Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

University of Strathclyde

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Not Upheld Reference 201605336 Sector Education Category policy/administration Decided 01 January 2018

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Full decision

Summary

Mrs C complained that the university failed to notify her within a reasonable timescale of the registration fees required for her to proceed with her university course, failed to provide her with reasonable alternative payment options, gave her inconsistent advice about her progress on the course and did not provide her with suitable adaptations for her health conditions.

We found that the university acted reasonably and in line with their guidance documents when they provided support and information to Mrs C about the progression of her course. We found no evidence that the university had not notified her within a reasonable timescale of the required fees. However, the university did offer to provide a rebate for part of her fees in recognition of Mrs C's confusion about this. We found no evidence that Mrs C was prevented from paying her fees in instalments.

We found that Mrs C was aware that her progress on the course had encountered some difficulties and that staff had tried to support her. While Mrs C was told she was performing well enough to progress to other parts of the course, she later failed it. We did not consider this to be evidence that she was given inconsistent advice about her overall progress.

We found that there was a delay in providing suitable seating for Mrs C's needs, however this was rectified and an apology was provided.

We did not uphold any of Mrs C's complaints.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201605336 as a PDF (11.2 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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