Student Protection Plan

Introduction to the Student Protection Plan 

The University of Leicester is deeply committed to ensuring that all of its students receive a high quality educational experience, and that all students have the opportunity to complete the qualification for which they registered. The University has in place robust processes to monitor and assure the quality of your course, and also operates detailed risk management procedures to assess and manage ongoing risks. The University has a long standing commitment to ensuring that where circumstances mean that we may need to alter or withdraw either individual courses or areas of study all registered students will be supported to complete their studies.

As part of this commitment the University has developed and published this Student Protection Plan which meets the requirements of the Higher Education and Research Act (2017) and Condition C3 of the Office for Students Regulatory Framework. The Plan has been submitted to and approved by the Office for Students. This plan is made available to all applicants and current students, as well as to staff and the University’s governing body, Council.

As a University we will always aim to ensure that there are no material changes to your course other than those which are required in response to external factors such as conditions of organisations which provide accreditation professional accreditation for some of our programmes.  Unfortunately this is not always possible due to a wide range of factors, many of which are outside of our control and there may be circumstances under which the University has to make amendments to your course.

This Student Protection Plan sets out the University’s assessment of risk relating to the ongoing delivery of our courses and the mitigating actions that the University would take to protect your studies in the event that any of the risks were to crystallise. This plan has been designed in consultation with our student representatives and has been approved by the University’s Learning and Teaching Committee, Senate and Council.

The plan also sets out your rights with respect to how you can raise a complaint to the University.

Our commitments to our students

The University commits to:

• Being open and transparent with our students should any risk to the continuity of studies arise and inform you in a timely manner
• Taking reasonable steps to protect you should the University discontinue a programme or discipline, close a location where a programme is taught or close altogether
• Taking into consideration the needs of all of our students and the impact on them of any proposed changes and protective measures
• Supporting our students with advice and guidance and other support as appropriate, in the event of significant changes that impact your studies
• Ensuring that the processes for raising a complaint to the University are transparent and accessible
• The University commits to informing the OfS of any changes that may necessitate a review of the plan or any of the measures contained within it. .The University will ensure that students have the opportunity to contribute to the development and review of this plan.
• The University will ensure that staff are aware of the implications of the Student Protection Plan when proposing programme changes or reviewing our portfolio of courses. The core requirements of this plan are reflected in the University’s Code of Practice on Programme Development and Approval and this plan will be circulated within the University’s academic governance framework on an annual basis.

Read the full Student Protection Plan (PDF, 240kb) (if you require an accessible version of this document, please contact qualoffice@le.ac.uk)