Students who started courses at City of Bristol College as long as five years ago have still not been awarded their qualifications due to “misplaced” work.
Two former students from City of Bristol College have lodged formal complaints against the college over the last two years, which have still not been resolved, and still face having to redo lost coursework.
The pair claim to have submitted all the assignments required for the college’s animal management courses by 2013, up to two years after starting.
But they never got their qualifications because it transpired the college had lost some of their work.
A spokesperson admitted: “We acknowledge that a part of students’ original work was misplaced in 2011 and regret that the students have not yet been able to achieve the qualification despite additional support which the college has offered to the students.
“Unfortunately, tutors who delivered the course in 2011 are no longer employed by the college and therefore the college is unable to comment further on this matter.”
However, she admitted the former students would have to redo work on the lost assignments to gain a pass.
She also told FE Week that they had “been given an overview of the work left to submit, with a substantial amount already completed”, and that the college “will continue to work with students to ensure they successfully complete their programme”.
The spokesperson added: “It is the expectation of the awarding body that the accreditation to the qualification is through the individual completing their own assignment work.”
It is understood that the students started a seven-week animal management course in 2011, which was offered by the college for the first time.
It was extended to a full academic year, after course-planners realised extra time would be needed to complete the syllabus — and some of the students were then invited to carry on studying for a second year, FE Week understands.
The college said the eventual qualification from City & Guilds would have been NPTC level three animal management.
One of the students, Avril Horton, told FE Week: “They lost our completed assignments. It was more than one or two; I’ve basically been told to redo more than half the stuff.
“They told us after the seven weeks that they wouldn’t have time to complete it at first, so they invited us to carry on which
we did.
“In the end a few of us, me included, were invited back to do it over two years, and it later emerged that some of the work had been lost completely. It was really, really poor.”
A City & Guilds spokesperson said: “We sympathise with the students affected by this issue.
“We will be working closely with the City of Bristol College to undertake all external moderation and quality assurance activities as swiftly as possible to the highest standard so that there is minimal further delay to learners being awarded their much deserved certificates.”
This happened to me and others on a C&G7407 years ago and discovered after I was employed by the same college and forced to pay to do another course.