University Regulations

Introduction

If you want to ask for a review of an academic decision, you should follow the Academic Appeals guidance and policy on this page. An academic decision may relate to your progression, assessment, or award.

The University aims to deal with appeals fairly and consistently. You have the right to raise an academic appeal without fear of disadvantage, and all appeals will be handled confidentially.

 What an Academic Appeal cannot be used for:

• An appeal cannot be used to challenge academic judgement. This means you cannot appeal simply because you believe your work deserved a higher mark.
• Personal or medical circumstances that affected your assessments should normally be raised through the Extenuating Circumstances process.

You must first submit an appeal to the College Appeals Committee before appealing to the Senate Appeals Committee.

Important for graduating students: If you are considering appealing against your final award, you should be aware that graduating means you have accepted the award. If you wish to appeal, you must therefore withdraw from graduation.

Conduct Appeals

An appeal against a conduct decision is not the same as an academic appeal, and the procedure, grounds, and timeframes are different.

A conduct appeal means that you are disagreeing with the decision made about your conduct as a student by your School, the Senate Assessors for Student Conduct, the Head of Student Conduct, or the Conduct Committee. Please find more information about conduct appeals here. 

How to appeal to the College Appeals Committee

The first stage of the appeals process is to submit an appeal to your College Appeals Committee. You can only appeal after a final decision has been published by the relevant Exam Board or Progress Committee. You cannot appeal against provisional or draft results.

Grounds for Appeal – College Appeals Committee
If you believe something has gone wrong in the decision‑making process, you have the right to appeal. You can appeal on any of the following grounds:

• Unfair or defective procedure by the University
• A failure to determine the appropriate academic outcome from an Extenuating Circumstances claim

Examples of unfair or defective procedure may include a failure to follow published regulations, inconsistency in the application of regulations, or a failure to consider relevant information when making a decision.

 The Process

1. You must first submit an intention to appeal through the UofG Helpdesk within 10 working days of the decision being published. Once you have done this, you will have a further 20 working days to submit your full grounds for appeal, and any supporting evidence. Alternatively, you have the option to submit your full appeal and supporting evidence within 10 working days of a decision being published.

2.  The Convener of the College Appeals Committee will decide how your appeal will be considered. This will be either a full hearing, which you may attend, a preliminary disposal, which is considered by the Convener of the College Appeals Committee and two other Committee members in private, or via preliminary review if the Convener does not believe that your appeal meets any of the grounds for appeal.

3. The College Appeals Committee will consider your appeal and a response from the School or Subject Area. The Committee may dismiss your appeal, uphold your appeal, or refer the case back to the Board of Examiners or Progress Committee for further consideration.

Supporting Evidence

You should provide evidence that supports the grounds for your appeal. This may include email correspondence, documentation, or other information that helps demonstrate a procedural error or supports your case. Any evidence should be relevant and submitted within the published deadlines. Where possible, evidence should be provided at the time you submit your appeal.

College Appeals Committee Outcome

Appeals Committees cannot directly change marks, grades, awards, admission to Honours, or progression decisions. If an appeal is upheld, the Committee may refer the case back to the Board of Examiners, Progress Committee, College, or School for reconsideration.

How to appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your College appeal, you may be able to appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee. The Senate Appeals Committee can only consider appeals that have first been considered by the College Appeals Committee.

Grounds for Appeal – University Senate
You may only appeal to the University Senate on the following grounds:

• New evidence has become available which you could not reasonably have provided earlier, and/or
• There had been defective procedure by the College in its handling of your appeal, and/or

• The College’s decision was clearly unreasonable

Please note: An appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee is not an opportunity to resubmit the same appeal or repeat arguments already considered by the College Appeals Committee. You must explain how your appeal meets one or more of the grounds above.

The Process:

To appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee:

1. Submit an intention to appeal through the UofG Helpdesk within 10 working days of the College Appeals Committee’s decision to let us know that you plan to appeal. Once you have done this, you will have a further 20 working days to submit your full grounds for appeal, and any supporting evidence. Alternatively, you have the option to submit your full appeal and supporting evidence within 10 working days of a decision being published.
2. The Senior or Deputy Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals will decide whether your appeal is considered through a full hearing (which you may attend), a preliminary disposal (considered in private), or via preliminary review if they believe that your appeal does not meet any of the grounds for appeal or if your appeal has been dismissed via preliminary review by the College Appeals Committee.
3. The Senate Appeals Committee will review your appeal and a response from the College. The Committee may dismiss the appeal, uphold the appeal, or refer the case back to the College Appeals Committee or the Board of Examiners or Progress Committee.

Supporting Evidence:

You should provide any evidence that supports the grounds of your Senate appeal.

