Union Advice are an independent source of advice at City. We provide free, confidential and impartial advice to all students, including advice on making complaints. We have provided some impartial guidance below on the current industrialaction at City for students who feel they have been affected. -- More information about the industrialaction can be found here. You will note that we do not use the term “strike” on this page as it is important to consider that the action taken by UCU does not end with the strike. Your studies could be disrupted beyond the strike action. -- -- Union Advice are independent, impartial and non-judgemental. These are three of our core values, which can be found here. The Office for the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) recommends that while some Students’ Unions may be sympathetic to the industrialaction, they consider having provision for some members of staff to take a neutral position. At City this is our team. While City Students’ Union formally backs the strike action, our Advisors do not have an opinion or position on the strike action and we are neutral in this matter. -- -- Before considering any action, such as making a complaint, it is very important to log how your studies have been affected. If you do need to make a complaint later then this will form part of your evidence. We advise that you keep a short note of each time the industrialaction has affected your studies. This could be on a piece of paper, in your phone, or a spreadsheet. You should record: -- -- Until this initial strike has completed, it will be too early for you to start any complaint process. You will not be clear about the whole impact of the strike until it is finished. UCU members will also be “working to contract” or “working to rule”. This will mean the full impact of industrialaction will stretch into 2020. We are not suggesting you wait this long to complain, but only for the strike to finish. In the meanwhile, ensure you are following step 1. -- -- “take reasonable steps to minimise disruption (e.g. reschedule missed sessions, combine sessions, extend deadlines) where relevant and possible” The idea of resolving a complaint is to put you back in the position you were in had the issue not occurred. Schools will be seeking to mitigate the impact of the industrialaction as much as possible. If you have not heard from your School about how the impact of the strike is being mitigated, then you should contact your Course Officer or Programme Director to ask. -- -- This complaint form should be submitted within 21 days from the last correspondence which has left you dissatisfied. The University will consider any requests for refunds of tuition fees as a result of the impact of the industrialaction. However, you will need to clearly demonstrate why the School’s initial response is not satisfactory and/or the ongoing detriment to your studies. Most students do not study at higher education providers purely to gain a qualification. Other things are important to them too, such as attending lectures and seminars led by academics. -- -- Section 2 – Complaint summary. You can submit your complaint as an individual or as a group complaint. If you are complaining on behalf of your cohort or programme you need to make clear it is a group complaint. When summarising your complaint you only need a brief description making clear that you are complaining about the impact of industrialaction. If there are any other aspects of your student experience that have been affected due to the strikes you would also briefly mention this here. -- -- If asking for financial compensation, a good starting point could be to work out from the fees paid for the term, how much you may have paid for the module(s) affected etc. You could then factor in any measures taken by your department to reduce the impact before deciding what amount you consider to be appropriate compensation. You may also wish to consider if you have evidence of any unexpected additional costs incurred directly as a result from the circumstances of the strike action and/or the measures taken by the university to reduce the impact. For any amount you request, you should consider then reducing this number by 50% to take into account that higher education providers have to provide and maintain buildings, IT and library facilities, wellbeing and other student support and administration. This is the approach taken by the OIA when awarding compensation/fee refunds for industrialaction. -- -- I want a refund of my tuition fees/compensation You can submit a complaint to request a refund of fees, or for compensation for disruption. However, you should bear in mind that City are taking steps to replace the lost learning opportunities and mitigate the effect of the industrialaction. It is unlikely that students will receive a refund of their tuition fees where adequate and reasonable steps have been taken to replace lost learning opportunities. -- -- It is unlikely that students will receive a refund of their tuition fees where adequate and reasonable steps have been taken to replace lost learning opportunities. If this has not happened, you are still seriously affected by the industrialaction, or you are not satisfied with City’s attempt to mitigate against the action, then you will need to follow the process we have outlined in our step by step guide above. Back to top -- -- If any alternative arrangements do not meet your needs as a disabled student then you should make this clear to the School as soon as possible and ask what adjustments can be put in place. If you are not satisfied with the outcome or feel you have been disproportionately impacted by the industrialaction then consider raising a complaint following the above guidance.  Back to top