Managing disputes

Responding to the commercial and regulatory challenges faced by the education sector inevitably requires universities and colleges to examine and adapt their existing contractual relationships and forge new ones with students, suppliers of services and collaboration and accreditation partners.

Inevitably, as with any business, this can create the conditions for disputes which may be expensive and time-consuming to resolve and which divert scarce resources from the education service provider. Penningtons Manches Cooper’s skilled dispute resolution team offers speedy, commercially aware and cost-effective solutions. We work collaboratively with our clients providing them with positioning advice to avoid dispute escalation, mediation and full support during any legal proceedings, whether through the court system or arbitration.

Our team works closely with the firm's immigration, commercial and employment teams to provide higher and further education clients with a seamless service that addresses all contractual dispute resolution issues. Typically, the dispute resolution team gets involved with actual or potential breaches of students' visa conditions (and, therefore, their contract with our clients) and disputes between colleges and education partners such as accreditation bodies, other universities or overseas agencies.

While much of our work involves resolving disputes that have arisen as a result of inadequate monitoring and compliance; failures by students to comply with their visa obligations; unclear or inadequate contractual documentation; and, in some cases, rogue activity, we are increasingly advising clients on how to prevent these potential issues through audits, better monitoring and risk management systems, and reviewing terms and conditions with students. We recognise the importance of the foreign student market for many universities and colleges and their need to protect both this vital revenue stream and their HTS status.