Complaints Procedure

This Complaints Procedure applies to all Tes Institute students with respect to any service they receive from the Institute, with the exception of academic appeals. Academic appeals are handled separately under Tes Institute’s Assessment and Academic Appeals Procedure.

Students have the right to make a complaint if they feel they have been unfairly treated or disadvantaged as a result of the service provided by Tes Institute or the actions and behaviour of a member of Tes Institute staff, faculty or a fellow student; however, students are expected to behave in an appropriate way when making their complaint. This includes being courteous and respectful to Tes Institute staff and colleagues at all times. Tes Institute may refuse to accept complaints where:

• the complainant has been rude, abusive or aggressive towards Tes staff or persons acting on Tes’ behalf (e.g. tutors);
• the complainant has acted unethically, e.g. where they have recorded conversations with Tes staff or persons acting on Tes’ behalf, without their knowledge or consent;
• the complaint has been raised via social media;
• repeated complaints are made in relation to the same issue;
• complaints clearly have no merit, are of a vexatious nature or for the purpose of personal gain. 

Anonymous complaints will not be accepted. The Complaints Procedure is based on the principle of Natural Justice, i.e. objective decision-making and the right to a fair hearing. 

It is important to note that disagreement with professional judgements made by colleagues at Tes Institute, or one of its partner schools, regarding a student’s performance on a Tes Institute programme does not constitute sufficient grounds for a complaint and/or request for a refund of any programme fees. 

All complaints should normally be made within 10 working days of the alleged incident, matter or concern. If the complaint is made outside this time, reasons for the delay must be given.

All personal data relating to complaints made to Tes Institute will be handled in accordance with data protection legislation and Tes' Privacy Policy.

In the first instance, the student should seek to resolve the matter with the subject of the complaint or through the relevant Head of Programme Delivery or person responsible for the learner’s or trainee’s programme. Initial informal action may be initiated in writing but no formal record will be retained. A formal complaint may not be accepted if there has been no attempt by the student to resolve the matter informally.

If the initial informal action has concluded and the student is not satisfied with the outcome, or the complaint is deemed of a sufficiently serious nature from the outset, then a formal complaint may be made under the following circumstances:

• the issues involved in the complaint are of a sufficiently complex/serious nature to warrant formal investigation;
• the complainant has behaved courteously and in a respectful way during the process;
• the formal complaint is made within 10 working days of the conclusion of the initial informal action (or within 10 working days of the alleged incident, where initial informal action is not deemed appropriate)

A formal complaint should be made in writing to the Head of Governance & Regulation. The complaint should be specific and comprehensively documented, factual and supported with evidence as appropriate. The complaint must include:

• the student’s name and contact details
• date(s) of the incident(s)
• locations, if applicable
• any witnesses, if applicable
• any previous efforts to resolve the matter informally
• the outcome that the complainant is seeking
• any other relevant evidence.

The complaint should NOT include personal details relating to individuals other than the student, apart from the names and contact details of any witnesses. The student must obtain consent from any witnesses before providing their contact details to Tes Institute.

The Head of Governance & Regulation will acknowledge receipt of the complaint and outline to the student what the formal complaints procedure involves, including:

• the right of the subject of the complaint to receive a copy of the complaint and the details of the complainant
• timescales for response
• reassurance that there will be no detrimental impact on them for invoking the complaints procedure.

It is important to note that submission of a formal complaint will trigger a full investigation of the matters raised and will therefore require time to be resolved. Tes Institute will make every reasonable effort to conclude their investigation as quickly as possible but students need to manage their expectations accordingly.

The usual timescale for resolution of a formal complaint is 20 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint. If, however, there are external witnesses or parties who need to be contacted in relation to the complaint, resolution may take longer. The Head of Governance & Regulation will keep the complainant updated on progress and the possibility of, and reasons for, any delays.

The Head of Governance & Regulation will appoint an Investigating Manager, if appropriate, to investigate the complaint. This may happen where, for example, the  Head of Governance & Regulation has previously been in contact with the complainant regarding a related  issue.

At this point the Head of Governance & Regulation or nominated Investigating Manager will contact the person who is the subject of the complaint and provide that person with a copy of the complaint.

The Investigating Manager may arrange to discuss the complaint with the student as well as any witnesses.  The Investigating Manager will make a written record of any meetings which take place and may be accompanied by a Tes colleague to act as note taker.

