All students registered on a Lancaster University award, including those who have left the University for up to three months, are eligible to make a complaint to the University.

Complaints must be submitted within three months of the final element of the event(s) that led to the dissatisfaction.

Further information can be found within the Student Complaints Procedure. The 2023-24 version of the procedures will be available online until 31 December 2024 to accommodate any live complaints being managed under these procedures.

In the first instance you should try and resolve your complaint informally. This may involve speaking to staff within your Department or College to see if the issue(s) can be resolved quickly for you.

If your complaint cannot be resolved informally, you can submit a formal complaint to the University. The University will then assess your complaint to determine whether it should be considered formally by a Complaint Panel who will decide whether a remedy should be put forward to put things right. Throughout the process you will have options to challenge decisions and once you have reached the end of the internal procedures, you will be signposted to an external body who may deem your complaint eligible for review.

Further information about the Complaints Process can be found within the Student Complaints Procedure.

In order to make a complaint under the Student Complaints Process, please complete the online form. You will need your Lancaster University login credentials in order to be able to access it. If you do not have these, or if you are unable to access the form, please contact [email protected].

You should aim to make sure that your complaint contains the following:

• A clear description of what service(s) you are dissatisfied with
• A summary of what informal actions, if any, have already been taken and why these have been unsuccessful
• Evidence to support each element of your complaint
• A clear description of how you believe the dissatisfaction can be put right
• Confirmation of whether you have raised the elements described in your complaint through any other processes (internal or external

Please be aware that if you email the University regarding your complaint at [email protected], you acknowledge that you have read and understood the University's Student Complaints Guidelines and Procedure. You should also be aware of the following:

• Contacting the University using this email address should be with regards to student complaints and not for academic appeals or other student issues of concern.
• By emailing the University and attaching your evidence you are making a formal student complaint. You should be aware of the time constraints that apply to you when making this email submission. Please note that these start from the moment the email is received by the University, and will also be applied to the University staff involved respectively.
• You must include any supporting evidence or documentation that you want to be considered in relation to this process. Failure to do so could result in your application not being considered or considered without this information.
• Complaints cannot be raised by third parties including parents (without express permission of the student) - complaints should be raised by students directly in the first instance.
• If your complaint is a group complaint, then you should only include the details of a nominated spokesperson within your email submission. Any nominated spokesperson will have to evidence that other individual students have agreed to them acting on their behalf.
• The University may need to handle a complainant's personal details for the purpose of managing this complaint, including the exchange of a students' personal details with appropriate people within the University as well as with the appropriate third party external organisations. If we believe that your complaint may result in a legal claim being made against the University, we will be required to share details of the case with the University’s insurers and legal representatives. This may include your personal and/or special category data (depending on the details of your case). Where we share details of the case with either insurers or legal representatives, this will be done anonymously, where possible. Identifiable personal data will only be shared where it has been deemed pertinent to the case. For example, in the first instance we may simply share that a complaint has been made concerning perceived non-compliance with the Equality Act without sharing personal details connected to the complaint or claim. We will only share personal or special category data where it is required for the University, our insurers and legal representatives to assess and/or defend the legal claim. For further information on how the University uses, shares and protects personal data, including information about your rights over your personal data and the contact details for our Data Protection Officer, please refer to the University’s Student Privacy Notice.

Lancaster University Students’ Union provide an Advice Service which is a free, non-judgmental and confidential support service. Visit their webpage for contact details and to find out more information about support.