For example:

• evidence that was not reasonably available during the College appeal process;
• evidence that procedures were not followed during the College appeal;
• information demonstrating why the College's decision was clearly unreasonable.

Any evidence should be relevant and submitted within the published deadlines.

Senate Appeals Committee Outcome:

The Senate Appeals Committee may:

• dismiss the appeal;
• uphold the appeal; or
• refer the case back to the College Appeals Committee, Board of Examiners, or Progress Committee for further consideration.

Please note: As with the College Appeals Committee, the Senate Appeals Committee cannot directly change marks, grades, awards, admission to Honours, or progression decisions.

Where to get advice

• Before submitting an appeal, you are encouraged to speak to your Advisor of Studies, Supervisor, Course Leader, or School or College Administrator. They may be able to help resolve the issue without the need for a formal appeal.
• You are also strongly encouraged to contact the SRC Advice Centre, which can provide independent and confidential advice on the appeals process and the possible grounds for appeal. They may also be able to represent or support you in the event of a hearing.
• If you have any questions about you appeal submission or problems submitting, you can email your College appeals team or the Senate Appeals Team: senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk.
• Once the appeals process has completed, you have the right to complain to the office of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).if you have any concerns about how you appeal has been handled by the University. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is an independent body that considers complaints about the University, including how academic appeals have been handled.

FAQs

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Before you Submit an Appeal

Can I appeal about personal or medical circumstances that affected my assessments?

No. You should submit an Extenuating Circumstances (EC) claim within five working days of any affected assessments. If you wish to reveal information about adverse circumstances after your grades have been released, you should submit an Extenuating Circumstances after Grade Release (EAGR) claim.

I am worried that a disagreement with staff may have affected my results. What should I do?

The University uses processes such as anonymous marking, moderation, and external examining to ensure that assessment decisions are fair and consistent. If you submit an appeal, it will be considered by Appeals Committee members who have had no prior involvement in teaching or assessing you.

I feel the supervision I received was inadequate and 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 University’s Complaints Handling Procedure.

I am due to graduate. Can I still appeal?

If you are due to graduate you should contact Registry to withdraw from graduation until the appeal process is complete. Unfortunately - due to the short time between publication of results and graduation - this usually means that if you appeal against your final grades you will not be able to graduate with your peers.

Do I have the right to see my exam scripts?

Yes. You may request access to your exam scripts directly from the relevant School.

What is academic judgement and why can't I appeal against it?

The University operates on the basis that the Examiners are experts in their field and that they are experienced in determining the level of attainment. Exam Boards follow University guidelines on the moderation of marking/double marking, and External Examiners ensure that standards are comparable with standards at other Universities. Therefore, you may not 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 or if there is evidence that marking was not conducted in accordance with the published marking criteria.

May I skip an appeal to College and go straight to an appeal to Senate?

No. The first stage in the Appeals procedure is consideration by the College Appeals Committee.

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Making an Appeal

When should I appeal?

You can only appeal against a published decision of an Exam Board and not a provisional decision.  You must submit your intention to appeal within 10 working days of the publication of the relevant decision via the UofG Helpdesk. You then have a further 20 working days to submit your full appeal and any supporting documentation via the UofG Helpdesk.

As soon as you decide to appeal you should think about what supporting information you may need and make the necessary arrangements.

I need more than 20 working days to prepare my appeal. What should I do?

If you are unable to submit your full appeal within 20 working days, you must contact your College Appeals Team and seek permission for an extension of the deadline, explaining why you are unable to submit your appeal within 20 working days.

How can I demonstrate that there was unfair or defective procedure?

Please refer to the Assessment Regulations in the University Regulations.

If you can identify an action or an inaction which contravened this regulation, this might constitute unfair or defective procedure.

If a Progress Committee or an Academic Review Panel refused to permit you to progress to the next level of the programme or to be admitted to Honours contrary to the published regulations, or there was inconsistency of practice in the application of the regulations, this might constitute unfair or defective procedure.

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After Submitting an Appeal

How long does a College appeal take?

Once the University receives your full appeal, we aim to have appeals considered within 30 working days of an appeal submission but there can sometimes be delays due to high appeal volumes or the availability of staff to consider an appeal. The important thing is that the appeal receives full and careful consideration.

How long does an appeal to Senate take?

The timescale for considering an appeal to Senate is similar to that for an appeal to the College. Once your full appeal has been received by Senate, we aim to have appeals considered within 30 working days of receipt of an appeal submission but there can sometimes be delays due to high appeal volumes or the availability of staff to consider an appeal.

What can I do if I am not happy with the outcome at Senate?

If you are dissatisfied with the University's handling of your appeal, you may wish to seek external review. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman provides an external review of the procedural aspects of appeals. When the appeal to Senate is concluded your outcome letter will provide the information you require on this external process.

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