How to Appeal

A guide to making a case and to the University procedures involved

Introduction
What you need to do?
Where to get information

Introduction

Sometimes you may want to appeal against the decision of the University Examination Board. However the only grounds for requesting such a review are:

That there has been a material error or irregularity e.g. You receive your results for a module giving you a grade point 7, where your feedback for all your modules collectively, indicated a grade point 13

The examination or assessment was not conducted in accordance with the current regulations e.g. Your examination was too short by 30 minutes.

That your performance was adversely affected by extenuating circumstances. However, the University will have expected you to use the Extenuating Circumstances procedure; and if in their opinion you could have reasonably disclosed these, within the academic year in question, they may reject your appeal on those grounds. It is therefore vital, that you provide a plausible explanation of why you were unable to disclose these issues at the time.

NOTE: A challenge to the academic judgement of a properly convened and constituted Exam Board is NOT grounds for appeal.

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What do you need to do?

You must notify the Academic Registrar of your intention to appeal within 5 working days of the publication of your results. Full submissions must then be sent within 15 working days of the publication of the results.

Draw up a timeline of events. Specify the events that occurred and relate them to your grounds for appeal.

Obtain evidence to support your case

Appeals are unlikely to succeed without adequate supporting evidence, in the case of health issues, this must be a full medical report or other documentary evidence.

Make sure that it covers the date/s of your assessment/s, reflects all your circumstances, is clear to someone who does not know you and relates to your grounds for appeal (if it does not, is there any more evidence you could obtain?). Evidence is important because the University needs verification in order to be able to consider your case.

Don't be afraid to go back to a source of evidence, (e. g. your GP) if you feel it could be made more accurate or detailed.

Try to get as much evidence as possible from independent sources. If your friends or family are the only source of evidence, or you are not sure what evidence to include, seek advice from the Student Advice Centre.

Decide what you would like the Exam Board to do if they uphold your appeal. This will be taken into account, but they do not have to approve the outcome you desire.

Include your name, year, award title, the name of your tutor and details of the exam board decision you object to or list the modules you wish to appeal and state the grade point given.

State the grounds on which you are appealing. (See ‘procedures for review of an exam board decision’ under ‘Academic Award Regulations’ in the A-Z Index on the University website.)

Using the chronology and your evidence, state : What happened and when, how you can prove it happened, why this is grounds for appeal, how it adversely affected you, and what you want the university to do.

After you have appealed: The Academic Registrar will consider your appeal. If there appears to be no case for your appeal to be reviewed, the Academic Registrar will write to you and advise you of the grounds for refusing the appeal and invite you to attend an informal meeting to discuss your case. You will be given 5 working days notice of the date of this meeting and may be accompanied by a Students’ Union representative or fellow student.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the meeting, please contact the Student Advice Centre immediately for further assistance as this leaflet only explains the first stage of the appeals procedure. There are further options available, but time constraints apply.

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