The nearly £2 million paid out in compensation to students in England and Wales last year shows a “system under strain” as universities struggle to cope with the impact of staff cuts, it has been warned.

A record 4,234 complaints were received by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) in 2025 and its latest annual report highlights the challenges universities are facing in resolving students’ issues. 

The ombudsman for students in England and Wales recommended £875,933 in financial compensation be paid out to students last year when cases were judged to be justified or partly justified – a 29 per cent increase on the year before.

Along with the £962,979 offered as part of a settlement before a formal decision was reached, £1.8 million was paid out by universities, colleges and other providers as a result of complaints to the ombudsman. 

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�ճ󾱲���was the second highest annual figure in the OIA’s 21-year history, behind the £2.5 million paid out in 2024 – a year that the OIA said featured a number of unusually high one-off settlements.

The figure does not include compensation paid to students outside of the ombudsman’s complaints scheme.

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The highest single payments of financial compensation through the OIA in 2025 were £38,000, paid as part of a settlement, and £15,600 following a recommendation. A total of 165 students received £5,000 or more and 26 of these received £10,000 or more.

The OIA said many of these higher amounts included partial tuition fee refunds, while others were for disappointment or distress and inconvenience.

At 42 per cent, the largest complaint category was again academic appeals – including assessment results, resit opportunities, progression decisions, and degree classifications. This was followed by service issues (33 per cent) and financial matters (9 per cent).

Given that not all unhappy students complain to the ombudsman, Helen Megarry, the independent adjudicator, warned the figures represent the “tip of the iceberg”.

“Our analysis shows clearly yet again that the higher education system is under growing strain. Every recommendation or payment is an indication that a student has not received the service they expect at a time when fees and cost of living pressures are increasing.

“They demonstrate a concerning picture across the country which leaders need to consider how to act on.”

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Along with rising student numbers, Jo Nuckley, OIA’s head of outreach and insight, told ߣߣ��Ƶ that there is greater awareness among students of their right to complain.

Students must first follow their provider’s internal complaints process before they can take their case to the OIA.

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“Providers are often trying quite hard to resolve complaints, but they’re clearly not getting students to the point of satisfaction at the end of their internal processes,” said Nuckley.

“Sometimes that’s because students don’t have necessarily very realistic expectations about what can be achieved and what is reasonable, but often that is due to a failure in process.”

International students were found to make up a disproportionate contingent of all complainants, at about 40 per cent.

Nuckley said students often complain to the ombudsman when they do not feel that they have been dealt with by their university in a personal way or treated with humanity.

“[It] is very hard for providers to offer that service when the reality is they have very large numbers of students and, possibly, we’re starting to see the pinch of staff cuts, meaning that the staff who remain are stretched ever thinner in terms of what they’re trying to achieve.”

Amid ongoing frustration about student levels of debt playing out in the media, Nuckley said the organisation expects the number of complaints to continue rising in 2026.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com