Are you getting what you expected? (now closed)

Student Money Week 2017

Do you know that students have rights under consumer law? Do you know what they are?

The Competition and Markets Authority is currently finalising advice for universities and other HE institutions to help them understand their obligations to students under consumer law. It also plans to raise students ’ awareness of their consumer rights.

The CMA will be online to discuss its work and wants to hear what you think !

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

colourful lamb

Could you outline some of the key rights students have under consumer law? What are our consumer rights!? This is something myself (and I suspect many others) know very little about.

Thanks :biggrin:

Reply 2

EmilyC26

What sort of information should units verities give me to help me decide which course to choose and where I should study? It's hard to know where to start

:confused:

Reply 3

tim150

What are universities obligations to tell students about, under consumer law? Don't think I've seen anything from my Uni about this...

Reply 4

TSR Group Staff

Are there any impartial satisfaction surveys that show which students at different uni's are the most satisfied with what they sign up to for their course?
I guess you couldn't just go by drop out rates?

Reply 5

Sazzy890

Where can a student turn to for advice if they don't believe they're getting what they were expecting?

I remember watching Watchdog on BBC not that long ago, where students were promised halls but were sleeping in here there and everywhere as I think the halls allocation was overpromised. Who could people like that turn to for help?

Reply 6

CMAgovUK

Hi and welcome to this webchat. We're looking forward to talking to you today about how you can make sure that you get what you expect from your course by knowing your rights under consumer law.
We're the higher education team at the Competition and Markets Authority - the government organisation whose aim is to make markets work well for consumers and the economy, including in relation to consumer protection.
We're about to publish advice for universities and colleges which provide HE courses to help them understand and meet their consumer law obligations to students. We're also going to be publishing some advice for students and their advisers about their consumer rights

Reply 7

CMAgovUK

Original post by benthelamb

Could you outline some of the key rights students have under consumer law? What are our consumer rights!? This is something myself (and I uspect many others) know very little about.

Thanks :biggrin:

Hi Ben, thanks for your question!

Consumer law lays down some minimum obligations on universities about how they deal with students - including people applying.

In particular, they focus on information provision, terms and conditions, and complaints handling.

Information provision means that the universities have to provide you with certain key information up front so you can make informed decisions about what to study and where - such as important info on the course content and costs.

The second part is about your Uni's rules and regulations - they need to be fair to you and balanced. For example, rules that allow sweeping changes to your course might be unfair under the law.

Finally, the way that complaints are handled needs to be fair and clear - and the rules and processes need to be easy to find.

The unis have a responsibility to meet these obligations - so basically you have a right to be treated fairly!

Reply 8

charan04

I forgot my student finance password, who do I contact

Reply 9

CMAgovUK

Original post by EmilyC26

What sort of information should units verities give me to help me decide which course to choose and where I should study? It's hard to know where to start

:confused:

Emily, thanks for asking.
Universities must give you full information about courses and their costs.
This information is likely to include typical entry requirements, course modules, how the course is structured, such as the mix of lectures, seminars, practicals etc and how it will be assessed.
Cost is obviously very important so universities need to tell you not only about tuition fees including whether these might go up, but also extra costs such as field trips, equipment, bench fees etc.
There may also be important information about facilities such as accommodation and support that will be relevant to your choices. Universities should make this information clear upfront

Reply 10

CMAgovUK

Original post by tim150

What are universities obligations to tell students about, under consumer law? Don't think I've seen anything from my Uni about this...

Hi Tim,

That's a good question.

Under Consumer Law, Universities are obliged to provide students with important information to help them make the right decisions when they are deciding where and what to study such as up-to-date info on the detail of the course and its costs.

And there is also info that's relevant for when you are at Uni - such as how to access terms and conditions, important rules and regulations and how to make a complaint. One thing there that is important is how you go about escalating a complaint - including whether you can go to a third party redress scheme, like the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (the OIA for short...!).

That's just a snapshot of the key things - we'll be publishing final guidance to Universities in a few weeks with more detail on this.

Reply 11

CMAgovUK

Original post by CJ

You're right, dropout rates are not the only indicator.
There are impartial organisations who may hold this kind of information.
If you drop us a line with your email address via private message we'll get back to you.

Reply 12

CMAgovUK

Original post by charan04

I forgot my student finance password, who do I contact

Hi there,

That's not one for us at the CMA - but we think you can reset it online - if not, give SFE a call :smile:

Reply 13

CMAgovUK

Original post by Sazzy890

Yes, things can go wrong and when they do it's important that you know where to turn.
First, it's best to speak to university staff - they may be able to help resolve the problem.
If that doesn't work, think about going to your student advice office or student union rep, if you have one.
Citizens Advice can give you general advice (www.citizensadvice.org.uk). If you are in Northern Ireland Consumerline (www.consumerline.org) can do the same.
Don't forget your university is obliged to deal with complaints and you may want to think about raising a complaint through those channels. Look at you university's website for its complaints-handling procedures.
If all else fails, you may be able to go to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for higher education (www.oiahe.org.uk). If you are in Scotland it is the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (www.spso.org.uk).

Reply 14

meatismurder321

Hi - I signed up for my course because of the lecturers but found that they aren't always the ones leading the course lectures.Do universities have to advertise who will be delivering the lectures and seminars? Can I complain if I'm not happy?

Reply 15

CMAgovUK

A quick note from us - we've been asked a question about whether universities can increase course fees unexpectedly.

The key thing here is that you should always be able to predict the total costs of your course - and understand how and when your fees might change. That is alongside knowing where you'll have to pay extra for field trips, materials or lab fees that are needed to complete your course.

It comes down to making sure you have all the key information; universities should be clear with you and tell you up front about where and when they can increase your fees - make sure you check as well!

Some unis might have fixed tuition fees, and tell you they're fixed - in which case they should stick to it.

This is an important thing to think about, especially for students who are self-funded, given how important it is to budget!

Reply 16

CMAgovUK

Original post by meatismurder321

Hi - I signed up for my course because of the lecturers but found that they aren't always the ones leading the course lectures. Do universities have to advertise who will be delivering the lectures and seminars? Can I complain if I'm not happy?

No, universities do not need to be that specific, but they do have to tell you general information about the level of experience or status of staff who will be giving lectures and seminars. For example, whether they are a professor, senior lecturer or post-grad student.
However, if you were told that a particular individual would be teaching you and this doesn't turn out to be true, this may be a breach of consumer law.
In that case you can complain to your tutor or through the university's complaints procedure.
If that fails, you may be able to escalate it. Please see earlier answers.

Reply 17

CMAgovUK

So our time is up! Thanks to everyone who asked a question, and hope we've been able to answer helpfully.

In a couple of our answers we've mentioned that we'll be publishing some guidance for Higher Education providers about their obligations to Students under consumer law. We consulted, including with Unis and HE colleges (and other organisations like the NUS), on a draft version of that guidance back just before Christmas, and in early March we'll be publishing the results of that. That guidance will include more detail on some of things we've mentioned today; you can read more at www.gov.uk/cma

Alongside that, we are also going to be publishing some materials for students on your rights under consumer law- to help you know what to look out for when choosing where and what to study, when you're taking a course, or if you want to make a complaint. For updates on when that launches, you can follow us on twitter @cmagovuk.

Thanks again!

Reply 18

Laura SFE

Official Rep

Thanks to everyone who asked a question, and to CMA for their answers.