please note that this information is aimed at providing general guidance for students, it should not be seen as an authoritative statement of policy and procedures. please also refer to the Complaint Procedures 2 here

a Student Complaint is defined as 'an issue/concern with services provided by the University; the delivery of a programme, teaching, or administration; misconduct by a member of staff or other students' 

is there a deadline to submit my complaint?

complaints should normally be made within 15 days of the event which has given rise to the complaint or, if a series of events has given rise to a complaint, within 15 days of the final event in the series.

what are the different grounds for a complaint?

  • *complaints about the delivery of courses and related services, if these are unable to be resolved by the relevant Staff and Student Consultative Committee;
  • *complaints regarding service delivery of administrative or support services, including Halls of Residence
  • *failure to meet obligations including those outlined in course/student handbooks and other correspondence from the University
  • *misleading or incorrect information in prospectuses or promotional materials and other University publications
  • *complaints about alleged staff conduct (e.g. concerning discrimination, victimisation, harassment and bullying)

if your complaint is regarding any matter relating to the assessment and examination procedure or academic appeals, please refer to the Academic Appeals Procedure.

if you are studying at a partner insitution, please contact us for more informaton 

how can student advice help?

  • *explain how the complaints procedure works and the potential outcomes
  • *help you decide whether a complaint is the right approach
  • *provide knowledge and guidance on academic policies
  • *review your draft complaint statements and help you write your complaint as clearly as possible
  • *accompany you to formal Complaint hearings

what should I include in my complaint statement?

you will need to provide a full, detailed and chronological statement of your complaint with evidence. the statement should include;

  • *why are you unhappy with what has happened?
  • *what have you done so far to try and resolve the complaint?
  • *what outcome are you seeking? e.g. Apology, mediation, payments , change of policy etc.

stages of complaints

stage one: local level

your complaint can be raised verbally/written to the relevant member of staff. you should raise the matter within 15 days of the event or the last situation relating to the event.  you may be asked to an informal meeting by the faculty to help clarify your complaint. the staff member should send an acknowledgement of your complaint within 5 days, and a full response within 20 working days. if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can continue to stage 2.

stage two: faculty/departmental investigation

complaint submitted to the complaint co-ordinator (for service delivery) or Dean/Head of Department (for staff conduct) for investigation via the complaint form here.  you must raise a stage 2 complaint within 15 days and should again receive an acknowledgement in 5 days and full response in 20 days.

stage Three: complaint review

if you wish to proceed to stage 3, you will need to submit your complaint form to the academic registry within 15 days of the of the stage 2 complaint decision to be reviewed. this stage does not include a reinvestigation; they will only review the process of the complaint ensuring that the procedures were followed. they should acknowledge your complaint within 5 days and provide a full response within 20 days. if the complaint is not resolved at this stage, then you will have exhausted the university procedures. you will be issued with a completion of procedures letter and proved the details of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA).

contact us

although we are not working on campus, our advice team are still working remotely. you can contact them by emailing support@kingston.ac.uk. we can then either advice by email or arrange a virtual meeting using Zoom or MS Teams.