Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

University of the West of Scotland

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld Reference 201300714 Sector Education Category teaching and supervision Decided 01 July 2014

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Full decision

Summary

Mr C, who was a student at the university, complained about lack of supervision, lack of feedback on assessments, arrangements for presentations not being as described in course documents, and that the university's investigation of his complaint did not consider all available relevant evidence.

Our investigation found that the internal investigation of Mr C's complaints had found some failings and that elements relating to the first two complaints were acknowledged and appropriate remedial action taken. Therefore, although we upheld the first two complaints, we did not need to make any recommendations. In relation to the arrangements for the presentations, there were no specific requirements set out in the course documentation and we did not uphold this complaint. We also found that the investigation of Mr C's complaint was thorough and in line with the university's complaints procedure. Mr C thought that some of his fellow students should have been interviewed during the investigation but they were not. While we understood why Mr C was not satisfied with this, we took the view that it was generally for the person conducting the investigation to decide what was relevant. There was no evidence to suggest that this was a significant omission and we did not uphold this complaint.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201300714 as a PDF (11.18 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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