Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Fife College

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Not Upheld Reference 201502220 Sector Education Category policy/administration Decided 01 May 2016

Full decision

Summary

Miss C complained that the college failed to allow her to complete an award, and about their handling of her complaint. We looked at Miss C's account of what happened, at the college's comments and file on the complaints, as well as copies of correspondence and college records.

The college's view was that Miss C left a lot of coursework until the last minute, and they said it would be unreasonable to expect them help Miss C with this given that she had been on the course, that was supposed to last a year, for 18 months. Miss C's view was that, according to her college assessor, she was told that her progress was satisfactory, and there would be no problem completing the course. Miss C said her assessor promised that she would be able to finish her work. There was no conclusive written evidence to prove either version of events, or that the college unreasonably failed to allow Miss C to complete the award.

We found that the college complied with their complaints procedure, and they took steps to review evidence from their records as well as taking statements from staff. There was no evidence that Miss C's complaint was handled inadequately. We did not uphold Miss C's complaints.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201502220 as a PDF (11.13 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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Other decisions involving Fife College

Reference Date Summary Outcome
201305897 01 Aug 2015 Mrs C complained on behalf of her daughter (Miss A) who was a student at the college. Miss A has … Not Upheld
201401337 01 Jun 2015 Mr C was a student on a course that included an assessed placement. Towards the end of his course he … Not Upheld
201303702 01 Mar 2014 Mr C's daughter was not making the required progress on her college course and was transferred to part-time attendance. Mr … Upheld
201300718 01 Dec 2013 Miss C complained that the college had unfairly withdrawn her from her course and had failed to address her concerns … Partly Upheld
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