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► Academic Appeals
What is an appeal?
The purpose of an academic appeal is to seek to review the decision of a Programme Panel and either to confirm the decision, or to agree some other course of action. Please remember that it is not the purpose of an academic appeal to question academic judgement and students will not be permitted to argue the academic merits of his or her work. For example, an Appeal cannot change a C grade to a B. Rather it would recommend (if the appeal is upheld) to give the student another chance to sit the exam.
Academic appeals cannot be submitted by a Third Party, i.e. a Parent or a Representative and must be made by the Student themselves. The only exception to this is with students with enabling support requirements which would prevent them from submitting the appeal independently.
If you have mitigating circumstances, then you should follow the Mitigation process. This process should be followed if your assessment has been adversely affected by medical or other factors outside of your control. Please give your mitigation forms into the Student Administration department as soon as possible after your assessment.
Before submitting an appeal, you are advised to seek advice from the Students' Association Officers. We have dealt with many appeals before and will be able to guide you through the process.
Grounds for Appeal:
A student may appeal on the following grounds:
- There is evidence that there has been a computational or administrative error, or that the examination or assessment was not conducted in accordance with the University’s regulations, or that some other procedural irregularity relevant to the assessment has occurred.
- The presentation of new or additional mitigating circumstance which were not originally available to the Mitigation Panel. However, there must be an exceptional reason why this information was not originally supplied to the mitigation panel.
A student cannot appeal on the following grounds:
- If the student is questioning the academic or professional judgment of the examiners
- The Student is disappointed with a result where marks have been accurately recorded, assessment regulations correctly followed and where no evidence of material irregularity exists
- The Students’ Mitigating circumstances were made known to the Mitigation Panel, were fully considered and the outcome passed to the Programme Panel for implementation.
- The Student has not provided the appropriate supporting evidence.
Submitting an appeal:
You must submit your academic appeal in writing on the relevant form within 10 working days from the publication date which information you of the decision which you are appealing. These forms are available online or at any of the Student Administration offices on any campus.
The form must be submitted to the Assistant Registrar of the University, including any supporting documentation. Next year you will be able to submit your forms online. If you are posting your appeal, you are advised to get a Certificate of Posting from the Post office (it’s cheaper than recorded delivery)
If you fail to submit your appeal within the 10 working days, the appeal can still be considered at the initial stages, however you will have to supply an exceptional reason as to why the appeal was delayed. Failure to supply a satisfactory reason will result in your appeal being rejected by the Assistant Registrar in the initial stages.
What happens after my appeal has been submitted?
There are two potential outcomes once you have submitted your form. The appeal can be rejected at the initial stage (which is the filtering process) or your appeal will be regarded as a Prima facie case and transferred to the appeals sub-group. Prima Facie literally means that your case, at first sight, merits further consideration.
If your appeal is rejected by the Assistant Registrar in the initial stage, you will be informed in writing within 5 working days or receipt of your appeal. You will be given the reasons why your appeal failed and will only be able to appeal on procedural grounds. If this happens, before proceeding you are advised to contact the Students’ Association for further advice.
If your appeal is accepted at the initial stage, your appeal will be sent to the Appeals Sub-group of the Learning & Teaching Board of the University. This sounds pretty scary but the Appeals Sub-Group is a collection of different members of the Learning and Teaching Board – that’s basically members of Teaching staff and usually the committee will have the either the Student President or another representative from the Students’ Association on it. Those that sit on the committee have been trained in the appeals process and know what they are doing.
The Appeals Sub Group
The appeals sub group has procedures for considering a case. All members of the group will be sent all documentation relevant to the case. That can include, supporting documentation and comments from the School and sometimes the Students’ Association will submit supporting letters with cases. You will also receive a copy of the documentation that the members of the sub-group receive.
It is not mandatory for you to attend the sub-group meeting, however the Students’ Association will always advise strongly that those submitting the appeal attend to give a verbal statement of what has happened. If you do decide to attend you can be accompanied by a member of University staff, a fellow student or one of the Student Officers from the Students’ Association. Be aware also that the school can also send a representative to make a statement on their behalf.
The appeals sub group usually meets at several points during the academic year (just after exam times). If you are not able to attend the first available meeting, you may ask for your cause to be deferred to the next scheduled date. However if you cannot attend the following meeting of the group, your appeal will be heard in your absence and a decision made.
If you choose to not to attend, you are given the option of writing a written statement for the group to consider.
What happens next?
The group will deliberate the appeal in private and will inform you of the outcome within five working days.
If your appeal is upheld, the relevant program panel will be contacted and the appeals sub-group will request that they re-consider their decision based on what the group has recommended.
If your appeal is not upheld, the relevant program panel will be informed that your appeal has been rejected and their original decision stands.
In either case, after the decision has been made you will be sent a form asking if you accept or reject the outcome of the appeal sub-group. This form must be returned to the University within five working days. If the form is not submitted within five working days the University will assume that the outcome is acceptable to you and the file will be closed.
What if I do not accept the outcome?
If you do not accept the outcome, you have the right to request a review of the handling of your case on procedural grounds only. This request must be made in writing to the Chair of Senate, within 10 working days of the date your outcome letter from the appeals sub group was sent to you.
The Chair of senate will then appoint and academic member of senate to investigate the case and report back to the Chair within four weeks. From this report the chair of senate will make their decision on your case and the Chair’s decision is final.
The only way to take the case further after that is to refer the case to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman. Further information can be fund at www.spso.org.uk.
Student Status during appeals
Depending on when you submit your appeal, your student status may be affected. For example if you submit an appeal midway through your level or year, you may continue provisionally in your course until the appeals process has been completed. This is to make sure that you are not academically disadvantaged if your appeal is up-held. If you are to attend any placements during this time, your attendance at said placements will be at the discretion of your school.
If you submit an appeal at the end of your level/year you will be permitted to enrol on to the next level. If your appeal is subsequently upheld, your enrolment will be confirmed. If the appeal is not upheld your enrolment would be terminated.
The only exception to this is progression between levels 9 and 10 – 3rd year to honours. This is because restrictions on carrying subjects make it impossible to allow temporary registration.
If you are deemed eligible for an award and you submit and appeal you will be permitted to graduate and to receive the award agreed by the appropriate Programme Panel. If your appeal is successful and results in your achieving an honours degree, you will be required to return any degree parchment before the new award is sent to you.
If you receive an award from the University, either in person or in absentia, you may not appeal against the award.
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