External review
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) runs an independent scheme to review student complaints. The University of Sheffield is a member of this scheme.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of your formal complaint/case review or academic appeal/case review, you may be able to ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) to review your case. Information about making a complaint to the OIA, what it can and cannot look at, and what it can do to put things right is available on the OIA website.
The review process
You will normally be required to have completed the academic appeals/case review or formal complaints/case review procedure at the University before you can go to the OIA. Once you have completed the procedure, and there are no further steps you can take internally, you will receive a 'completion of procedures' letter which contains information about making a complaint to the OIA.
Once you have received this letter, you may submit your complaint to the OIA via their complaint form. This must be received by the OIA within 12 months of the date of the 'completion of procedures' letter.
When deciding whether to make a complaint to the OIA, you should consider any factors that make it particularly important for you to bring the complaint promptly, such as
- deadlines for completing the course
- the course or module being discontinued
- whether the remedy you are seeking will be impossible to implement after a certain date
Advice for students
The Student Advice Centre can give independent advice to a student on their position.
Their website contains advice on how to lodge an academic appeal or complaint, clear explanations of the different grounds for doing so, and what happens after your appeal or complaint is submitted.
We strongly encourage you to read these pages before submitting an academic appeal or complaint.