Academic appeals

An ‘Academic Appeal’ is defined as a request for a review of an Assessment Board decision or Mitigating Circumstances Board decision. Assessment Boards make decisions on student progress, assessment, and awards.

You should only submit an appeal if you believe that you have a valid case, based on evidence, that there has been a material irregularity in the assessment process or in the Mitigating Circumstances (MC) process. A material irregularity means the University has not acted in accordance with its own regulations or procedures, or where an error has been made in the processing of a decision.

If you think a mark is missing or has been incorrectly recorded on your student record, please contact the Student Centre in the first instance. You may not appeal against the academic judgment of your assessors and therefore may not challenge marks or the final classification awarded by the Assessment Board. If you are unsure as to why you obtained your assessment mark and have read the feedback provided, we advise you to first contact your Module Leader for further feedback on your result before raising an academic appeal.

If you wish to raise matters relating to course provision or delivery, please follow our complaints guidelines.

More information on appeals can be found in Section 16 of our academic regulations. You may also find it helpful to review the following case studies:

Case Studies for Academic Appeals (PDF)

Ground a) “that there has been a material irregularity in the assessment process;”

A “material irregularity” is an evidenced error that is both relevant and significant to the decision by the Assessment Board in respect of your award or progression.

You must therefore be able to present a case to show that an error has been made, and the effect it has had on the Assessment Board’s decision.

What are the possible outcomes from a Justified (successful) appeal?

The Assessment Board will decide what remedy is offered to you, but generally if there has been an error in the recording or calculation of your marks or grades, this will normally be remedied through the correction of the error, and, if necessary, the progression or classification of award decision will be reconsidered.

If your submitted work has been mislaid and not marked, but there is evidence that you have submitted before the appropriate deadline, you may be given another opportunity to submit coursework.

Depending on the circumstances more than one remedy may be made. Remedies are there to put things right, that is to return the student to the position they were in before the circumstances of the academic appeal occurred.

Remedies for academic appeals are made in accordance with the provisions of the academic regulations eg financial compensation would not be offered via an academic appeal.

It is not possible to use the appeal process to raise a mark for impacted performance in assessments.  This is because we cannot quantify the number of marks a student would have received if the circumstances had not occurred. Please see the university’s ‘fit to sit’ policy for further details. If a student believes they experienced serious circumstances meaning they were not fit to sit an assessment, then they must refer to the Mitigating Circumstances procedures on how to submit an ‘unfit to sit’ claim.

Ground b) “that there has been a material irregularity in the conduct of the Mitigating Circumstances process”

The University gives students opportunities to submit mitigating circumstances as soon as they are known and before the Assessment Board makes a decision. This is to ensure that support is available where possible and that there is fairness to all students as well as to you as an individual. The overall aim is to assess all students on equal terms.

The University takes the view that if a student does not declare mitigating circumstances as soon as they become aware of them, they cannot be taken into account later on unless there are compelling reasons for them not to have been declared at the proper time.

Mitigating Circumstances claims that have not been considered by the Mitigating Circumstances Board will not be considered as grounds for an academic appeal. Any student wishing to have mitigating circumstances considered in respect of an assessment following the decision of an Assessment Board should follow the procedures as detailed in the Mitigating Circumstances Regulations (Section 11 of the Academic Regulations).

If you have submitted a mitigating circumstance claim and your claim has been rejected twice by the Mitigating Circumstances Board, an academic appeal can be submitted. When submitting an academic appeal against the conduct of the Mitigating Circumstances process, you must present a case to show that an error has been made in the consideration of your claim.

What are the possible outcomes from a Justified (successful) appeal based on Mitigating Circumstances?

Where an academic appeal is accepted for mitigating circumstances, the Assessment Board may consider one of the following:

• a retrospective deferral of the assessment affected, providing a further attempt
• to retrospectively accept an allow late claim and provide the student with their original mark
• to allow the student to defer the module to the next academic year without penalty

Remedies for academic appeals are made in accordance with the provisions of the academic regulations e.g. financial compensation would not be offered via an academic appeal.

If your results are still provisional then you will need to wait for the final publication of results to submit an academic appeal.

As it is not possible to question the academic judgement of your assessor, your appeal you will need to identify what has happened and present a case as to why you believe a material irregularity has occurred in the assessment process.

If you are dissatisfied with your feedback in the first instance you are advised to contact your Module Leader for further feedback on your results.

Before you decide whether or not to appeal, it's a good idea to talk to your personal tutor or relevant lecturer. It may be that you have a question which could be answered that way, rather than by making an appeal. You may also find it helpful to take advice from the Students’ Union Advice Service which can provide you with friendly, independent advice and support.

If you decide to appeal, you'll need to complete and submit the Stage 1 Academic Appeals via e:Vision to the Academic Standards team within 15 working days of the publication of the decision which is being appealed.

You can find the area to submit an academic appeal by logging into your SRS web profile on e:Vision and going into the My Self-Service menu. Any documentary evidence to support your appeal request must be included with the form at the time of submission via e:Vision.

Instructions for how to use the appeal task can be found in the Academic Appeals User Guide for Students:

Academic Appeals User Guide for Students (PDF)

Where evidence is in a foreign language it is your responsibility to have this independently translated into English before submission.

