Graduate School Network

Concerns and complaints

We want every postgraduate research student to have a positive experience at the Open University. However, we understand that sometimes things do not go as expected. If you encounter any issues, we encourage you to raise them as soon as possible so that they can be addressed.

Our goal is to resolve issues and concerns as quickly and constructively as possible while continuously learning from feedback to enhance the overall student experience.

Whenever possible, we aim to resolve concerns informally and locally. Our process includes four stages: an early resolution stage, a local-level information stage, a formal institution-level stage and a formal external stage.

How to raise a concern or complaint 

If you have an issue you would like to discuss, your first step should be to raise it in your Faculty. You could speak with one of or all your supervisors, your Third Party Monitor, or your Postgraduate Tutor or Convenor. Any of them will be able to offer you confidential support and should be able to respond to your concern within 10 working days. Most issues should be resolved at this point, but if not, there are further steps you can take in line with the Open University Complaints and Appeals Procedure. 

Depending on the nature of your concern or complaint, the University reserves the right to investigate it at the appropriate stage and the first informal stage may be bypassed. 

Stage 1 – Informal concern, comment or complaint (dealt with at Faculty level)

If you are not satisfied with the response you received locally, or if you want to raise something you don’t feel you can, or should, raise locally, you can put a concern, comment or complaint in writing to your Faculty Director of Research Degrees or to the Graduate School. You can also raise an issue through our  Complaints and Appeals Procedure; this will raise a notification through a system called VOICE that will come through to the Graduate School team. Please ensure that you use your student OUCU if you use this route otherwise the complaint will not be registered.

Any concern raised within the PGR Manager system as part of any other request or process you may put through the system (e.g. progress report, study break request or intention to submit) may also be treated as a Stage 1 issue. We don’t recommend using PGR Manager to raise concerns though, as we can’t guarantee it will reach the right people quickly. 

At this stage, the University is obliged to investigate and reply to your concerns, however minor, and whether or not it is your intention to raise a complaint or concern formally. This stage is investigated and managed within your Faculty.

If your concern is received by the Graduate School (directly, though PGR Manager or through VOICE), they will ask members of your Faculty to carry out an informal investigation of the issues you raise. If your concern is received by a Faculty member, they will inform the Graduate School for the purpose of record-keeping.

You should hear from your Faculty Director of Research Degrees or delegate within 10 working days of you raising a concern at this stage, though it might take longer to resolve the issue.

Stage 2 – Formal complaint (dealt with at Graduate School level)

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of a concern raised through the Stage 1 process, you can request further review and a formal investigation. You can do this through our Complaints and Appeals Procedure or by contacting the Graduate School directly. 

The Graduate School will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 10 working days and the Graduate School Senior Manager will provide weekly updates on progress.

At this stage, the complaint is reviewed by two experienced academics appointed by the Research Degrees Committee Chair. These two academics will hold individual meetings (sometimes called interviews) with key parties involved in your complaint. These meetings will be organised and facilitated by a senior manager of the Graduate School. You will be invited to a meeting to explain the issue of concern in your own words, to help clarify various points and help find a resolution. You may invite someone to support you during this meeting. Notes of these meetings are recorded and shared confidentially with all people in the meeting only for the purpose of creating an accurate record of the meeting. 

Once all necessary information has been gathered, the investigation team will make a recommendation to the Research Degrees Committee Chair, who will then communicate the final outcome to the student only (for confidentiality purposes). 

The Graduate School will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 10 working days and the Graduate School Senior Manager will provide weekly updates on progress.

The possible outcomes are:

  • Upheld – The complaint is supported, and action may be taken.
  • Not Upheld – The complaint is not supported.
  • Partially Upheld – Some aspects of the complaint are supported, and appropriate action may be taken.

Stage 3 – Formal complaint and investigation (by Casework Office)

If you remain unsatisfied with the result of an investigation at Stage 2, you can take your complaint to the Open University Casework Office - email [email protected]. They will review the information, and responses to any prior Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints. The Casework team will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 10 working days, but a formal resolution will take some time to complete.

Having reviewed the complaint, the Casework Team will either agree to the finding of the Stage 2 complaint or ask for a further review. The outcomes of this review will be:

  • Upheld – The complaint is supported, and action may be taken.
  • Not Upheld – The complaint is not supported.
  • Partially Upheld – Some aspects of the complaint are supported, and appropriate action may be taken.

Stage 4 – Formal complaint and investigation (by OIAHE)

If you remain unsatisfied with the outcomes of all the subsequent stages, you can send your complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE) who are an independent body set up to review student complaints about higher education providers in England and Wales. You cannot submit to the OIAHE until you have completed all of the University stages as your submission will not be accepted.

The OIAHE will review your case and make a decision as to whether to uphold the decision of the University or provide an alternative solution.

Further information, support and guidance

For further, more detailed information please read the Complaints and Appeals Procedure. Your Faculty Director of Research Degrees and the Graduate School team are always happy to help answer any questions about this process.

The student union, OpenSU, has a student advice service which can provide independent and impartial support for students lodging formal (Stage 2 and 3) complaints and appeals. For more information, please visit their website Student Advice and Representation.