If you are studying on a Staffordshire University course or have studied on a course in the last 3 months, you can use the University's Complaints Procedure. If you are studying a Staffordshire University course at another college or provider, or you wish to complain about the Students' Union you will need to follow their complaints procedure to resolve your concerns.
Please see the Complaints Procedure for more information on this process.
We will always work directly with students to resolve any concerns and for this reason we will not accept complaints from parents or family members. You can also use this procedure if you are directly affected by a service of the University, for example if you have booked the University's rooms or facilities.
You should try to raise informal concerns directly with your course team, or the service involved, as soon as possible. This should be within 2 weeks of the circumstances you are complaining about. The sooner we know what has happened, the sooner we can work it through with you to minimise any further or future impact. An early resolution or outcome is likely to be better for you.
You should use the formal procedure when early resolution (the informal option) has not been successful or is not appropriate, or if your complaint is more complex or serious.
Once you submit your complaint form, we will check to ensure that:
- You are a current or former student who studied with us in the last 3 months
- Your complaint is on time. That it is within 2 weeks (excluding bank holidays and University closures) of the circumstances complained about, or, from the point that the informal investigation has ended
- Your complaint has already been raised informally or is not appropriate for early (informal) resolution
Please make sure you tell us what you have done to raise your complaint informally, or why early resolution is not appropriate. If you do not, or if your complaint could be handled informally, we will pass your form on to the appropriate team for them to progress informally. We will let you know that we have done this, but please note that there may be a delay in us doing so. If you would like a faster response, you should try to raise your complaint directly with the appropriate person or team you have a complaint with.
All complaints must be supported by independent, relevant evidence. Please ensure that you upload evidence with your complaint, or we will be unable to accept your complaint. Please note that your submission is considered to be your final complaint. If we formally investigate your complaint, we will ask you for more information about these concerns, but we won’t be able to investigate any different or new issues once you have submitted your complaint. Any new issues would need to be raised separately through the complaints process as a new complaint.
Guidance on the standard of acceptable evidence.