The University of Birmingham is committed to providing a high quality educational experience, fully supported by a range of academic and administrative services and facilities. However, we understand that from time to time, things do go wrong. The University of Birmingham Doctoral School is here to support you with any difficulties you may be experiencing.
If you are not satisfied with your University experience, or with any of the services we provide, we recommend that in the first instance you attempt to resolve your concerns informally without escalating to a formal complaint. This is because often, complaints can be resolved quickly by addressing them at a local level. This might include talking your concern through informally with the individual(s) most concerned, if that is possible and appropriate. However, if you do not feel comfortable talking to the individual(s) themselves directly, there are other informal avenues of support that you can explore. Attempting to resolve your concerns in this way does not prevent you from making a formal complaint later on, if you remain unhappy, using the process set out below.
Complaints which might be best addressed locally in the first instance might include, for example, concerns about the frequency of your supervision meetings, the level of feedback you have received, or any issues with accessing the specialist resources and equipment you need to facilitate your research. However, you should only attempt an informal conversation if you feel safe to do so, and we recognise that in some instances, your concerns might relate to serious matters which cannot be addressed informally. There is more information about the formal complaints procedure on this page, and you can also discuss complaint options with Guild Advice, who offer specialist support on the University’s complaints process.
If you have concerns which you wish to raise, there are a number of options open to you:
- Speak to your supervisor or mentor;
- Raise any areas or difficulties you may be experiencing as part of the Monthly supervision (GRS2) or Annual Progress Review (GRS3) process;
- Get in touch with the PGR Lead for your School or your College;
- Contact the University Doctoral School team (doctoralschool@contacts.bham.ac.uk);
- Consider PGR Conciliation if you are experiencing a disagreement with your supervisor;
- Submit a disclosure via Report + Support to explore your options further.
The University Doctoral School webpage has more information about Your Wellbeing and Support, including information about training and advice on Working Effectively with your supervisor and with other PGRs, and other useful resources and avenues of support.
In the event that your concerns cannot be resolved informally, or an informal approach is not appropriate for the nature of your complaint, the University has formal procedures for investigating complaints. The formal process is set out in the Code of Practice on Student Concerns and Complaints (Codes of Practice, Policies and Guidance) and you can also find more information on the Student Complaints and Appeals webpage. You can use the formal complaints procedure if you are a registered student, you are on a Leave of Absence, you have thesis awaited status, or you have recently graduated (although please note the deadlines for submitting a formal complaint), and you have concerns about the delivery and quality of services received (i.e. non-academic matters), or about the delivery or quality of research supervision or any other matters relating to your programme of study.
We recognise that you might have some questions about how submitting a formal complaint would work for you as a PGR student, especially if your complaint relates to your supervisor. We have put together some answers to our Frequently Asked Questions below.