Appendix 2

Complaints Handling

With the announcement of the Industrial Action in February/March 2023, we anticipate that there may be complaints and concerns raised by students regarding the impact of the industrial action on their learning and potential assessment opportunities.

The situation is more nuanced than in the previous recent strike periods because some students will already be feeling the impact of disruption because of Coronavirus, and the previous industrial action will also have been experienced by some. We will therefore need to respond differently depending on where students are in their journey and escalate some cases more quickly.

For one year PGT students, and UG and PGR students in their first year of study, where complaints are raised, they should normally be responded to by Schools and RIs by providing a Frontline complaint response (Stage 1) – see below for further details.

The Complaints Resolution Office will provide guidance on responses at this level where necessary (contact complaints@glasgow.ac.uk). In some cases, students may also be seeking financial compensation for the disruption, in which case guidance must be sought from the Complaints Resolution Office before making any response.

Stage 1 Complaints

Schools and RIs should seek to respond within 5 working days (please let the Complaints Resolution Office know if this timeline is not possible by contacting the address above).

In responding to student complaints about rescheduling, the provision of alternative learning opportunities and/or assessment activities, the following should be taken into consideration:

  • The determination of any suitable alternative learning opportunities to replace missed teaching, which allow assessment to take place in the subject, is an academic judgement made by colleagues in Schools and RIs. Please note that academic judgements per se cannot be challenged on academic grounds alone. The case presented by the complainant should be carefully reviewed to ensure that there is no aspect of the proposed arrangements which has overlooked an important and relevant matter. The complainant may identify an issue that was not taken into account when arrangements were set, and Schools and RIs may therefore decide to modify arrangements as appropriate in the light of new information put forward by the complainant.
  • Schools and RIs should consider whether the information presented to the students has been clearly articulated. The complaint may highlight the need for some further clarification or explanation to be issued to students.
  • We can supply a template to assist in your response if this would be helpful.

Once a complaint outcome has been issued (e.g. by email), it should be logged with the Complaints Resolution Office. Once these have been logged, we will advise students that they may take their complaint further to Stage 2 if they are not content with the outcome.

Should students respond directly to you to advise they are not content with the response, they should be referred to the Complaints Resolution Office by contacting complaints@glasgow.ac.uk.

Complaints from all other students should be escalated to Complaints Resolution Office - complaints@glasgow.ac.uk.