Misdescription of University Course-Legal Recourse?

kelpie99

Hi,

I and several classmates have a shared problem as follows:

We're all on an Msc course at a prominent, prestigious institution. The course is only in its second year of being offered, and we were all attracted by the high-tech, cutting edge descriptions on the course website and blog, and we all had other options and applications before enrolling.

I'd attended a course 'degree show' before finalising my place, and was surprised by the output vs the course description, so queried it with the head of course stating my ambitions and skills I wanted to develop and was reassured in writing that the course was appropriate for my expectations and aims.

However, very early on in the course it became apparent that there were serious problems with course content, quality and delivery. The whole class made an informal representation to the course head outlining our concerns, which took him several weeks to respond to whereupon he said that it was too late to make significant changes and that the second term would be more involved. The second term arrived and we only had one scheduled day of class (6 hours) for what should have been a 25 hour taught program. We complained again, as a group, and another day of class was hastily added, mostly consisting of ill-thought out, very basic non-masters level content.

At this point, individuals started making official complaints to the school. Two of these, both from international students who had paid £14k fees, were investigated by another department and all points were upheld. Our assertion that the course was mis-described and mis-sold was vindicated by them changing the course description in November.

I personally am very angry as I am in considerable financial hardship and saw this course as an avenue into a better paid career. I have outstanding grades from all previous courses and was awarded funding for the course from the Scottish Funding Council that I cannot now ever access again, and am not eligible for any other Postgraduate funding from SAAS or other, so feel it has harmed by career opportunities and wasted a year of my life on a sub-standard, poorly conceived and delivered course through no fault of my own.

I've outlined this, with the emails showing I was actively lied to, in an official complaint, but have been told that because the body of my complaint is similar to the previous ones it won't be reinvestigated but handed straight to the approprtiate persons; the process itself just refers the matter back to the department who is at fault and there seems to be no actual outcome other than a recognition that the body of our complaints is justified. I could take it to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman but they have no real power to enforce an outcome beyond looking at the complaints process and recommending the matter be re-investigated.

Should I now be seeking Legal Aid to take them to court for mis-representing the course and failing to meet their obligations? Even just in terms of teaching hours and resources they haven't met their own descriptions.

I'm just incredibly angry and disenchanted and cannot face years more of serving coffee at minimum wage to save up to do another course. The moral issue of them profiting through lying to students and delivering such a terrible course is also disgusting in its own right.

Can anyone advise me of specialist law firms or similar cases where students have successfully secured compensation from an education provider?

hollydays

http://www.npc.org.uk/whatiswherecanifindhowdoi/complaintsandappeals/complaininginscotland

Have you obtained a copy of the universities formal complaints procedure to be sure you have followed it?
Are these links of any use
http://www.edlaw.org.uk/?page_id=8

http://www.legal500.com/c/scotland/public-sector/education

kelpie99

hi,

we've been following the very slow internal complaints procedure... it doesn't seem to actually do anything other than recognise the problems and uphold our claims-there's no actual resolution proposed or offer of compensation/refund.

The ombudsman can apparently only refer it back to them to re-evaluate their processes, so it doesn't seem to offer much of a solution either.

Seems like an education law specialist might be the way forward but I don't know how likely we are to get legal aid as they don't really support speculative cases and there's little to no legal precedent to date : /

dunroving

I think what you have experienced is not unusual ... especially because of cuts in government funding of universities, courses are being taught more cost-efficiently (i.e., differently than expected).

I don't hold out much hope for you TBH but engaging a legal expert may have the effect you want.

littlerock

Not sure about Scottish position but this about England Wales might be useful. Does Scotland have equivalent office?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/dec/18/refund-if-university-fails-deliver

kelpie99

Thanks for the replies;

I had a meeting with the now acting head of the department (the head seems to have been booted) who is, 9 months into the course and with us having complained since week six, saying he can't offer a reimbursement but that he wants to 'invest in us academically' with bauble such as international travel and continuation of this support post-graduation.

I don't know what to make of it and want a clarification of the exact nature and scale of this support-most people are too disgusted to continue and personally, after subsisting on the bread line and working two jobs to participate in this charade of higher education, I'm too worn out to extend this lifestyle much longer. But then, I don't have the resources for a protracted legal battle and that would be exhausting too...

It seems like it's an admission of guilt/responsibility in and of itself that they are doing this so we could feasibly take it forward via legal channels and get compensation but no guarantees. The Scottish version of the OIA doesn't seem to have the same power to force universities to offer compensation, but I'm not sure about this.

This isn't what i'd hoped for when I applied to the course

arcon5

Sounds like you'd have a strong case in court. But in light of the fact you won't be able to get the funding again, can you take the fact they have upheld your complaint and working with you to continue with alternate studies? Do they have any courses that could help you progress?

kelpie99

If I was being ambitious I'd be demanding a three year paid Phd studentship with free hand and support to develop my own interests a huge amount of say in how they're running the Msc course next year to actually make it relevant and fit for purpose.

If they genuinely want to make an investment in me then I think it'd be more meaningful than a free weekend in Rome or something but I don't know what's doable and the shrill moralist in me would like my pound of flesh in court, which seems to be the way the rest of the class are leaning-especially the International students.

daytona0

kelpie99 wrote: »

saying he can't offer a reimbursement but that he wants to 'invest in us academically' with bauble such as international travel and continuation of this support post-graduation.

You know what lad, that sounds like a mugging-off line right there! It might not be, but alarm bells should be ringing!!

This is kinda buying you off here, but you don't have anything tangible and that is the problem. That is very likely going to bite you in the bum in the coming years (for example, maybe the person quits their job? Maybe the university queries when the offer was made and whether you have it in writing?). I would recommend three possible routes:

1. Get something concrete in writing and agreed by the university as a body as to how they will support you post-graduation. No wishy washy promises of weekend trips to Rome

2. Do your research on the law (links provided by other poster) and maybe consider taking legal action for the quality of the course. You may, unfortunately, need to hire someone for this.

3. Continue with your course (assuming you'll get a decent grade!) and pass it so that you can go to another institution if you want to further your education.


NOTE: They theoretically CAN reimburse you. Universities are cash cows! Don't necessarily give up on the possibility of getting a partial/full refund.

jumpedtheshark

If the complaints have been upheld that seems like good evidence it was mis-sold.

The problem, however, is that you are completing / have completed (depending on year end) the course, and it might be argued to have provided you at least some value, assuming you graduate (e.g. on your CV, assuming that the difficulties with the new course are not well-known).

In any event, if it were me I'd be asking the university for (1) a refund of tuition plus (2) reasonable living expenses for the year (perhaps based on the student loan calculations or similar) minus (3) some smaller figure to recognise the limited benefit obtained.

If the university balked at the remedy, I'd agree to a provision that required me to provide proof of enrollment on another course before they had to pay the living expenses (but not before the reimbursement of the course fees minus an amount to recognise some value, which I would keep unconditional).

If I needed legal representation, I might well take a direct access barrister ahead of a solicitors' firm.

pendragon_arther

So in the last few years the uni fees trebled and the tutoring reduced. I think they call it downsizing.