Older students take lead on grievances

Lecturers may want to give attention to their most mature students from now on, after the student complaints ombudsman revealed this week that those aged more than 40 years are by far the most likely to turn to the watchdog with a grievance.

Releasing its first official annual report as a statutory body, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) said that a third of the 86 formal complaints it acted on in the first nine months of its existence had been from students aged 40 and over.

The watchdog also reveals its willingness to use its surprisingly sharp teeth against erring universities and colleges by officially confirming The Times Higher's report that it had awarded a minimum of £9,000 each to a group of undergraduates at Oxford Brookes University.

It says that the students will receive between £9,000 and £12,000 each to compensate for educational failings and the students' loss of "earning power", after the university failed to gain professional accreditation for their osteopathy degree.

The annual report outlines the OIA's activity from April to December 2004, during the transitional period before it took on formal statutory status in January. It received 300 inquiries and 120 complaints during this period.

Half the complaints concerned examination results and academic matters, while others involved contractual issues such as housing and facilities.

The OIA reveals that of the 86 complaints on which it began formal action, a third were from the over forties age group and another third were from postgraduates. The report does not state how much of a crossover there was between the two groups.

Those aged 40 and over made up just 1.9 per cent of students accepted on undergraduate courses in 2004 (7,251 of 377,544 students).

Chief adjudicator Dame Ruth Deech told The Times Higher that she did not believe the high number of complaints from mature students reflected an ignorance of the scheme, or an unwillingness to complain, by traditional 18 to 21-year-old undergraduates.

"I think that it is more the case that with the older students there is something more precise that they have lost," she said.

"They have often given up other careers to retrain for a new career, such as teaching. They are more conscious of their rights and the ability to complain.

"But we have done all we can to raise awareness of our existence to all students."

The annual report said that 19 complaints were formally concluded by the end of 2004, in half of which the OIA found in favour of the student to some extent. Compensation, ranging from £50 to £3,000, was paid in all upheld cases.

One case in the OIA report confirms a report by The Times Higher in March.

In that instance, the adjudicator had ordered the University of East London to pay £3,000 to Karen Merrin, a 53-year-old student who missed a first-class honours degree by less than a percentage point.

UEL had admitted poor teaching and assessment processes that may have affected Ms Merrin's performance.

But the university told her that she would have to resit an entire course module to improve her classification, which she was unable to do.

Ms Merrin said that as an older student, she had her own high standards and was prepared to stand up for them.

phil.baty@thes,co.uk