Frequently Asked Questions concerning Student Appeals
Preparing to Appeal
- Where do I go for help to prepare an appeal?
- Can I ask the School to review my grade/classification before going to an appeal?
- I am worried about a clash of personalities between the staff and me in my School. What should I do?
Power of an Appeals Committee
- Can an Appeals Committee raise my grade?
- Can an Appeals Commitee admit me to the Honours course?
- I have a chronic medical condition. Can I ask the Appeals Committee to take this into account when assessing my performance?
Data Protection Act and Subject Access Request
Evidence
- How can I prove that there was unfair procedure?
- What evidence do I need to persuade the Examiners to raise the award they have made?
- What if I have no evidence with which to substantiate my appeal?
- I visited the GP a few months ago but did not get a medical certificate. Can I get one now?
- I feel the supervision I received was inadequate. What evidence do I require to be granted the right to resubmit/continue for PhD?
Procedure
- What is meant by academic judgement and why am I not permitted to question it?
- May I skip an appeal to College and go straight to an appeal to Senate?
- What are the admissible grounds upon which I may appeal to the College?
- What are the admissible grounds which I can appeal to Senate?
- Where may I take my appeal if I am not happy with the outcome at Senate?
Personal Circumstances
- I did not tell the examiners about my personal circumstances and I am disappointed in the classification of Honours awarded. What should I say in my letter of appeal?
- I have failed to achieve the grade required for admission to Honours. May I appeal on the basis of adverse personal circumstances?
- The examiners knew that I faced difficult personal circumstances and that I was unwell in the run-up to the examination. What evidence do I need to persude the Examiners to raise the award they have made?
- I suffered bereavement immediately before my examination. Do I have to provide evidence of this?
- I visited the GP a few months ago but did not get a medical certificate. Can I get one now?
- I have a chronic medical condition. Can this be taken into account when assessing my performance?
Code of Incomplete Assessment and Good Cause
- I don't understand the Code of Assessment and Good Cause. What does it mean?
- I want to appeal on the grounds that the Code of Incomplete Assessment and Good Cause was not applied in my case. What remedy can I seek?
Where do I go for help to prepare an appeal?
The Students' Representative Council provides an advisory pack for students and may assist with the preparation of the appeal. Limited resources mean that full representation cannot be provided to every student. They may be prepared to assist you to resolve your concern informally without the necessity of going to formal appeal.
You should also consult your Adviser of Studies, Supervisor, Course Co-ordinator, College Administrator or other member of staff to ensure that you fully understand the remedies which are available to you and to establish if there is a resolution without proceeding to formal appeal.
Can I ask the School to review my grade/classification of Honours before going to an appeal?
Yes. It is a good idea to discuss your situation with a member of staff. If it is suggested that your grounds are not sufficient to justify a review by the Examiners then you should think about the implications of this advice before submitting an appeal.
I am worried about a clash of personality between the staff and me in my School. What should I do?
Trust the process of anonymous marking and the fact that the External Examiner ensures that the standards are equivalent to the standards in other Universities.
If you have evidence of bias or prejudice, you should present this to the Head of School or the Assessment Officer.
Can an Appeals Committee raise my grade?
No. Neither a College Appeals Committee nor a Senate Appeals Committee can alter the decision of examiners. The Committee can refer the assessment back to the Board of Examiners to consider it again in the light of new evidence.
Can an Appeals Committee admit me to the Honours course?
No. The Appeals Committee may only refer the application for admission to Honours back to the College or School and request that it be reconsidered in the light of new evidence.
Do I have the right to see my examination scripts?
Yes, you may request access to your scripts by applying directly to the relevant School.
What is meant by academic judgement and why am I not permitted to question it?
The University operates on the assumption that the Examiners know more about the subject of study than the students and that they are experienced in determining the level of attainment. You may not therefore base an appeal on your belief that your work was worthy of a higher grade than the one awarded.
If you obtain the report of the examiners or a marked script, you may not question the points awarded unless there is evidence of a miscalculation when the score was aggregated.
May I skip an appeal to College and go straight to an appeal to Senate?
No.
What are the admissible grounds upon which I may appeal to the College?
Unfair procedure.
New evidence which could not reasonably have been produced earlier.
How can I prove that there was unfair procedure?
Study the Code of Assessment in the University Calendar.
If you can identify an action or an inaction which contravened this Code, this might constitute unfair procedure.
If a Progress Committee refused to permit you to progress to the next level of the programme or to be admitted to Honours contrary to the published progress regulations or there was inconsistency of practice in the application of the progress regulations this might constitute unfair procedure.
If you have evidence that an examiner was not qualified to assess your work, this would constitute unfair procedure.
What evidence do I need to persuade them to raise the award they have made?
Examiners may not "raise" an award however persuasive the evidence. Marks are not added nor is competence assumed, if there is no evidence before the examiners that the required standard has been reached. If the performance is borderline between 2 grades or 2 classifications and there is evidence in other forms of assessment that the candidate normally achieves the higher standard , examiners may decide to exercise discretion and make the higher award, particularly where evidence of mitigating circumstances has been provided prior to the assessment.
