Sometimes something that you tell us through Report & Support may also be something you want the University to consider as a formal complaint.
These are not automatically the same thing.
Submitting a named report through Report & Support does not, by itself, mean that you have made a formal student complaint.
Report & Support provides a route for you to tell us what has happened, access support, consider safety or wellbeing concerns and explore what you would like to happen next.
A formal complaint is a separate University process through which a student can ask the University to formally consider and respond to a complaint.
Importantly, however:
If making a formal complaint becomes one of your desired outcomes, you should not normally have to tell your story all over again.
With your knowledge and permission, your Safeguarding or Support to Study practitioner can help facilitate a supported handover to Complaints & Student Casework, sharing the relevant information already gathered so that the appropriate complaints process can begin.
Your existing support can continue alongside that process.
What Is a Student Complaint?
During your time at the University, you may experience something about your course, a University service, facility or another aspect of your student experience that you are unhappy with.
The University's Student Complaints Procedure provides a route for students to raise concerns and, where appropriate, have them formally considered.
The University's published complaints information recognises that complaints may relate to a student's course, University services or facilities, and that issues may also arise involving other students or members of staff.
The University aims to resolve concerns as early as possible and, where appropriate, informal resolution may be explored before a formal complaint is required.
Current Student Complaints - University of Wolverhampton
Report & Support Is Not Automatically a Formal Complaint
This is an important distinction.
When you use Report & Support, you may simply want:
- somebody to listen;
- support following something that has happened;
- help understanding your options;
- safeguarding advice;
- help managing the impact on your studies;
- safety planning;
- practical support;
- an informal resolution where appropriate;
- information about another University process; or
- some time to decide what you want to do.
You do not have to decide that you want to make a formal complaint before asking for support.
Your practitioner can explore your wishes, feelings and preferred outcomes with you.
One of those outcomes may eventually be making a formal complaint — but it does not have to be.
What If I Decide I Want to Make a Formal Complaint?
You can tell your Safeguarding or Support to Study practitioner.
They can talk with you about what you would like to happen and, where appropriate, explain the formal complaints route.
You should not normally need to start from the beginning and repeat everything you have already told us.
With your permission, the practitioner can arrange a supported handover to the University's Complaints & Student Casework Team.
Relevant information already gathered through Report & Support can be transferred to support that handover, subject to appropriate information-sharing and data-protection requirements.
The Complaints & Student Casework Team can then consider the matter under the appropriate University procedure and let you know if any additional information is needed.
You remain involved in that decision
Wherever reasonably possible, we will discuss the proposed handover with you before information is transferred.
We can explain:
what is being handed over → why → which team will receive it → what is likely to happen next.
There may be exceptional circumstances where the University needs to take action independently because of significant safeguarding, legal or public-safety responsibilities. If this applies, we will explain this wherever it is appropriate and safe to do so.
Your Support Doesn't Have to Stop Because You Make a Complaint
This is another important distinction.
A formal complaints process is concerned with considering and responding to the complaint.
Your Safeguarding or Support to Study practitioner may be concerned with supporting you and managing the impact of what has happened.
Those things can happen at the same time.
For example:
Complaints & Student Casework
→ manages the formal complaints process.
Safeguarding
→ may continue supporting you with safety, safeguarding, risk or specialist referrals.
Support to Study
→ may continue helping you manage the impact of your circumstances on your studies.
Mental Health & Wellbeing
→ may provide specialist mental health support where appropriate.
Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion
→ may continue disability-related support and reasonable adjustments.
You should not ordinarily have to choose between receiving support and pursuing a formal complaint.
What Happens to the Information I've Already Given?
Where a supported handover takes place, the aim is to avoid unnecessary repetition while ensuring that the team responsible for the formal process has the information it legitimately needs.
That does not necessarily mean that everything in your Report & Support case record will be transferred.
Your practitioner can consider with you what information is relevant to the handover.
