House of Admissions’ complaints and appeals policy. Three stages: informal (answered within 5 working days), formal written complaint (acknowledged 2 working days, answered 10 working days), and appeal to the Director (answered 15 working days). No student is treated less favourably for complaining, and external routes including the university, Nepal Police and Child Helpline 1098 may be used at any time.
Complaints and Appeals Policy
Three stages, published timescales, and named contacts — plus the external routes you can use at any point without going through HOA first.
Key points
- Stage 1 informal — counsellor or office manager, answered within 5 working days.
- Stage 2 formal — written to the Complaints Officer, acknowledged within 2 working days, answered within 10 working days.
- Stage 3 appeal — to the Director, answered within 15 working days.
- The person your complaint is about never handles it.
- No student is treated less favourably for complaining. Complaint records are kept separately from your application file.
- You can go outside HOA at any time — the university, Nepal Police, Child Helpline 1098, or a consumer or education authority.
- Commission-steering concerns go straight to Stage 2; safeguarding concerns bypass this policy entirely.
1 Principles
- A complaint is information about a process that needs fixing. It is not a nuisance and is not treated as one.
- No student is treated less favourably for complaining. Your application will not be deprioritised, delayed or dropped because you raised something.
- You are never required to exhaust HOA’s internal process before going elsewhere. The external routes in Section 7 are open to you at any time.
- You may be accompanied or represented by a parent, guardian or friend at any stage.
- Complaints are answered in English or Nepali, whichever you prefer.
2 What this policy covers
| In scope | Not in scope — but HOA can help |
|---|---|
| The standard of advice or service you received | A university’s decision on your application |
| A missed standard from the Student Service Charter | A UKVI visa decision or processing time |
| The conduct of a member of HOA staff | A university’s deposit or refund policy |
| A concern that advice was influenced by commission | A test provider’s result or fee |
| How your personal information was handled | A third party’s service, such as a bank or VFS |
| Any safeguarding concern about a student under 18 | — |
- A child is at risk. Follow the Safeguarding Policy instead. Do not wait for a complaints process. Child Helpline Nepal 1098, Nepal Police 100.
- A concern that advice was steered by commission, or that a staff member took a personal payment. These go directly to Stage 2, because they are not suited to informal resolution by the person involved. See the Conflict of Interest Policy.
3 The three stages
Working days are Sunday to Friday, excluding public holidays. If HOA cannot meet a deadline, you are told before it passes, with a reason and a new date — not after.
Stage 1 — Informal Reply within 5 working days
Raise it with your counsellor or the office manager, in person, by phone or on WhatsApp. Most issues are a misunderstanding or a delay and are settled here quickest.
Who: your counsellor, or the office manager if the concern is about your counsellor. Record: the office manager notes the complaint and the outcome. If unresolved: go to Stage 2. You do not need permission.
Stage 2 — Formal written complaint Acknowledged 2 working days · answered 10 working days
Put it in writing to compliance@houseofadmissions.com, or by letter to the Putalisadak office. Include your name and contact details, what happened and when, who was involved, what you have already tried, and what outcome you are seeking.
Who: Kabir Panta, Safeguarding and Compliance Officer, who will not be the person your complaint is about. What happens: your complaint is logged, the file and any records are reviewed, the staff involved are asked to respond, and you may be invited to explain further. You receive: a written outcome setting out what was found, what HOA is doing about it, and how to appeal.
Stage 3 — Appeal to the Director Answered within 15 working days
If you are not satisfied with the Stage 2 outcome, write to the Director at nepal1@houseofadmissions.com within 20 working days of receiving it, saying why.
Grounds: the process was not followed; relevant evidence was not considered; the outcome is not reasonable on the evidence; or new evidence has emerged. An appeal is a review of the decision, not an automatic rehearing. Who: the Director, or if the complaint concerns the Director, Anusha Budhathoki. Outcome: the Stage 3 decision is HOA’s final response.
4 Timescales at a glance
| Stage | Who | Acknowledged | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Informal | Counsellor or office manager | Same day | 5 working days |
| 2 — Formal | Complaints Officer | 2 working days | 10 working days |
| 3 — Appeal | Director | 2 working days | 15 working days |
5 Anonymous and third-party complaints
- HOA will look into an anonymous complaint as far as it can, but cannot report an outcome to someone it cannot contact, and may be unable to investigate fully without details.
