How to make a complaint about strike action that’s impacted you

The University has put a number of steps in place to support students during the current period of strike/industrial action. If you have any concerns or questions, you should raise these in the first instance with your programme leader or School Office:

• Salford Business School: SBS-Hub@salford.ac.uk
• Salford Languages: SalfordLanguages@salford.ac.uk
• School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology: am-admin@salford.ac.uk
• School of Health & Society: HealthSociety-School-Reception@salford.ac.uk
• School of Science, Engineering & Environment: SEESchoolEnquiries@salford.ac.uk

If the response you receive does not resolve the issues you have raised, the next step to follow is to raise your concerns through the University’s Student Complaints Procedure.

To ensure that we are able to respond to complaints in a timely manner and to minimise delays, the University plans to review all complaints arising due to strike related issues through a two stage complaints procedure instead of its usual three stage procedure. This has been agreed with the Students’ Union.

Where a complaint includes issues beyond the impact of the strike action, than we may refer cases back into the normal three stage complaints process.

Stage 1 – Consideration by School

You should contact your Programme Leader or Director with details of your complaint. Please include as much detail as possible in your submission including:

• What action or activities did you miss as a result of the strike action (this may include teaching, supervision, facilities)?
• Were any alternative arrangements put in place for you?
• How has the disruption affected you, taking into account the plans to minimise the impact? 
• The remedy you are seeking

Stage 2 – Consideration by Panel

If you are unhappy with the response received from your School, you may submit a Stage 2 complaint using this form. It is important for you to explain why you were unhappy with the Stage 1 response and to provide any further relevant information. Stage 2 complaints must be received within 10 working days from the date on which the Stage 1 response was provided. A senior manager such as a Deputy Dean will review all Stage 2 complaints along with a member of academic staff who is from a School other than that in which your course is located and a representative from the Students’ Union to ensure that there is a student voice to inform decision making.

The University aims to provide you with a response to your Stage 2 complaint within 21 days from receipt of all relevant information and we will endeavour to respond more quickly wherever possible. Please be aware that as well as information which you provide, information will also be requested from your School. Your complaint response will include an overall decision about your complaint, a rationale in relation to the outcome reached and an outline of next steps where appropriate.

Independent Advice

You can seek independent advice about the Complaints Procedure from the Students’ Union Advice Centre. You may not always need to speak to an advisor, and we aim to empower students to

Email us: You can send us an email with your enquiry to advicecentre-ussu@salford.ac.uk. Sometimes queries are too complex to answer over email so if needed we will help you book an in appointment to speak to one of our advisors.

Referral: If you wish for one of our advisors to ring you at a time that suits you, you can self-refer via this form. We will aim to contact you within 2 working days however please note during busy periods it may take longer to contact to you. Please try to include as much detail and information as possible, including any key dates and all the questions you wish to be answered. This will enable the advisor to give to more specific and accurate advice.

Appointments: You can book an appointment at a time and date that suits you via our booking portal.

Strike Action – Template complaint statement

When submitting a complaint, it is important that you provide as much detail as possible about your issue.

It would also be helpful to include what actions you would like to see arising from your complaint. We have included a template to help format your stage 1 complaint, however, please add in any extra information that you deem to be important and relevant.

Before submitting this template, please delete all text in RED and input the correct information where the text is bold

Dear …

I am writing this complaint as my academic studies have been disrupted due to the current strike action.

The first lecture/workshop/seminar/lab (deleted as appropriate) to be disrupted was (include name of session). This was meant to be held at (date and time) in (room information).

• Repeat this to include details for further sessions that you have had disrupted.

If you did not receive ANY alternative study work or teaching has not been rescheduled, include this section

I have not received any alternative study or any arrangements for the session to be rescheduled and this therefore has negatively impacted my studies and student experience as I have missed out on vital teaching time.

• List any specific content that was missed
• List any impact this will have on your ability to complete assessments linked to this module
• List any practical experience/ access to equipment you have lost

If you have not received ADEQUATE alterative study work, you may include this section

Although I was notified about the strike action prior to it occurring and was set some alternative study, I feel this alterative study was not adequate replacement for the teaching I missed out on.

List the reasons why you believe this alternative study was not adequate – for example:

• The teaching sessions was meant to be (number of hours/minutes) long and the work set took approximately (number of hours/minutes) long. As this has such a large disparity, I do not feel it is adequate replacement for non-teaching.
• The lecture/workshops/seminar/lab objective was (include session objective). The work that was set aimed to (describe what you felt the objective of the work set was) and I do not feel that I can confidently say I have reached the original learning objective through this untaught and alternative work set.

Include a list of how the strike action has negatively impacted you, this will be different for every student. Some examples may be how it has financially impacted you; it may have impacted your mental health; it may have impacted your communication with academic staff and prevented you from seeking support or guidance.

I am hoping for this complaint to be resolved by (add in your outcome). I look forward to a timely response.

Many thanks

(Signed)