Rise in students suing universities

Students received £32,500 in compensation after complaining to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) last year.

Successful complaints included appeals over degree results and one student's objection to being expelled for plagiarism.

The OIA handled 465 complaints from students in 2006, a 44% increase from 2005, and warned that the numbers could rise further as a result of the introduction of £3,000 a year top-up fees.

Wes Streeting, vice-president of the National Union of Students, said the "dramatic" rise in complaints was due to more students realising they could go to the OIA once they had exhausted the appeal options at their colleges.

But he continued: "It is deeply concerning that universities are obviously not dealing with complaints adequately themselves. Students are clearly more vociferous than they used to be and this should be seen as a good thing, as a way of universities better understanding how to drive up quality."

He added: "Ambulance chasing legal outfits touting for business amongst a potentially vulnerable, as well as cash poor, student body needs to be avoided at all costs."

The OIA's annual report warned that the watchdog itself was facing legal action from students who complained unsuccessfully and wanted a judicial review. "We remain concerned at the cost of legal proceedings into which we have been drawn, in our belief quite inappropriately," the annual report said.

Most complaints were over academic degree results, with other students objecting over human rights issues, disciplinary action against them or welfare.

There has not yet been a surge in complaints as a result of top-up fees introduced last September "but they may yet be in the pipeline", the report said.