Complaints

During your time at University, you may wish to make a complaint about the University, if something has negatively affected your experience or will because the service that was provided by Middlesex University has not been of a good standard.

The MDXSU Advice service can help you with complaints by complaint processes, advising you on how to put together a complaint and providing feedback on this, and accompanying you to meetings with the University. You can contact us at studentadvice@mdx.ac.uk, please make sure you complete the consent form at the bottom of this page before seeking advice.

Things to Consider Before Making a Complaint

  • You cannot make an anonymous complaint.
  • You must be respectful towards a member of staff even when you are making a complaint about them.
  • Each complaint will be considered on its own merits, and any decision made by the University under the Complaints Procedure will be final.
  • Student complaint regulations do not cover: appeals against the Assessment Board or University Research Degrees Board decision; complaints relating to a case of alleged misconduct by the complainant; Fitness to Practice related matters; or Complaints against the Students' Union.

Stages of Your Complaint Process

You can make a complaint within 3 months following the event you wish to make a complaint about. If you are making a complaint about a series of events, you must do so within 3 months of the final event in the series.

Stage 1

You should first try to address the issue at the level at which it occurred (within your Faculty/within the relevant service) with the member of staff most closely involved with the event you wish to make a complaint about.

An Investigating officer will make every effort to resolve the issue swiftly, and you may be called in for a meeting as part of this. You should normally receive a written response within 28 days.

Stage 2

Should you not be satisfied with the outcome of Stage 1, you may complete a Stage 2 Complaints form within 21 days of receiving your Stage 1 response. Click here to access the form.

For academic programme-related complaints, submit your Stage 2 form to the Deputy Dean. For service-related complaints,  submit your Stage 2 form to the head of the relevant service department.

They will let you know that they have received your complaint within 7 days, and you should normally receive a written response to your complaint within 21 days.

Stage 3:

If you feel that:

a.) there was an irregularity within the Stage 2 investigation or;
b.) new information, which is important in reaching a fair decision, has come up that you were not able to disclose previously for a good reason or;
c.) the decision at Stage 2 was unreasonable based on the information that you had provided;

You can request a review of the outcome of the Stage 2 investigation within 21 working days, submitting it to the Director of Student Affairs using the University Level Review Form (ULR). The receipt of your review should be acknowledged within 7 working days and you should normally be receiving a response within 21 days.

The review will be carried out by a designated Senior Manager and will consider whether the Stage 2 outcome was reasonable or whether it should be reconsidered in the light of new evidence. Remember that this is not a reopening of the original complaint, and dissatisfaction with the outcome is not a valid reason for requesting a review.

Stage 4: OIA

If you have gone through all the University procedures and are still dissatisfied with this outcome, you can apply to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. For more information on the OIA process, please visit the OIA’s website.