COMMENTS, COMPLIMENTS AND COMPLAINTS
The College aims to offer high standards of education to its students and a high degree of efficiency in the administration of all related services. Feedback on the quality of the services provided is welcomed, whether they are comments, compliments for a job well done or complaints where something has gone wrong.
If you would like to provide feedback or a compliment regarding the service you have received, these should be sent to the Principal who will share them with the appropriate staff.
What is a complaint?
If students, parents (of under 18s), employers or anyone else in the College community is unhappy with a course or a service provided by the College, then please talk to a member of staff. If you are still not satisfied then please let us know.
What is the procedure for complaints?
It may be clear to you that your complaint could be dealt with ‘on the spot’ by an obvious person – in which case, by all means, discuss this with the member of staff. If you are satisfied with the outcome then, of course, there is no need for any further action.
In cases where an immediate course of action is not apparent, or if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your initial complaint, then write to the Principal.
What will happen in response to my complaint?
Having written to the Principal specifying your complaint you will receive an acknowledgement within three working days of receipt at the Principal’s office. An initial response to the complaint, telling you which senior member of staff the Principal has asked to deal with your complaint, will be sent to you within ten working days.
Your complaint will be fully and fairly investigated and if this is likely to take longer than two weeks you will be informed of the reasons for this. In the majority of cases you will have received notification of the outcome of the investigation and resulting action or proposed redress within two weeks of receipt of your complaint.
What do I do if I am not satisfied with the outcome?
You should write to the Principal again and seek an acceptable solution.
What if I want my complaint kept confidential?
Your wishes will be respected and only those directly involved would normally be aware of the details of your complaint.
You will not be treated adversely because you have complained – on the contrary, your complaint will be dealt with positively and with respect.
Will any record of the complaint be kept or given to anyone else?
The details of your complaint will only be known to those directly involved. All complaints are logged in ways which do not identify individuals and the information is provided to relevant key managers only in order to continually improve our performance.
Can I obtain help in making my complaint?
Yes – Lecturers, Student Services and the Information Centre will be pleased to offer any assistance you may need.
Disability Equality Duty Scheme
This college has some considerable strengths in terms of Disability Equality but acknowledges that there are always opportunities to improve systems, services, access arrangements and to develop other methods of inclusion of people with disabilities who are staff, students or visitors; whether those people arrive with disabilities or develop a disability during their time with the college.
Click here to view our Disability Equality Duty Scheme
Equality
The college is committed to ensuring that all staff and students are treated fairly and will not experience inequality, prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of their: age; colour; disability; family responsibility; gender; health; marital status; mode of study; nationality; race or ethnic group; religion or belief; sexual orientation; social background; trade union activity; type of conduct; unrelated criminal convictions and other irrelevant criteria.
Click here To view our full Equality and Race Equality policy
Freedom of Information
The College is committed to being open and honest in the conduct of its operations and to fully comply with the freedom of Information Act subject to any exemptions that may apply.
The college Academic Registrar is the college's main contact with the Information Commissioner, responsible for Data Protection and Freedom of Information issues, or authorised deputy.
Privacy Policy
When we collect information from you, which we need to keep, we will tell you why we are collecting it, and will only use it for the purpose we stated.
- Information will only be divulged to yourself or those who have a legitimate need for it in progressing any of the purposes for which it was collected
- Once the information is no longer needed, it will be destroyed
- If you would like to see our full data protection policy, please contact the Data Protection Officer at the college
Data Protection Declaration
Farnborough College of Technology and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. Data collected by the College will normally be used for educational administration (including publication of graduation booklet, library and Computer Centre), statistical, research and health and safety practices. Your data will be used to contact you if you fail to return library books etc to the library as requested.
The information you provide will be passed to the LSC, which is responsible for funding, planning and encouraging education and training for young people and adults in England. The information you provide will be shared with other organisation for the purpose of administration, careers and other guidance, and statistical and research purposes. Other organisations with which we will share information include the Department for Education and Skills, Connexions, Higher Education Statistics Agency, Higher Education Funding Council for England, educational institutions and organisations performing research and statistical work on behalf of the LSC and its partners. The LSC is also a co-financing organisation and uses European Social Funds from the European Union to directly or indirectly part-finance learning activities, helping develop employment by promoting employability, business spirit and equal opportunities, and investing in human resources. Further information about partner organisations and what they do may be found by following the link to data protection below:
http://www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Partners/Data/Help/default.htm
At no time will your personal information be passed to other organisations for marketing or sales purposes. From time to time students are approached to take part in surveys by mail and phone, which are aimed at enabling the LSC and its partners to monitor performance, improve quality and plan future provision.
It is normal practice for the College to share information with parents of those students under 18 years of age.
The College is obliged to provide information to your employer on your attendance and academic progress if they have accepted responsibility for paying your tuition and assessment fees.
Please be aware that signing the enrolment form gives the College consent to hold and use information about you as stated above and specified in the College Data Protection notification, which can be found at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk. A full statement and further details of the types of data held and for what purpose can be obtained by contacting the College Data Protection Officer.
If you do not wish to give this consent the College may not be able to offer you a place on a course and may withdraw any offer already made.