- A parent, guardian, friend or another organisation may complain on your behalf. HOA will normally need your written confirmation before discussing your file with them — except where a safeguarding concern applies.
- A university, or anyone else, may raise a concern about HOA’s conduct through the same route.
6 Records and learning
- Every Stage 2 and Stage 3 complaint is logged with the date, the substance, the outcome and any action taken.
- Complaint records are kept separately from your application file and do not affect how your application is handled.
- The log is reviewed by the policy owner at least annually to identify patterns. A recurring complaint is a process problem, and the review records what changed as a result.
- Safeguarding matters are recorded under the Safeguarding Policy instead, with access restricted to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
7 Taking it outside HOA
You may use any of these at any time. You do not have to finish HOA’s process first, and HOA will not treat you differently for going elsewhere.
| Where | For what |
|---|---|
| The university concerned | Conduct of an agent representing it. UK universities are expected to manage their agents under the UK Agent Quality Framework and publish a route for student concerns about agents |
| Nepal Police — 100 | Anything you believe is criminal, including fraud or the taking of an unlawful payment |
| Child Helpline Nepal — 1098 | Any concern about a student under 18. Toll-free, 24 hours |
| Women, Children and Senior Citizens Service Centre | Child protection matters; Nepal Police operates one in every district |
| Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection | Consumer protection matters under Nepali law |
| Ministry of Education, Science and Technology | Matters concerning study-abroad consultancy conduct in Nepal |
8 Where to send a complaint
- Stage 2 — formal complaint
- compliance@houseofadmissions.com · Kabir Panta, Safeguarding and Compliance Officer
- Stage 3 — appeal
- nepal1@houseofadmissions.com
- Safeguarding concerns
- compliance@houseofadmissions.com · see the Safeguarding Policy
- By post or in person
- House of Admissions, Putalisadak 28, Kathmandu · Sunday to Friday, 09:30–18:00
- +977-9802373936 — suitable for Stage 1
Questions about this policy
There are three stages. Stage 1 is informal: raise it with your counsellor or the office manager, answered within 5 working days. Stage 2 is a formal written complaint to compliance@houseofadmissions.com, acknowledged within 2 working days and answered within 10 working days. Stage 3 is an appeal to the Director, answered within 15 working days. You may also go outside HOA at any time.
No. No student is treated less favourably for complaining, and your application will not be deprioritised, delayed or dropped because you raised something. Complaint records are kept separately from your application file.
No. You are never required to exhaust HOA’s internal process first. You may go to the university concerned, to Nepal Police, to the child helpline on 1098, or to a consumer protection or education authority at any point, and HOA will not treat you differently for doing so.
No. At Stage 1, if the concern is about your counsellor it goes to the office manager instead. At Stage 2 it is handled by the Complaints Officer, who will not be the person the complaint is about. At Stage 3 it goes to the Director, or to an alternative senior person if the complaint concerns the Director.
That goes directly to Stage 2 rather than being handled informally by the counsellor involved. It is dealt with under the Conflict of Interest Policy, which also sets out the controls that are supposed to prevent it — principally that no counsellor’s pay varies by which university a student enrols at.
Not through this policy, because HOA does not make those decisions. A university’s admission decision, a UKVI visa decision, a deposit refund policy or a test result are outside HOA’s control. HOA can still help you understand the decision and take it to the right place, and will say plainly where that is.
You are told before the deadline passes, with a reason and a new date — not afterwards. A missed standard from the Student Service Charter is itself a valid ground for complaint.
Yes to both. A parent, guardian, friend or another organisation may complain for you, though HOA will normally need your written confirmation before discussing your file with them, except where a safeguarding concern applies. An anonymous complaint will be looked into as far as it can be, but HOA cannot report an outcome to someone it cannot contact.
Ownership, adoption and review
- Policy owner
- Kabir Panta, Safeguarding and Compliance Officer — compliance@houseofadmissions.com
- Deputy
- Anusha Budhathoki — apply@houseofadmissions.com
- Adopted by
- Rahul Chhetri, Director on 2 October 2026
- Version
- 1.0, issued 2 October 2026
- Next review
- By 2 October 2027, or immediately on any material change to HOA's partner agreements, counsellor pay arrangements, or applicable law
Published by House of Admissions, a UK-exclusive education consultancy in Nepal, free to students at every stage. This document is not legal advice. Related: Student Service Charter · Complaints & Appeals Policy · Conflict of Interest Policy · Safeguarding Policy · All legal documents.