Decisions you can appeal against

5.

You can appeal against:

5.1

a final degree classification;

5.2

a decision not to award you a degree or to class you as 'Final Fail';

5.3

a mark or grade of Absent, Incomplete or Fail.

Grounds for an appeal

6.

You can make an appeal on either or both of the following grounds (reasons):

6.1

that the examination board did not follow the correct procedure such that there is reasonable doubt that the decision would have been the same if board had followed the correct procedure;

6.2

that there is new information about exceptional (mitigating) circumstances that affected the examination outcome. If you are appealing against a final degree classification for this reason you must also be able to meet the following conditions:

(a)

that your mark profile is no more than three marks below the next higher classification in a single course; and/or

(b)

that your mark profile is no more than five marks away from the next higher classification on aggregate.

7.

If appealing under paragraph 6.2, you must provide:

7.1

evidence of why you did not report those circumstances at the time, as set out in the procedure for submitting exceptional (mitigating) circumstances; and

7.2

evidence of the exceptional circumstances.

8.

You must provide all the necessary evidence at the time you make the appeal.  You cannot provide material later without our agreement.

9.

All evidence must be in English, and you are responsible for getting any official translations if necessary.

10.

There are no other reasons for making an appeal.  Specifically, you cannot appeal because you want to question the academic judgement¹ of an examination board or individual examiners.

Accepting or rejecting an appeal

11.

When the Assessment Regulations Team receives your appeal, they will email you to confirm this.

12.

The Assessment Regulations Team will consider your appeal and the evidence you provide. They will also consider any relevant information from your academic record. The team will decide, normally within 10 working days of receiving your appeal, either that:

12.1

you do not have a valid reason for appeal and it should be dismissed (see paragraphs 13 and 14 below); or

12.2

you do have a valid reason for appeal and it should be considered (see paragraphs 15 to 18 below).

Procedure when there is no valid reason for an appeal

13.

If the Assessment Regulations Team find that you do not have a valid reason, the Academic Registrar (or a member of staff with authority to act for him/her) will be asked whether or not the appeal should be dismissed. The Academic Registrar will then, normally within 10 working days of receiving the recommendation from the Assessment Regulations Team, either:

13.1

accept the recommendation and dismiss the appeal; or

13.2

reject the recommendation and ask the Assessment Regulations Team to send your appeal to the relevant School Board Chair² (see paragraphs 15 to 18 below).

14.

If the Academic Registrar decides to dismiss your appeal, that decision is final. He/she will send you a Completion of Procedures letter to explain the decision and confirm that you cannot appeal further through our internal processes. If you are still dissatisfied, you can take your case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.

Procedure when there is a valid reason for appeal

15.

If your appeal is accepted, the Assessment Regulations Team will, normally within 5 working days, send it and all supporting documents to the relevant School Board Chair. The Chair will normally consider the appeal within 15 working days.

16.

The School Board Chair will give the Chair of the relevant sub-board of Examiners³ an opportunity to give his/her opinion on the appeal.  It will be open to the Sub-Board Chair to consult other members of the sub-board.  The Sub-Board Chair will normally give his/her opinion within 5 working days.

17.

When the School Board Chair has considered all the information presented, he/she will either:

17.1

uphold the examination board's original decision; or

17.2

make a new decision. This decision could be to:

(i)

award you a degree; or

(ii)

award you a higher degree classification; or

(iii)

allow you to take another attempt at a course or courses, or parts of a course or courses that you have previously failed.

If the Chair makes a new decision under (i) or (ii), the original marks for individual courses and parts of courses will not be changed.

18.

The Chair's decision will be final. The Academic Registrar will send you a Completion of Procedures letter to explain the decision and to confirm that you cannot appeal further through our internal processes. If you are still dissatisfied, you can take your case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.

Notes

1.

Academic judgement is the professional and scholarly knowledge and expertise which members of examination boards and individual examiners draw upon in reaching an academic decision about your work (Higher Education Act, 2004).

2.

A School Board Chair will not consider an appeal submitted by a student from his/her own Department. In such cases, the relevant Deputy School Board Chair will be asked to consider it.

3.

The Chair of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Examination Board will be given this opportunity if the appeal has been made by an LLB student.