually within 28 days of receiving the case at Stage Three.

If your complaint has reached the conclusion of Stage Three, you will receive a Completion of Procedures letter. If you are not satisfied with the outcome or how your complaint was handled, you may submit a complaint to Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) following their guidelines.