• Member Code of Conduct: Every student at the University of Bristol is a member of the Students’ Union, and is expected to follow the behaviours listed in this code.
• Student Groups Code of Conduct: This covers the conduct of Student Groups. It explains what’s expected of student groups and how concerns about their behaviour are managed.
• Member Disciplinary Policy: Outlines how allegations of misconduct are investigated and what disciplinary action might follow if someone breaches the Code of Conduct.
• Complaints Policy: Explains how to raise a concern or complaint about a person, service or experience at Bristol SU.

Any student, staff member or visitor can make a complaint.

You can raise a complaint about any Bristol SU service, event, activity or decision within our remit.

You can also complain about a student if the issue happened, or could reasonably be seen to have happened, during SU business.

Complaints about SU staff or Full-Time Officers should still be submitted through our complaints form, but these will be handled under separate staff procedures.

Take a look at the guide to using our complaints proceedure - this has a section on identifying the correct proceedure to use.

Alternatively, speak to us using bristolsu-complaints@bristol.ac.uk - we’re here to help.

Yes. Every student at Bristol can access both Bristol SU support and University Wellbeing Support. If you’re not sure where to start, speak to the Investigating Officer for your case, visit our contact page or look at the University Wellbeing Services website.

Sometimes we will depending on the nature of the complaint.

If the misconduct may breach the University’s standards, we’ll refer the case to them. Serious cases, including sexual misconduct, are always referred. These will be investigated under the University’s Student Disciplinary Regulations. We’ll keep you informed if your complaint is passed to the University and update you on the process.

Yes, absolutely.

If your case is passed to the University but Bristol SU still has some involvement (for example, because the incident happened in an SU space), we may put the following in place:

• Regular communication with the University to ensure a coordinated approach.
• A named contact at Bristol SU who you can reach out to.
• A plan for communicating with anyone else affected.
• An automatic wellbeing referral for you and anyone else directly involved.
• A referral to our Acadmic Advice Service if the issue affects your studies

Yes. Your wellbeing matters to us and you can contact us before making a complaint to understand the process. The Investigating Officer can thenhelp you explore support options including access to the University Wellbeing Service.

Sanctions vary depending on the severity of the breach. They may include:

• Formal written warning
• Letter of apology
• Attendance at a special course/programme
• Suspension from SU activities for a set period
• Removal of SU membership

For the full list, see the Member Disciplinary Policy (page 14).

Students can make anonymous disclosures of misconduct via the University’s Report and Support online reporting tool, however no formal action will be taken about any matter that has been reported anonymously unless it is possible to verify what has been reported. Anonymous information may be used to identify trends and shape prevention and support provision.

If your complaint involves another person, they’ll usually be told who made it especially if the case goes to a formal hearing.

If this feels worrying, please talk to us and we will try to support you through every step.

If you want to make a confidential complaint or tip-off about student group activities – you can do so on our Student Concerns page.

A student group books an event space in the Students’ Union one evening to hold an event for 50 students. The following morning it is discovered that the event had more than 50 students in attendance, the room was a mess, and several chairs were broken.

This would be considered misconduct and would be dealt with by the Students’ Union under the Student Groups Code of Conduct.

A student at an SU event being run by a student group is spoken to rudely and aggressively by another student who turns out to be on the committee of that student group. The victim reports the incident but does not want the Students’ Union to use University procedures but seeks to have the student removed from the committee position.

This would potentially be considered misconduct and would be dealt with by the Students’ Union under the Members Code of Conduct.

A student is on a night out in Bristol and is sexually assaulted by another student who is known to be on the committee of a student group. The victim reports this to the Students’ Union.

This would be considered as potential serious misconduct and would be referred to the University. The Students’ Union would continue to offer the victim support and would carry out a risk assessment which could result in the alleged perpetrator being temporarily restricted from accessing all Students’ Union spaces and activities whilst the University carries out its investigation. 

A student is caught on CCTV stealing equipment from the Students’ Union building. This is potential misconduct and would be dealt with by the University as it breaches their Student Disciplinary Regulations & Procedures.

A student group holding an information stall in the Students’ Union building feel they have been spoken to rudely by a member of University staff.

The Students’ Union would not deal with this as it is not misconduct by a student/student group/SU employee so it should be reported to the University. We would still support the affected students and help them to navigate the University complaints process.