Complaints & Grievance
Complaints & Grievance
Complaints Policy (QA 7.4.2)
Liffey College is committed to providing a high quality service to all its staff and learners. The college is also committed to promoting an atmosphere of trust and respect amongst learners, staff, and the wider community. Liffey College encourages learners to voice their concerns and strives to address whatever issues that may arise in a timely and proactive manner.
Liffey College aims to:
- Respond positively to complaints and implement appropriate corrective action where necessary.
- Deal with all complaints in such a way that they are resolved in a timely, fair, and consistent manner.
- Deal with complaints confidentially to avoid disruption of mediation between a complainant and the person against whom the complaint has been filed.
- Improve and upgrade the quality of service by correcting mistakes to prevent recurrence of the same.
- Ensure that any complainant is not put at any kind of risk or disadvantage and that it will not be held against you in any way.
Complainants are expected to:
- Submitting a Complaint
– Complaints must be submitted using the official complaints form (see below) within 14 working days of the incident.
– Late complaints may be accepted for reasonable reasons.
- Acknowledgement and Investigation
– The college will acknowledge the complaint within 3 working days.
– The college will investigate and aim to resolve the complaint within 20 working days.
– Further information may be requested, and any delays will be explained. - Confidentiality and Fair Treatment
– Complaints will be handled confidentially, with information shared only when necessary.
– Complete confidentiality cannot always be guaranteed.
– No student or staff member will face negative consequences for making a complaint in good faith. - Complaint Outcome
– The college aims to issue a written outcome within 20 working days of the complaint.
– The outcome will set out the decision and explain how to appeal. Any delays will be explained. - Right of Internal Appeal
– Appeals must be submitted in writing within 5 working days of receiving the outcome.
– The appeal must state the grounds and include any supporting evidence.
– An independent person who was not involved in the original decision will review the appeal.
– The appeal outcome will normally be provided in writing within 14 working days. Any delays will be explained. - External Organisations for Further Support
– If dissatisfied with the final decision, the complainant may refer the matter to the appropriate external complaints body; see below. - Records and Monitoring
– The college will maintain complaint records in line with data protection requirements.
– Records will help identify recurring issues and improve college services.
GRIEVANCE POLICY (QA 7.4.3)
Grievance procedures apply to all learners enrolled at Liffey College to allow for consideration of the grievance and the possibility for redress. Only when negotiations fail to resolve a matter or when a problem is not satisfactorily resolved then the last option is that of a grievance procedure.
Grievance complaints may be filed on the following grounds:
- Where a learner feels an act of injustice has been committed against them.
- Where a learner feels that they have been treated in a way that does not comply with the respective policy of Liffey College.
- Where a learner feels that an assessment result has been influenced by some kind of discrimination such as ethnic group, race, religion, etc.
The grievance procedures require the learner to notify the college in writing and provide the relevant details to facilitate the process. The complaint will then be investigated using relevant sources of information such as references, tutor reports, witnesses, and the learner’s record.
Academic Matters
Learners may address concerns regarding academic matters verbally with their teachers and/or with the Director of Studies, individually or jointly. If learners first contact their teacher and the issue is not or cannot be resolved at that level, then the learner and/or and teacher should submit the issue to the Director of Studies who will provide assistance.
If they believe there has been a mistake in their results or their test has been marked unfairly, learners may appeal their test results by submitting the Results Appeal Form available in their student login. Such appeals must be submitted within 14 workings days of results being issued.
Name of Responsible Staff: Director of Studies
Telephone: +353 (0)1 444 4447 / Email: dosefl@liffeycollege.ie
Non-Academic Matters
Name of Responsible Staff: Center Director
Telephone: +353 (0)1 444 4447 / Email: haseeb@liffeycollege.ie
Complaint Form:
Learners may submit complaints in writing by accessing the Complaint Form through the student portal. To do so, learners should log in to the portal, navigate to Online Forms → Complaint Form, click on the link, complete the form and submit it.
All complaints, whether received verbally or in writing, are recorded in the online system. The record includes the learner’s name, date, class, details of the complaint, and the action taken to address it, including the solution or outcome where applicable.
If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint or grievance with Liffey College, you could reach out to external organisations for further support.
Please be assured that doing so will not result in any repercussions, retaliation or disadvantage and will not affect your relationship with the college or your studies.
Eaquals Ombudsman (Recommended)
Liffey College is accredited by EAQUALS. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of Liffey College's internal complaints process, you may escalate your complaint to the EAQUALS Ombudsman, the final independent authority for complaints. To learn more, click here: EAQUALS Ombudsman page .
