Academic appeals process

If things go wrong at university, for example you fail a particular module or a piece of coursework, it can affect your progression in different ways; you may find that it leads you to have to repeat a piece of work, repeat the whole year or even be terminated from the course. Stephensons has a number of support mechanisms in place to ensure that your case will be dealt with as quickly as possible so that the least disruption will be caused to the rest of your course.

The appeals process is intended for the very rare cases where no resolution or remedy was possible at an earlier stage/ before the mark was finalised. You have the right to appeal against the following decisions:

• A formal assessment result
• A degree of classification
• A decision as a result of academic failure
• A decision as a result of unsatisfactory academic progress

The decision of a university or college is always disputable and most universities will have a specific procedure to follow in these cases. Those procedures must be complied with to make sure you are treated fairly at all times.

In some cases students have complained that their poor grades have been a result of bullying or harassment by others during their study time.

How do you appeal?

Usually the procedure of a university will allow for a written submission. The person who makes the decision as to whether or not your case is heard will then take everything into account and decided whether or not they will refer you to the panel, sometimes with legal representation.

A lot of the time students fail to read regulatory procedure properly when writing their submission. This could be a problem as the most common issue in these cases tends to be that the ground for appeal are missed out or do not fit the criteria to make a specific appeal. The grounds for appeal must not be based on subjective evidence, for example, merely having the opinion that the examiner was too harsh will not be strong enough evidence to support you.

Another reason to familiarise yourself with the regulations is that in one particular case a student automatically won their case because the university failed to respond to the application within 2 weeks.

Useful things to know

Having a well structured case can make a very big difference to the overall outcome. It is therefore important to remember a few simple tips to make sure you handle things properly:

1. Make sure you get advice as early as possible and as often as you need it.
2. Make sure you know which forms to fill in – there have been too many wasted cases because students have filled in the wrong form and therefore missed the deadline to appeal.
3. Don’t be afraid to use more space – If you don’t have enough room to write everything you need to, simply continue on a new sheet of paper and write “please see attached”
4. Don’t ‘waffle’ – write only what you need. The average size of an appeal is around 5 pages; make sure your points are structured and constantly link back to the regulations.
5. Use strong evidence – Remember that the point of your written submission is to convince the decision maker that you have a valid case so only include your most persuasive points. Being ill at the time of an exam with no medical records is not a good argument.
6. Finally, be realistic. Examiners have been trained to mark papers and decision makers have not. They will therefore not be able to give a completely accurate account of your case. Winning an appeal only rarely leads to an immediate pass; the most likely outcome will be having the chance to resit the year or individual paper.

How can we help?

Stephensons are able to offer objective advice on the issues and have experience which allows them to pick up on details that can be used that aren’t immediately apparent to you. We are very thorough when drafting an initial submission which means that you have a much greater chance at a solid case. We will advise on the evidence that can support your submissions and when you receive your response we will make sure you are being treated fairly.

Early advice can make a big difference. Call us on 01616 966 229.