Lawyer Destroyer Short answer: no, not unilaterally. A housemate cannot lawfully force the rest of you to pay more just because they want their partner to move in. The correct analysis depends on the type of tenancy you have and what your agreement says. Start with your tenancy type The first thing to check is whether you … Read more
Yes. If your provider promised a level of personal-tutor or academic support that it has not delivered, you can complain, and there is a recognised route for doing so. This is one of the more common types of student “service issue” complaint, and it can engage both the university’s own procedures and your consumer rights. … Read more
Short answer Yes, student halls can generally impose reasonable restrictions on overnight guests, and in practice most do. What they cannot do is impose terms that are unfair or that unlawfully interfere with your legal rights to occupy your room. The extent of what they can restrict depends heavily on the exact wording of your … Read more
Understanding your legal position Repeated key-card failures that stop you getting into your room or building are more than an inconvenience. Depending on the type of agreement you hold, they can breach the provider’s obligations, entitle you to compensation, and give you a route to complain formally. The first thing to work out is what … Read more
Yes. Submitting false, forged, or altered evidence in a mitigating-circumstances (sometimes called extenuating or exceptional circumstances) claim, or in an academic appeal, can and frequently does lead to separate misconduct proceedings, and often more serious ones than the original academic problem the student was trying to explain. Why this counts as misconduct Nearly all universities … Read more
Short answer Yes, copying code from GitHub, Stack Overflow or open-source projects can amount to plagiarism, but it does not always. Whether it does depends on the rules of the institution or context you are working in, whether you have properly acknowledged the source, and whether you have passed off someone else’s work as your … Read more
Overview When essential library books, software, specialist databases or online course materials that your university promised are unavailable, you generally have two overlapping angles. First, your university has internal service standards and a complaints procedure it must follow. Second, as a fee-paying student you also have consumer rights, because the Competition and Markets Authority and … Read more
Overview of your position When you enrol on a course, you enter into a contract with your university. In England and Wales that relationship is governed both by the terms of that contract (offer letter, student handbook, programme specification, module descriptions and the university’s own regulations) and by consumer protection law, principally the Consumer Rights … Read more
The key legal and procedural principle The most important point is that inability to produce raw files or research records is not, by itself, proof that you fabricated data. Fabrication is a serious allegation, and in every reputable England and Wales university procedure the burden of establishing it rests on the institution, not on you. … Read more
Overview Excessive heat and poor ventilation are recognised as potential health hazards in rented homes in England, and student accommodation is not exempt. Whether you live in university-managed halls, a private purpose-built student block, or a shared house with a private landlord, there are legal standards your accommodation must meet and several practical routes to … Read more
Short answer Yes, in most cases you can challenge a decision to refuse a further resit or to withdraw you after your final permitted assessment attempt, but only through the correct route and usually only on limited grounds. You cannot simply appeal because you disagree with the mark or want another chance. You normally need … Read more
The basic legal and regulatory position There is no general legal right in England and Wales to have credits or prior learning automatically transferred when you move course or move institution. Recognition is discretionary and is decided by the receiving university under its own academic regulations. This is an important point of expectation-setting: transfer of … Read more
Yes, you can complain, and you may have more than one route depending on what exactly has gone wrong and how it has affected you. Overcrowding, understaffing or inadequate rooms and resources can amount to a legitimate service complaint, and in some circumstances a breach of your consumer rights. The key is to identify precisely … Read more
The key point: this is governed by your institution’s own regulations Academic misconduct in post-16 education in England and Wales is not regulated by a single statute. Each university, college or awarding body sets its own academic misconduct or student discipline regulations, and those regulations decide when and how a previous finding can be used … Read more
Overview If your university’s course materials contain serious factual errors or are persistently out of date, you have several possible routes. The key point is that you are both a student subject to your institution’s academic regulations and a consumer of an education service, so more than one set of rights and remedies can apply. … Read more
What kind of problem this is Being given the wrong exam date, time or venue by your university is an administrative error by the provider rather than something you have done wrong. That distinction matters. How you respond, and what remedy you can realistically get, depends heavily on when you discover the error and whether … Read more
Overview Mitigating circumstances (sometimes called extenuating circumstances, exceptional circumstances or personal circumstances, depending on the institution) are unforeseen and unavoidable events beyond your control that seriously affect your ability to study or perform in an assessment. Common examples are serious illness, bereavement, an accident, a mental health crisis or a significant caring emergency. Group assessments … Read more
Overview of your position Dissertation supervision is a service your university has effectively promised as part of your enrolment. Most institutions in England and Wales set out what supervision students are entitled to in a programme handbook, a supervision policy, or a code of practice on dissertations or research projects. If your supervisor is providing … Read more
Yes, you may well be able to complain, and potentially to claim a remedy, if specific lecturers or particular academic expertise were advertised as part of your course and then not provided. Whether you succeed depends on exactly what was promised, how it was expressed, and what impact the shortfall had. Below is how the … Read more
Your status as a lodger Because you live in your landlord’s home and share living space such as a kitchen, bathroom or living room with them, you are almost certainly a lodger in law rather than a tenant. A lodger is what the law calls an “excluded occupier” under section 3A of the Protection from … Read more