Should the complainant wish to record any meeting or discussion which takes place as part of the complaints process, for instance because they have a disability which may affect their ability to process or record information, particularly in stressful situations, they must agree this in advance with the other parties to the meeting or discussion. Whilst recordings of meetings or conversations made without the knowledge or consent of the other parties are not illegal, sharing such recordings with any 3rd parties may be illegal. Tes Institute also reserves the right to disregard any evidence relating to the complaint which has been obtained in this way.

The Investigating Manager will inform the Head of Governance & Regulation of the outcome of the investigation and, where the complaint is particularly lengthy or complex, will provide a written report summarising their findings.

The Head of Governance & Regulation will formally respond, in writing, to both parties to inform them of the findings of the investigation, any decisions made, the reason for the decisions and any subsequent action, where appropriate. The Investigating Manager’s report will also be provided to both parties.

Where the result of the complaint includes consequent action or recommendations, the Head of Governance & Regulation shall notify the appropriate person(s) without undue delay. 

It should be noted that there may be instances where it is not possible for a decision to be reached and Tes Institute will attempt to provide further clarity to the student who made the complaint, whilst also providing guidance to the subject of the complaint, in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. 

The complainant or the subject of the complaint may appeal against the decision on the basis of one or more of the following grounds:

• new evidence which could not have reasonably been available at the time of the original complaint and which could materially affect the outcome of the complaint;
• undue severity of any penalty;
• not following the correct process, resulting in appreciable negative impact on the complainant;
• inconsistency of any action or penalty.

Tes Institute reserves the right to reject an appeal on the ground that it has no merit and/or the complainant has behaved inappropriately at any stage of the complaints process.

Appeals should be submitted in writing to the Head of Governance & Regulation within 10 working days of receipt of the decision. Decisions sent by email will be regarded as having been received on the day the email was sent.

Upon receipt of the appeal, the Head of Governance & Regulation will pass the appeal, any investigating report and any other relevant evidence to another member of Tes staff, who has had no previous involvement with the complaint, to review the appeal grounds. If it is determined that the appeal meets the appeal submission criteria, the Head of Governance & Regulation will notify both parties and a date for a Complaints Panel will be set.

If it is determined that the appeal submission criteria have not been met, the Head of Governance & Regulation will contact the complainant to explain the reasons for rejecting the submission. Where it is determined that the criteria have not been met, the Tes Institute Complaints Procedure will be complete.

Any party to a complaint has the right to be accompanied by a friend, colleague or union representative at the Complaints Panel. If a party wishes to have legal representation in a complaint hearing, then they must provide reasons for wishing to do so and this must be agreed in advance of the hearing, to allow sufficient time for the subject of the complaint to obtain legal representation, if they wish to do so. This may include legal representation for Tes Institute.

Typically the Complaints Panel will consist of three senior members of Tes. No member of the panel will have been previously associated with the complaint.

The panel members will be in receipt of all documentation associated with the complaint to date and will also receive any new evidence that may be presented.

The party lodging the appeal, the Investigating Manager, the Head of Governance & Regulation and the Head of Programme Delivery may all be interviewed by the Complaints Panel in order to assist in understanding the detail of the investigation and the rationale for the decision reached.  

The hearing will not be conducted as an alternative to any part of disciplinary procedures which may apply to Tes Institute members of staff. Details of any such disciplinary procedures are confidential and will not be provided to the complainant.

The decision of the panel will be final as far as Tes Institute’s Complaints Procedure is concerned.

The Head of Governance & Regulation will inform both parties, in writing, of the decision of the panel and the reasons for the decision.

If the panel decides that certain actions have to be taken as a consequence of the complaint or appeal, the Head of Governance & Regulation will nominate an individual to monitor such actions and report to Tes Institute senior management on progress of those actions.

Once Tes Institute’s complaints process is complete, the Head of Governance & Regulation will issue a Completion of Procedures letter where required under OIA regulations (please see below).

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 made it a requirement for higher education providers such as Tes Institute, which have one or more courses designated to receive student support funding, and those providers with degree awarding powers, to become members of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) Scheme. Once a provider is a member, all of its higher education students have the right to bring an eligible complaint to the OIA. Please see the OIA website for further details: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/

01/06/24: Policy uploaded to Tes website

December 2024: Next review