Over 30 years' expert experience in delivering

College and university mediation services

All further and higher education providers have a responsibility to follow a fair and standardised process when responding to complaints made by students. We deliver our student complaints mediation services, as a suitable response under the early resolution stage of the Office of Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) Good Practice Framework.

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Effective early resolution to prevent concerns from escalating into costly formal complaints

Further and higher education mediation services for complaints involving students

According to the OIA best practice framework, education provider's complaints procedures should include an opportunity for early resolution, before initiating a formal process. As UK pioneers of workplace mediation, we offer the highest quality service, and proudly report a 97% success rate across all the mediations we conduct.

Refer a student complaint case for mediation

Mediation can be a challenging process, both for the participants and the mediator. All our college and university mediators hold several years experience and undergo a rigorous recruitment process prior to joining us. When you refer a case for mediation with CMP, you’ll have a practitioner on site within 5 working days.

Train to mediate student complaints

The ability to respond to concerns locally, before they escalate to a formal complaint, can save a great deal of time, money and resources for your organisation. We always recommend a good level of formal training as a minimum for in-house mediators. CMP offer a range of options from short workshops up to certified training and advanced courses.

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Mediate group conflicts at your college or university

Very often when disputes develop in an educational setting, they spread such that multiple students become involved. This can have a wide, damaging impact if restorative action isn’t taken. We have a large pool of expert group mediators, who have specialist knowledge of group dynamics, and the skills needed to facilitate improvement.

Meet our university and college mediators

When CMP was founded in 1989, we pioneered the use of mediation within the educational sector. Out expert pool of further and higher education mediators are equipped with a specialist understanding of the specific disputes which present within this environment. Our experience means we have the highest possible success rates, preventing the time, costs and disruption caused by formal procedures.

Lesley

Lesley is one of the world's most highly qualified mediators, holding doctorate and masters degrees in the subject and 28 years' experience. She has experience in mediating a range of conflicts involving students, and is Vice Chair of the College of Mediators.

Nick

Nick brings his transferable skills as a conflict prevention teacher and trainee psychotherapist into his practice as a mediator. He has 20 years' experience in conflict resolution, and expertly equipped to mediate a range of college and university disputes.

Martha

Martha, a highly qualified psychologist is experienced in mediating disputes within a wide range of settings. She prides herself on her patience and persistence in encouraging participation from those less motivated to take part.

Will

Will has been a mediator with CMP for over a decade. He has also developed and delivered bullying and harassment workshops currently used by several higher education organisations, giving him an expert knowledge of the conflicts amongst students and staff.

How we mediate student complaints

Mediation is most effective at the earlier stages of student conflicts. Thanks to our large pool of active mediators, we can have a practitioner on-site to commence the process within 5 working days. They will first take the time to speak with each party individually to build up an initial trust and rapport.

The individual meetings usually last 1-2 hours, and provide each party with the opportunity to voice their concerns and provide their individual perspective on the events that have happened. Once complete, so long as all parties consent to do so, we’ll then arrange for a joint session where the bulk of the mediation process occurs.

During the course of the process, we practice the interactive model of mediation, our specially developed, person-centred approach. This sets us apart from the competition in that we take the time to facilitate communication on a needs-based level, aiming to create an improved understanding, before moving towards agreements.

For a standard 2-party mediation, we typically allow a full day for the joint sessions. We can be flexible with our approach to meet your specific needs and timescales. For larger group conflicts, we do require more time, such that we can address each specific interaction, separately.

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One-off college and univeristy mediation services

Educational establishments decide to outsource conflict cases to CMP for a variety of reasons. They may not have an internal capacity to mediate, or the case may be especially complex/ sensitive that they wish to work with an industry expert.

Thanks to our large pool of student complaints mediators, we provide a hand-picked practitioner based on your location and the specific nature of your case. Their understanding of the particular challenges and common issues within education provide you with the very highest chances of a successful process, with a positive outcome for all involved.

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Mediation for disputes affecting groups of students at college or university

The nature of the educational environment means that, very often, when complaints amongst students and staff arise, the impacts become spread further amongst a larger group. Other students may begin to take sides, or may witness behaviours but be fearful of speaking up.

When you become aware of such issues, an intervention is essential to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control. Due to the complexity and specific challenges that such disputes pose, we always recommend that you acquire an expert group mediator. Our pool of group mediators have extensive mediation experience, combined with the ability to facilitate large group interventions, a necessity for effective resolution.

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ESTABLISHED IN 1989, CMP HAS DECADES OF EXPERIENCE IN THE RESOLUTION AND MANAGEMENT OF WORKPLACE CONFLICT.

From mediation to investigation, neutral assessment to conflict coaching, we provide market-leading training and services to every type of workplace.