Lawyer Destroyer What kind of problem this is A transfer or credit-recognition error usually falls into one or both of two categories, and it matters which one applies because different internal routes are involved. The first is an academic decision, such as how much credit from prior learning or another institution has been recognised, what year or … Read more
Overview If you were promised specific adjustments to your student accommodation and they are not in place when you move in, you generally have two overlapping sets of rights: rights under your accommodation contract (a broken promise about what you would receive), and rights under the Equality Act 2010 if the adjustments relate to a … Read more
How your legal position is worked out The starting point is that your rights depend on three things: whether you are in university-managed halls or private rented accommodation, what your contract actually promises, and which statutory duties apply automatically regardless of what the contract says. Do not assume that because something is described as a … Read more
Understanding what has actually happened The right response depends heavily on why you were refused entry, because different reasons engage different rules and remedies. Before deciding what to do, be clear about the material facts, because “wrongly refused” is a conclusion rather than a starting point. Common scenarios include arriving after the published late-arrival cut-off, … Read more
Overview If your university, college or course provider closes while you are part-way through your studies, you are not simply left with nothing. There is a framework of protections designed to help you either finish your qualification or be put back into the position you would have been in. The strength of those protections depends … Read more
Overview of your rights If you meet the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010, meaning a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, you are protected under that Act and can request reasonable adjustments. Both universities and, in different … Read more
Overview There is no single statute headed “student halls must do X if a flatmate is dangerous”, so the obligations come from several overlapping sources. Which ones apply, and how strong they are, depends on who your landlord is and what type of agreement you hold. The main sources are: the contract or licence you … Read more
Overview Persistent noise in student halls or shared housing can be tackled through several overlapping routes, and the best one depends on the source of the noise and your legal status. It matters whether the problem is noisy neighbours or other residents making a disturbance, or whether the building itself has poor sound insulation so … Read more
Overview If your student accommodation was advertised as including services such as cleaning, Wi‑Fi, laundry, a gym, or similar, and those services are missing, defective or intermittently unavailable, you generally have both contractual rights and statutory consumer rights. The main question is not whether you have a claim in principle, but how much you can … Read more
The short answer Whether a university can place you in a hotel or temporary accommodation away from campus, and what it must pay for, depends almost entirely on what it promised you. There is no general statutory rule forcing a university to house you in a specific place. Instead, your rights come from the accommodation … Read more
Understanding what has actually gone wrong Before treating this as a breach of your rights, it helps to pin down why the modules are not counting, because the correct route depends on the reason. Common explanations include the following situations. The modules you took abroad were never approved by your home university as equivalent to, … Read more
Yes, you may be able to claim some form of compensation or a rent reduction, but whether you can, and how much, depends on the type of agreement you have, who is responsible for the works, and how badly the works actually interfered with your ability to live in and enjoy the accommodation. Undisclosed building … Read more
Short answer Yes, universities in England and Wales can lawfully scale or normalise the marks of a whole cohort, but only within limits. Whether a particular exercise is proper depends on why it was done, whether the institution followed its own regulations, and whether the process was applied fairly and consistently. There is no general … Read more
Short answer Yes, in principle this is one of the stronger grounds for an academic appeal. Universities in England and Wales almost always accept “procedural irregularity” as a valid ground of appeal, and a failure to apply the published marking criteria or rubric can fall into that category. What matters is how you frame it. … Read more
How to characterise the problem The starting point is to identify what actually went wrong, because the label “error” covers several different situations that lead to different remedies. It matters whether the mistake was made by the university’s administration (for example, the registry enrolled you on the wrong module, failed to process a module choice … Read more
Overview A broken lift or blocked accessible route that stops you reaching your room or the communal facilities can engage several different legal duties at the same time. Which ones apply, and how strong your position is, depends on some facts you should identify first: whether you are a disabled person within the meaning of … Read more
Overview Three different events are commonly confused here, and they have quite different legal effects. Insolvency of the accommodation provider, a straightforward sale of the building, and repossession by the landlord’s lender each engage separate rules. What matters most is the legal nature of your occupation (a tenancy or a licence), whether your right to … Read more
Short answer No, not straightforwardly. A student accommodation provider generally cannot lawfully charge undisclosed laundry fees, and it cannot fairly charge for a service it is not actually providing because the machines are broken or unavailable. Whether a particular charge is lawful depends on what your contract says, how the charge was disclosed to you … Read more
Overview Your rights at a university academic appeal hearing come from three sources working together: the university’s own regulations and appeal procedure, the standards of fairness that the courts and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) expect providers to meet, and the general public law principles of procedural fairness that apply … Read more
Short answer Yes, in principle a university resit (also called reassessment or a “second attempt”) can use a different task, and sometimes a different assessment method or format, from the original attempt. Whether that is permissible in your particular case depends on your university’s own academic regulations and assessment code of practice, and on the … Read more
