Compliments & complaints
Feedback forms
Feedback forms are available from the Reception at all College campuses.
Once you have completed a form, you should hand it in at Reception or send it to the Quality & Standards Office. The Quality & Standards Office will:
- pass your compliments on to the areas that provide the service
- investigate any comments you have raised about the quality of the services or programmes that the College provides
- write to you about any improvements the College can make as a result of your comments.
Surveys
The College undertakes surveys each year of students, parents and employers. The surveys are an important source of information on the views of our clients about the provision, support and services we provide and we encourage you to take part. We will let you know the results of the survey and any improvements we are making as a result of your feedback.
Student focus groups
If you are a student at the College, you can take part in the student focus groups, which are held each term with student representatives from every department. We encourage you to become a representative for your course and to attend the meetings.
Complaints procedure
If you are dissatisfied about your course or the services City of Portsmouth College provides, you can make a complaint. The procedure for making a complaint is set out below. To download a copy of the College's Complaints Procedure in PDF format, please click here.
What areas does the complaints procedure cover?
The complaints procedure covers the courses we offer and the services we provide. Although the complaints procedure covers most aspects of your course, it does not cover the outcomes of an assessment. If you are unhappy about the outcomes of an assessment, you should use the Academic Appeals Procedure.
If we need to deal with your complaint through another College procedure, the Quality & Standards Office will contact you in writing.
What are the stages in the complaints procedure?
We hope that most complaints can be resolved informally once they are brought to our attention. Your concerns will be taken seriously, and most issues can be resolved quickly at this point.
- you can talk to the person concerned, or the Curriculum Manager for the subject area. If you feel that you need support to do this, you can ask for help from the Student Union President
- once you have raised your concerns, the staff member you speak to should come back to you with a response within 5 working days
- hopefully your concerns have been resolved. However, if you have not had a response within 5 working days, or you are still not satisfied, you should escalate your complaint to stage 2.
Please complete a Complaints Form by clicking here. Alternatively, you can click here to download a PDF version of our Complaints Form that you can print and fill-in by hand.
Hand written complaint forms can either be posted to City of Portsmouth College, Highbury Campus, Tudor Crescent, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 2SA, or taken to any of our campus Receptions.
How will we deal with any formal complaint you raise with us?
- you will receive a letter to acknowledge that you have made a formal complaint within 3 working days
- a relevant senior or delegated manager will be assigned to investigate the complaint
- you will receive a response from the investigating manager within 15 working days from the date on the acknowledgement letter
- in some cases, where issues raised are complex, the investigations may take longer than 15 working days. If this is the case, you will be sent a holding letter which will inform you of when to expect the reply.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you may appeal in writing to the Principal & CEO stating clearly your reasons for being unsatisfied with the original outcome of the investigation into the original complaint. This might include matters of procedure/process, errors of fact or further information that has come to light. You are required to make any appeal within 10 working days of the date on the letter stating the original decision. Letters need to be addressed to:
The Principal & CEO, City of Portsmouth College, Highbury Campus, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 2SA
We will acknowledge your appeal within 5 working days. The Principal & CEO will consider your appeal, undertake any further investigations as required and inform you by letter of their decision within a further 10 working days of the date of the acknowledgement.
Every effort will be made to resolve your complaint. We can assure you that your complaint will be treated seriously and that we will learn from the problems that you bring to our attention.
This procedure is available on request in different formats including audio, disk, Widget, Braille and enlarged print. If you would like help from a signer, reader or interpreter when making a complaint, please contact the Quality & Standards Department who can arrange for help:
Quality & Standards Office, City of Portsmouth College, Highbury Campus, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 2SA
Telephone 023 9238 3131
Please be aware that the timescales identified in this procedure are based on term-time only. Where complaints are received, or investigations fall outside of term-time, this is not included when calculating the response times.
