University complaints – get the data

Last week we reported on complaints to universities ranging from one for every five thousand students to one in every fifty. The data behind that, says @UnileaksUK, raises questions about the body which handles complaints where a student is unhappy with the way their university has handled it:

“Of those complaints whose justification was determined, 78% were found not justified.

“It is suggested that a result of 22% of complaints being found to be at least partially justified is too low a figure to be the realistic outcome of a complaints system which takes due cognisance of fairness … The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman … upheld or partly upheld 79%”

A report commissioned by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) also finds that:

“More than 40% feel that the OIA lacks independence, and almost half think that the process at the OIA was unfair.”

A spreadsheet with figures on all 144 universities can be found here, and a table of key figures is published below. What can you do with it?

University Stu-dents Internal com-plaints OIA com-plaints Jus-tified Partly jus-tified Not jus-tified Total dec-isions
Aberystwyth University 13735 84 9 0 1 1 7
Anglia Ruskin University 19830 4 1 0 1 1 5
University of the Arts London 28790 29 5 0 3 3 7
The Arts University College at Bournemouth 4205 1 0 0 0 2 2
Aston University 10490 117 14 0 1 6 9
Bangor University 17745 7 0 0 1 1 2
Bath Spa University 8160 21 2 0 0 1 3
University of Bath 13380 46 9 0 0 8 11
University of Bedfordshire 17280 31 7 1 1 1 8
Birkbeck College 18285 10 5 0 1 1 7
Birmingham City University 24850 348 48 2 0 36 47
The University of Birmingham 29185 13 10 0 2 6 9
University College Birmingham 10715 2 0 0 0 0 0
Bishop Grosseteste University 2200 1 0 1 0 0 1
The University of Bolton 8955 16 6 0 4 3 10
Bournemouth University 17965 67 15 0 2 5 9
University of Bradford 12740 121 8 1 0 5 10
University of Brighton 20975 79 19 1 3 9 14
University of Bristol 21720 34 6 0 0 9 12
Brunel University 15090 34 11 0 0 5 10
University of Buckingham 1060 0 0 0 0 0 0
Buckinghamshire New University 9570 25 8 0 2 1 6
University of Cambridge 22820 21 10 1 4 6 14
Canterbury Christ Church University 16755 14 6 0 0 5 7
Cardiff Metropolitan University 11170 80 6 0 0 2 3
Cardiff University 30010 403 32 0 1 12 23
University of Central Lancashire 28130 24 6 0 0 2 3
Central School of Speech and Drama 855 7 0 0 0 0 0
University of Chester 13485 15 3 0 1 1 2
University of Chichester 5010 3 2 0 0 0 0
City University 21725 74 30 0 0 10 18
The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama 1190 1 1 0 0 0 1
Courtauld Institute of Art 425 2 1 0 0 0 0
Coventry University 20230 82 15 1 3 8 14
Cranfield University 5320 3 3 0 1 3 4
University for the Creative Arts 7585 8 5 0 0 1 3
University of Cumbria 13105 38 4 0 1 1 2
De Montfort University 21585 101 16 0 1 10 14
University of Derby 22725 4 2 0 2 0 2
Durham University 16845 46 11 0 0 4 6
University of East Anglia 15290 49 12 3 1 3 9
University of East London 26315 33 19 0 3 9 20
Edge Hill University 24340 85 10 1 3 9 15
University of Essex 12295 108 23 1 0 7 9
University of Exeter 16195 87 13 0 1 11 15
University College Falmouth 3180 24 6 0 1 3 6
University of Glamorgan 25770 25 10 0 1 0 5
University of Gloucestershire 9635 17 1 1 0 2 3
Glyndŵr University 7730 40 7 0 0 3 7
Goldsmiths, University of London 7815 72 22 3 2 5 14
University of Greenwich 26120 292 39 4 2 15 25
Guildhall School of Music & Drama 750 4 0 0 0 0 0
Harper Adams University College 4445 23 3 0 0 2 2
University of Hertfordshire 25195 25 11 0 2 7 10
Heythrop College 895 0 0 0 0 0 0
The University of Huddersfield 21590 134 16 1 1 12 17
The University of Hull 22370 91 11 0 0 10 4
ifs School of Finance 1340 0 0 0 0 0 0
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine 14150 52 13 1 3 12 23
Institute of Cancer Research 290 0 0 0 0 0 0
Institute of Education 7250 5 0 0 0 0 0
Keele University 10365 32 6 0 0 5 8
The University of Kent 18295 9 4 0 0 0 2
King’s College London 22275 89 23 0 0 19 26
Kingston University 25930 130 34 0 2 16 22
Lancaster University 12695 53 12 2 1 3 6
