Signs on a window at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Birley campus (Peter Byrne/PA) Sign up for our daily newsletter featuring the top stories from The Press and Journal. Thank you for signing up to The Press and Journal newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Complaints to the universities watchdog have surged to a record high during the year of the pandemic. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) received 2,604 complaints from students in 2020 – the highest number ever received in a year – and it was an increase of 10% on 2019. The figures come as the majority of university students in England have been told to stay at home and not return to campus under the latest lockdown.