The formal process may sometimes require additional information or clarification from you. For example, an investigator may need to understand particular events in greater detail or ask questions that were not necessary when you initially sought support.
But the principle should be:
We use the information you have already provided wherever appropriately possible rather than unnecessarily asking you to retell difficult experiences.
What If I'm Not Sure Whether I Want to Complain?
That's okay.
You can talk through your options before deciding.
Your practitioner can help you understand the difference between:
seeking support
trying to resolve something informally
and
asking for a formal University process.
You can also seek independent advice from the Students' Union Advice & Representation Centre before making your decision.
The Students' Union is independent of the University and can help you understand University processes and your options.
Informal Resolution
Not every concern needs to begin with a formal investigation.
The University's complaints arrangements encourage concerns to be addressed informally and as close to their origin as possible where this is appropriate.
Depending on the nature of the concern and what you want to achieve, there may be an opportunity to resolve something without a formal complaints process.
However, informal resolution will not be appropriate in every case.
For example, significant safeguarding concerns, serious allegations or circumstances where an informal approach could create further risk may require a different response.
Your practitioner can help you consider the options rather than expecting you to determine this yourself.
What If My Complaint Is About Another Student or Member of Staff?
Tell us what has happened.
The appropriate route may depend on what the concern is and who is involved.
A complaint about a University service is different from an allegation of misconduct against another person.
Where the information suggests that another University procedure may be more appropriate, this should be explained to you.
For example, some matters may require consideration through a student conduct process, HR process, safeguarding process, Fitness to Practise procedure or another University procedure rather than, or sometimes alongside, the general Student Complaints Procedure.
You do not need to identify the correct procedure yourself before asking for help.
What Outcome Are You Looking For?
It can help to think about what you would like to happen.
You might want:
- an explanation;
- an apology;
- something to be put right;
- a decision to be reconsidered;
- a service to change;
- action to prevent something happening again;
- your experience to be formally acknowledged;
- somebody's conduct to be considered;
- support to continue your studies;
- another practical outcome.
We cannot guarantee that a particular outcome will be possible.
However, understanding what matters to you and what you hope will change is an important part of considering the appropriate route.
Complaints, Appeals and Other Procedures Are Different
A student complaint is not the correct process for every type of disagreement with a University decision.
For example, an academic appeal is generally concerned with specified grounds for challenging an Assessment Board decision, rather than expressing dissatisfaction about a service or experience. The University maintains separate arrangements for academic appeals.
Academic Appeals - University of Wolverhampton
If you are unsure which process applies, ask.
The University or Students' Union can help you identify the appropriate route.
Don't Leave It Too Long
University complaints procedures have time limits.
Complaints should normally be lodged within three months of the event.
This means that if you think you may want to make a complaint, it is helpful to discuss this with your practitioner as early as possible.
Do not assume that because you have made a Report & Support report, a formal complaints deadline has automatically stopped running.
Your practitioner can help you consider the appropriate next step, but if you are concerned about a deadline, you should raise this explicitly.
Independent Advice and Representation
You can seek independent advice from the University of Wolverhampton Students' Union at any stage.
This can be particularly useful if you:
- are unsure whether to make a complaint;
- want help understanding the procedure;
- want somebody independent to discuss your options with;
- are preparing information for a formal process;
- have been invited to a meeting; or
- want advice after receiving an outcome.
Using the Students' Union does not prevent you from continuing to receive University support.
A Supported Journey Rather Than Starting Again
Something has happened
↓
You tell us through Report & Support
↓
Safeguarding or Support to Study listens, assesses your needs, and provides support
↓
We explore your wishes and preferred outcomes
↓
You decide that you would like to pursue a formal complaint
↓
With your permission, relevant information is handed over to Complaints & Student Casework
↓
The formal process begins without unnecessarily asking you to start again
↓
Your safeguarding, wellbeing, or Support to Study support can continue alongside it