The College of Law N/A 21 4 0 0 0 0
Leeds College of Art 1150 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leeds Metropolitan University 27800 234 31 1 2 15 30
Leeds Trinity University College 3445 3 0 0 0 0 2
The University of Leeds 32370 37 14 1 3 8 17
University of Leicester 16505 201 28 3 4 22 36
University of Lincoln 13830 4 3 0 0 1 2
Liverpool Hope University 6980 38 11 0 0 2 6
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 920 2 0 0 0 0 0
Liverpool John Moores University 25995 20 5 0 2 4 7
University of Liverpool 19950 261 14 0 0 1 9
London Business School 1780 5 0 0 1 2 3
London Metropolitan University 26380 306 31 4 4 18 35
London School of Economics and Political Science 9575 69 8 1 0 8 10
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 1190 1 0 0 0 0 0
London South Bank University 24280 292 53 3 9 26 52
University College London 21210 42 17 1 3 7 14
University of London N/A 4 4 0 0 2 3
Loughborough University 17165 218 13 0 1 9 10
The Manchester Metropolitan University 34515 161 33 3 0 16 24
The University of Manchester 38190 113 28 1 1 14 20
Middlesex University 21350 91 27 2 3 13 27
Newcastle University 19575 415 19 1 2 10 18
Newman University College Birmingham 2775 2 0 0 0 1 2
The University of Northampton 12680 131 11 0 3 7 15
Northumbria University 32665 78 12 0 1 4 12
Norwich University College of the Arts 1320 2 0 0 0 0 0
The Nottingham Trent University 24905 82 22 0 2 17 24
The University of Nottingham 32925 23 17 1 1 10 16
The Open University 193835 236 54 0 3 28 48
Oxford Brookes University 18615 47 9 1 2 5 9
University of Oxford 23760 73 16 0 5 7 21
University College Plymouth St Mark & St John 4080 6 1 0 0 0 1
University of Plymouth 30930 273 34 2 4 12 25
University of Portsmouth 21605 78 13 3 0 6 12
Queen Mary, University of London 14025 266 41 0 2 19 28
Ravensbourne 1465 2 0 0 0 0 0
University of Reading 15955 37 12 0 0 5 8
Roehampton University 8910 12 6 0 0 2 2
Rose Bruford College 970 2 0 0 0 0 0
Royal Academy of Music 715 0 0 0 0 0 0
Royal Agricultural College 970 0 0 0 0 0 0
Royal College of Art 990 0 0 0 0 0 0
Royal College of Music 645 8 1 0 0 0 0
Royal Holloway, University of London 8760 74 9 0 2 3 6
Royal Northern College of Music 740 17 2 0 0 0 0
The Royal Veterinary College 2005 33 1 0 0 1 1
The University of Salford 20095 494 36 1 2 18 24
School of Oriental and African Studies 4895 2 1 0 1 1 2
The School of Pharmacy 1395 6 0 0 0 0 0
Sheffield Hallam University 33830 30 16 1 1 5 10
The University of Sheffield 24715 21 3 0 1 9 11
Southampton Solent University 19255 29 6 0 0 2 3
University of Southampton 22680 20 7 0 1 2 4
St George’s, University of London 4420 7 3 1 0 4 6
St Mary’s University College 4170 19 1 0 0 1 2
Staffordshire University 16990 18 7 2 0 5 9
University Campus Suffolk 4665 2 0 0 0 0 2
University of Sunderland 20150 29 4 1 1 4 10
University of Surrey 15755 125 23 0 1 29 39
University of Sussex 12365 144 9 0 1 9 12
Swansea Metropolitan University 6030 15 3 0 0 0 2
Swansea University 18935 46 9 0 0 7 9
Teesside University 27505 20 9 0 3 5 11
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 890 2 0 0 0 0 0
University of Wales N/A 68 12 1 0 3 10
University of Wales, Newport 9300 51 9 1 0 0 2
University of Wales Trinity Saint David 6160 49 14 1 1 4 6
University of Warwick 28435 132 33 1 1 20 30
University of West London 17110 82 21 2 4 12 23
University of the West of England, Bristol 31645 571 35 2 8 30 52
University of Westminster 23160 23 15 0 4 2 11
The University of Winchester 5905 21 1 0 0 0 1
The University of Wolverhampton 21770 94 32 3 4 8 18
University of Worcester 8320 2 1 0 0 1 3
Writtle College 1000 1 0 0 0 0 0
York St John University 6535 5 3 0 0 0 0
University of York 13490 84 14 0 1 4 7

About Paul Bradshaw

Founder of Help Me Investigate. I'm a visiting professor at City University London's School of Journalism, and run an MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City University. I publish the Online Journalism Blog, and am the co-author of the Online Journalism Handbook and Magazine Editing (3rd edition). I have a particular interest in Freedom of Information and data journalism.
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