Lawyer Destroyer Debt collection, disputed debts and errors on your credit file are governed by an overlapping set of rules: the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC), the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and data protection law under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. The right approach depends on exactly what has gone wrong, so … Read more
Yes, you can challenge both a CIFAS marker and a sudden bank account closure, though they involve overlapping but distinct routes. The two often go together, because a bank that suspects fraud or financial crime may close your accounts and load a CIFAS marker at the same time. Below is how each works and what … Read more
Understanding what may have happened The right response depends heavily on what “someone using your student identity or university account” actually means, because very different situations flow from it. It is worth being precise, because the facts change both who you should report to and whether any wrongdoing has occurred. Common scenarios include someone logging … Read more
Overview The scams you mention share a common structure: you are induced to hand over money or personal or financial details on the strength of a promise (a genuine ticket, modelling work, an online relationship or opportunity, or a large sum to be released once you pay a fee) that either never materialises or turns … Read more
How the complaint route works Complaining about a students’ union is different from complaining about your university, because a students’ union is normally a separate legal entity with its own charitable status and its own internal procedures. That affects both who you complain to and who can review the union if it gets things wrong. … Read more
Overview Discrimination, harassment and dangerous initiation (“hazing”) practices in a student club engage several overlapping systems at once. Depending on exactly what happened, you may have rights and routes under your university and students’ union rules, under general law (including the Equality Act 2010, criminal law and civil claims), and through external bodies. The most … Read more
Where to take your complaint next For students at higher education providers in England and Wales, the body that reviews complaints after you have exhausted the university’s own internal process is the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, known as the OIA. It runs a free, independent scheme for reviewing unresolved student complaints … Read more
Short answer Usually not, if the term is genuinely as broad as you describe. A university contract with a student is a consumer contract, so it is governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A term that gives the university an unreasonably wide discretion to change almost anything, especially important aspects of what the student … Read more
Overview There is no fixed tariff for how much a student can recover when a university course turns out to be seriously deficient. The amount depends on the route you use, the legal basis of your claim, and above all on the losses and impact you can actually evidence. In practice there are two main … Read more
Short answer Whether you are entitled to a refund of tuition fees or a deposit after withdrawing depends on three things: what your contract with the university actually says, when in the academic year you withdrew, and why you withdrew. There is no automatic legal right to a full refund simply because you left the … Read more
Sustained bullying by another student is a serious matter, and you have several overlapping options ranging from internal university processes to legal remedies. The right approach depends on the nature of the bullying, whether it involves a protected characteristic, whether it amounts to a criminal offence, and how much evidence you have. Below is how … Read more
Legal framework Discrimination by a university against a student is governed by the Equality Act 2010. Universities and other higher education providers are covered by Part 6, Chapter 2 of the Act, which deals specifically with further and higher education. The Act protects nine characteristics, and the ones you mention are race, sex, religion or … Read more
Overview Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Since 1 October 2010, students at universities and other further and higher education institutions in England and Wales have had explicit legal protection from discrimination because of pregnancy and maternity, in the same broad way that has long applied to workers. This sits … Read more
Short answer Yes. Almost all universities in England and Wales have formal mechanisms that allow a student to request a no-contact order (sometimes called a no-contact agreement or precautionary/interim measure) and to ask for an emergency or precautionary change of accommodation. These are usually handled under the university’s student conduct, complaints, or safeguarding framework, and … Read more
Short answer Yes. A university disciplinary investigation can run alongside a police investigation into the same events. The two processes are separate, serve different purposes, and apply different standards. A university is not legally required to wait for the police or the criminal courts before taking its own action, although in practice many universities choose … Read more
Overview When a student reports a sexual assault to their university, several things should happen in parallel: the student should be treated as a victim of a potential crime and offered support and safety measures; the university should give clear information about reporting options, including to the police; and the university may run its own … Read more
Overview Complaining about bullying, humiliation or retaliation by a lecturer usually involves a combination of routes: your university’s internal complaints or dignity-at-work/study procedure, and, if that fails to resolve matters, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). In some cases other avenues may also apply, such as the Equality Act 2010 if … Read more
Overview Stalking and cyberbullying affecting students engage several overlapping obligations for a university in England and Wales. A university is not a criminal justice body, so it cannot convict anyone or impose criminal punishment, but it does have duties to protect students, to investigate under its own disciplinary and conduct rules, and increasingly to meet … Read more
Short answer Yes. In law, being treated badly because you complained about harassment is a distinct legal wrong from the original harassment. In England and Wales it is called victimisation under the Equality Act 2010, and it can also usually be raised as a separate ground within a university complaint. Whether you frame it as … Read more
Overview A university investigation that drags on for months or years is a common and serious problem. Whether the investigation concerns academic misconduct (such as plagiarism, contract cheating or exam irregularities), a disciplinary matter, a fitness to practise issue, or a complaint you have made against the university, you are entitled to have it dealt … Read more
