Course delivery and awarding responsibility

The short answer

Responsibility is usually split, and which body is responsible for what depends on the type of partnership and, above all, on the contract and the published regulations. As a general rule in England and Wales, the awarding university is responsible for the academic standards and the integrity of the qualification, while the partner college that actually delivers the teaching is responsible for the day to day quality of that teaching, student support and the learning environment. But this is a starting point, not a fixed legal rule, and the precise allocation is set out in the validation or franchise agreement between the two institutions and in the student regulations you agreed to when you enrolled.

Understanding the type of arrangement

It matters which model applies to your course, because it changes who is contractually and legally on the hook.

In a validation arrangement, the partner college designs, delivers and often owns the programme, and the university simply validates it so that its degree can be awarded. The college is closer to being the primary provider, though the university lends its academic standards and its name to the award.

In a franchise or sub contracted arrangement, the university owns the course and licenses the college to deliver it on the university’s behalf. Here the university tends to retain more direct responsibility.

There is often also a direct contract between you and one of the institutions. Sometimes your student contract is with the college, sometimes with the university, and sometimes you have obligations and rights against both. The enrolment paperwork, the offer letter and the student handbook should tell you who your contract is with, and this is the single most important thing to check.

What the awarding university is generally responsible for

The university that grants the award is responsible for the academic standards of the qualification and for ensuring that the standard of the degree is comparable to one it teaches itself. It is responsible for the assessment regulations, degree classification, the conferment of the award and the validity of the certificate. It also retains overarching responsibility for oversight of the partnership under the sector expectations, so if the college is failing, the university cannot simply disclaim all responsibility. Under the UK Quality Code, the degree awarding body is expected to assure itself of the quality of what its partner delivers.

What the delivering college is generally responsible for

The partner college is normally responsible for the actual teaching, timetabling, teaching staff, facilities, learning resources, pastoral and academic support, and the local student experience. If your complaint is about poor teaching, cancelled classes, inadequate facilities, missing feedback or weak support, that is usually a matter for the college in the first instance, even though the university’s name is on the certificate.

Complaints and appeals

Both institutions must, under the Quality Code, have clear complaints and appeals procedures that set out the responsibilities of each partner. In practice you almost always start with the college’s internal complaints procedure, because it delivers the teaching. If your complaint concerns assessment, marks, an academic appeal or the award itself, the university’s regulations usually govern the process, and appeals about degree classification or academic misconduct decisions typically route to the university.

Whichever body handles it, you should exhaust the internal complaints and appeals process and obtain a written final decision, sometimes called a Completion of Procedures letter.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator

If you remain dissatisfied after exhausting the internal process, you can usually take the matter to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which handles student complaints against higher education providers in England and Wales. The OIA can review complaints against a provider that is a member. Both the university and, in many partnership arrangements, the college fall within its scheme, but you need the Completion of Procedures letter first, and there is a time limit for bringing a complaint to the OIA after that letter, so do not delay once you have it.

Regulatory oversight

Separately from resolving your individual complaint, the Office for Students regulates registered providers in England and has become increasingly concerned about the quality and management of sub contracted and franchise provision. The registered provider, usually the university, carries regulatory accountability to the OfS for the quality of what its delivery partner provides. This does not give you a personal remedy, but it explains why the university cannot lawfully wash its hands of poor delivery by a college, and a serious systemic failure can be reported to the OfS.

Consumer law angle

Your relationship with the institution you contracted with is also a consumer contract, and consumer protection law applies to higher education, as the Competition and Markets Authority has made clear. If the course was materially misdescribed, or teaching fell well below what was promised in the prospectus or offer, you may have contractual and consumer remedies against whichever body you contracted with. Identifying that contracting party is again the key step.

What you should check and do

1. Read your offer letter, enrolment agreement and student handbook to see who your contract is with and which institution’s regulations govern complaints, appeals and assessment.

2. Identify whether the arrangement is validation or franchise, which the partnership information or course page should state.

3. Work out which body the substance of your problem falls on, teaching and support usually the college, standards, assessment and the award usually the university.

4. Raise the matter first through the correct internal complaints or appeals procedure and keep everything in writing.

5. Get the final written decision and Completion of Procedures letter, then consider the OIA within its time limit.

Key missing facts

To give you a more definite answer it would help to know the name of the university and the college, whether your course page or handbook describes it as validated or franchised, who your written student contract is with, and what the actual problem is, because a complaint about teaching quality, a dispute about marks, a problem with your certificate, or a claim that the course was mis sold each point to a different responsible body and a different route.