The examiners knew that I faced difficult personal circumstances and that I was unwell in the run-up to the examinations. What evidence do I need to persuade them to raise the award they have made?
If they already know of your circumstances it is unlikely that more detailed information will assist them. It is not possible for the examiners to judge the impact of your particular circumstances on your performance or to measure this against the circumstances of another student. All they may do is consider whether your performance was close to the grade you hoped to achieve and whether previously you had demonstrated achievement at that grade. If however, you wish the paper or the assignment to be removed from the calculation of your overall performance you must provide very detailed evidence in the form of a medical report. To remove a paper without good reason may provide one candidate with unfair advantage.
I did not tell the examiners about my personal circumstances and I am disappointed in the classification of Honours awarded. What should I say in my letter of appeal?
You must explain why you did not provide this information prior to the examinations.
Where there are medical circumstances you must provide a medical report and specify which paper or papers were affected.
I have failed to achieve the grades required for admission to Honours. May I appeal on the basis of adverse personal circumstances?
Yes. Your appeal however, can only be considered if you were close to achieving the criteria for admission. The School will have to consider your performance in comparison to other students who have been denied entry to Honours and who may also have suffered difficulties.
I don't understand the rules on Incomplete Assessment and Good Cause. What do they mean?
The rules are principally written to enable Examiners to classify an Honours degree where the candidate has been unable to complete all components of assessment. Therefore, where your examination is made up of 25% from written assignments and 75% from 5 written examinations and you were unable to sit one of these examinations or you became unwell during the examination, the examiners are permitted to calculate the classification on the remaining 85%. If however, you miss two papers, this would remove 30% of the assessment and the examiners may only award an unclassified Honours degree.
I want to appeal on the grounds that the rules on Incomplete Assessment and Good Cause were not applied in my case. What remedy can I seek?
If your medical evidence is specific to a paper or papers you may request that these are withdrawn from the calculation of the classification of your Honours degree. The rules do not apply if your performance in all papers was affected. The examiners may not raise your grade or classification on the basis of what they think you might have achieved if you had not been unwell. If your performance was borderline and your previous academic history suggested that you were expected to achieve a higher classification the examiers may choose to exercise discretion but they are not required to do so.
I suffered bereavement immediately before my examination. Do I have to provide evidence of this?
You should provide a copy of the death certificate or a letter from the hospital or the GP in attendance.
What if I have no evidence with which to substantiate my appeal?
Lack of sound, impartial evidence is bound to weaken an appeal. Consider carefully whether your lack of evidence is because your grounds are not sufficiently substantial.
I visited the GP a few months ago but did not get a medical certificate. Can I get one now?
There will be a record of your visit in the Practice. Think first whether a certificate is going to be relevant to your appeal.
I have a chronic medical condition. Can this be taken into account when assessing my performance?
The Disability Service will advise you on what assistance can be provided to enable you to achieve the standard of which you are capable. This may be additional time for a written examination or a scribe. You will however, be judged on your performance. Examiners may not infer what you might have achieved if you did not have the chronic condition.
If there was an "acute episode" (flare-up) of the chronic condition then you may request the paper or other elements of assessment to be removed from the calculation of the award. See Code of Assessment for the rules on Incomplete Assessment and Good Cause.
I feel that the supervision I received was inadequate and that this is why my thesis has not been accepted. What evidence do I require to be granted the right to resubmit.
Even if there is evidence that your supervision was not of an appropriate standard, the decision of the examiners cannot normally be overturned. You may however raise a complaint about the quality of the supervision through the complaints procedure.
If you disagreed with your supervisor concerning the direction the research should take and you hold evidence that you were persuaded against your judgement to pursue the path taken you may seek, as a remedy, a review by the examiners of their decision. If you were able to demonstrate at the viva scholarly instinct and analytical ability and that you were fully aware of the shortcomings of the thesis, this will greatly strengthen your position. Your annual reports should indicate that progress up to the point of submission was regarded as satisfactory.
What are the admissible grounds upon which I can appeal to Senate?
New evidence which it was impossible for you to have produced at College level. Medical evidence which is retrospective is unlikely to be regarded as substantial unless the nature of the condition prevented it from being presented earlier.
Defective procedure at College level in the way in which the appeal was managed. This would normally mean some irregularity with regard to the membership of the College Appeals Committee, a failure to provide the papers within a reasonable time- frame or the failure of some person to attend whose evidence was essential to the consideration of the appeal.
A decision which was manifestly unreasonable. If you wish to present this as your ground you must explain the manner in which it was unreasonable in terms of what the Committee failed to take into account or what the Committee took into account erroneously. It is not sufficient to reiterate the grounds presented to College.
Where may I take my appeal if I am not happy with the outcome at Senate?
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (www.spso.org.uk) provides an external review of the procedural aspects of appeals and complaints. When the appeal to Senate is concluded you will receive a 'Completion of Procedures' letter which will provide the information you require on this external process.
