Complaints help us to learn and improve the work we do.

Whether you're an applicant, a student, graduate or a member of the public we take your complaints seriously and treat you with respect.

You'll never be disadvantaged as a result of raising a genuine concern and we treat all parties fairly in our investigations.

Our complaints procedures are designed to be accessible to everyone who may need them. If you aren't able to use the complaints procedures as described, please contact our complaints team at complaintsadvice@port.ac.uk or by telephone on 023 92 83 3110 / 3103.

Making a complaint

Find out how we deal with complaints:

Applicant complaints

Making a complaint as a University applicant

Members of the public complaints

Making a complaint as a non-student

Student complaints

Making a complaint as a current student

If you are studying with one of our partner institutions and would like to make a complaint, you should first use the partner's internal complaints procedure. If you are unhappy with the result you can make a complaint to us as a current student.

Support and advice

Your first step to resolving a complaint is to raise your concerns informally, by either speaking or writing to a member of university staff in the area in which the complaint has arisen or by contacting the Complaints team. If that doesn't lead to an adequate resolution, your next step will be to register a formal complaint.

These services can help you to discuss your concerns or support you in making your complaint:

  • Student’s Union Advice Service – You can get advice on anything affecting your time with us from the .
  • If you are experiencing harassment or bullying, please look at the information on dealing with harassment and bullying.
  • Additional Support and Disability Advice Centre (ASDAC) – For help and support with any issues relating to special requirements contact us at asdac@port.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 2392 843462.
  • Collaborative Partnerships – For help pursuing a complaint involving a collaborative partner, email us at partnerships@port.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 2392 843196. 
  • Accommodation support – For help with issues in your accommodation, whether in halls or privately rented, email the Residence Life Team at reslife@port.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 23 9284 3789.
  • If you have concerns about student neighbours or you're a student who needs help in your neighbourhood, contact the Student Neighbour Liaison Officer at student-neighbourliaison@port.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0) 2392 843214.

If your informal attempts to resolve your complaint are not successful, you may be able to raise a formal complaint under one of the University's three complaints procedures, as listed above. Please click on the relevant button to review the procedure most suited to your situation. 

The  (OIA) handles complaints against higher education institutions once students have exhausted the institution's internal complaints procedures. You can see how complaints about the University to the OIA are handled, and the outcomes following OIA investigations, at the .

We keep records of all complaints made to us in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 for the time period specified in our record retention schedule – in this case, either 3 or 6 years after the last action relating to the complaint, depending on the type of complaint made.

Anonymous details of the number of complaints received and the subject and outcomes of complaints are included in an annual report made to our senior management for quality purposes and equality monitoring. The relevant monitoring data will be collected from the student database.