Case Summaries

The provider decided that the student could not progress onto the next year of the course until they had passed the outstanding assessments. The student was allowed to re-take the assessments in the next academic year without attending the teaching again. This meant that the student would need to leave the UK until the assessment period, because their visa was only valid while they were attending classes on a full-time basis.

The student submitted an academic appeal based on personal circumstances which had affected their mental wellbeing during their studies. The student asked to be allowed to attend teaching for the outstanding modules on a part-time basis because they felt that a repeat of the teaching would be helpful to them, and explained that because their family had relocated they did not have a family home to return to.

The provider rejected the student’s appeal. It noted that the information about the student’s personal circumstances should have been submitted earlier. But even if it had been, the provider couldn’t offer what the student wanted, as it was not allowed to sponsor any international students on a part-time basis. Even if the student’s claim for mitigation had been upheld, the outcome would have been to allow the student a further opportunity to take the outstanding assessments, which had already been allowed.

The student complained to us. They supplied new medical evidence about their mental health during their studies and suggested that their mental health difficulties might amount to a disability. Our review focused on the matters which the student had raised with the provider in their appeal. We decided not to uphold the complaint (we decided it was Not Justified). We were sympathetic to the student’s difficult circumstances, but it was not open to the provider to offer the student an opportunity to stay in the UK and study on a part-time basis.