Please be aware that, while an electronic copy of a piece of evidence is normally sufficient, the University may ask to see the original evidence if there are any queries. The falsification of evidence will be treated as a very serious matter and, where this is suspected, the student may be referred to the Student Code of Conduct and Student Disciplinary Regulations.

A summary of the appeal process can be viewed on the Academic Appeal Flowchart:

Academic Appeals Process Chart (PDF)

Stage 1 of the appeal procedure is an initial consideration of the appeal request based solely on the form and evidence submitted by the deadline. No-one can appeal on your behalf, only you may prepare and submit your appeal. (An exception may be made in cases where a student is suffering from a mental health condition as defined within the University's relevant Codes).

A member of staff may provide a statement in support of your appeal, but this must be submitted with the appeal if it is to be considered with the other documentation in support of the case.

All appeals must be submitted online via e:Vision.

Your appeal request will be acknowledged normally within 5 working days of its receipt, which will be confirmed via e:Vision in your academic appeal case.

All academic appeals must be received within 15 working days of the publication of the decision which is being appealed via your student record on e:Vision.

You can only appeal against the final decision of the Assessment Board regarding your results, award or progression. Any results you receive prior to the Final Assessment Board are provisional only and you cannot appeal against them. You may receive provisional results during the year, however, you will need to wait until formal notification from the Assessment Board before considering an appeal.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your appeal is received on time. Late appeals will not be considered unless you can demonstrate good reason and provide evidence as to why the appeal has been submitted late.

Your appeal is kept as confidential as possible and within the University. While the investigation is being carried out, the following people may be informed:

• The Academic Standards Team within the Academic Registrar’s Department
• Any staff member of the University who may be able to contribute to the investigation of your case
• The Chair of Assessment Board
• The Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Board

The Academic Standards Team will review your appeal request under Stage 1 of the procedure and determine whether or not there is evidence of permissible grounds. You will be notified of their decision within 20 working days of receipt of the appeal via e:Vision in the Academic Appeals Area.

Where it is determined that the appeal request shall progress from Stage 1: Initial Consideration to Stage 2: Consideration by the Assessment Board, the Chair of the Assessment Board or Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Board will report their findings to the Academic Standards Team, normally within 20 working days of receipt of the appeal. The Chair shall decide one of the following:

• Uphold the appeal on the basis that a material irregularity has occurred and modify the Board’s original decision as appropriate
• Reject the appeal on the basis that a material irregularity has not occurred and the Board’s original decision will stand

Written confirmation of this Stage 2 decision along with full reasons for that decision will be provided to you within 50 University working days of receipt of the appeal via e:Vision in the Academic Appeals Area.

When you submit an academic appeal, you are expected to provide all of the evidence that you wish to be considered via the appeals task on e:Vision. If you add further evidence after submitting your appeal, then this will cause a delay in receiving the outcome.

The Academic Standards Team cannot provide advice on the type of evidence you should submit. If you need advice regarding evidence to support an academic appeal, then please contact the Student Union Advice Team.

The Academic Standards Manager will write to notify you of whether your appeal request has permissible grounds within 20 working days of receipt of your appeal. This will be sent to you via e:Vision.

Your Academic Appeal may be withdrawn if you submit an appeal before your results have been published or if you have not followed the correct procedure. 

In these cases, please read the correspondence from Academic Standards carefully as this will explain the correct process that you need to follow and who you should contact.

The Assessment Board decision about your award or progression stands unless it is changed as a result of an appeal. This means that you are expected to abide by the original decision regarding your results, award or progression unless they are overturned on appeal.

You should continue as if you had not submitted an appeal: ie the Assessment Board's original decision remains in force until the Board determines that an academic appeal is justified, and the original decision is to be amended.

You should therefore meet any requirements for a referral, resubmission of work or resitting an examination, until the appeal is completed. This will not influence the outcome of the appeal.

You are responsible for the consequences of not complying with the original decision of the Assessment Board if the outcome to your appeal is not in your favour.

The University has robust procedures in place to make sure that work is marked consistently fairly. These procedures can be read on Section 12 Marking, Moderation and External Scrutiny. 

If an appeal is upheld, then the remedy will look to put things right and to return the student to the position they were in before the circumstances of the academic appeal occurred. A range of potential remedies could be applied but this does not guarantee a re-marking of submitted work. 
 

No – any change in the Assessment Board's decision will not disadvantage you.

If your appeal is upheld and your work is re-marked as a result of an appeal decision, there is no guarantee that a higher mark would be awarded.

Where it is determined that your appeal request does not provide evidence of permissible grounds you may request the Deputy Registrar (Quality and Standards) to review this decision.

This request must be made within 5 working days of the notification letter by submitting a completed Request for Review of Stage 1 Academic Appeal Form which can be accessed via e:Vision.

If the Deputy Registrar (Quality and Standards) reviews your original Stage 1 or Stage 2 appeal and determines that the grounds for your appeal have not been met, then you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter from the University.

If you are dissatisfied with the University’s final decision and have been issued with a Completion of Procedures letter you may wish to contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) to raise a complaint.

Should you decide to make a complaint to the OIA, your OIA Complaint Form must be received by the OIA within twelve months of the date of the Completion of Procedures letter from the University.

Guidance on submitting a complaint to the OIA can be found on the OIA’s website - Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education - OIAHE