Academic Appeals

If a student has any concerns about their assessment process or outcome, it is advisable first to discuss them informally with their subject or college tutor, Senior Tutor, course director, director of studies, supervisor or college or departmental administrator as appropriate. They will be able to explain the assessment process that was undertaken and may be able to settle their concerns. The student must not raise queries directly with the examiners.

If they still have concerns, they can make a formal appeal to the Proctors. The Proctors will consider appeals under the University Academic Appeals Procedure

An academic appeal is an appeal against the decision of an academic body (e.g. boards of examiners, transfer and confirmation decisions etc.) in terms of whether the procedures were followed properly, errors were made or the process was biased in some way. There is no right of appeal over matters of academic judgement – i.e. decisions that can only be made by applying an academic expert opinion. The student can’t, therefore, appeal because they disagree with the examiners’ assessment of how well they met the assessment criteria. Any concerns about teaching and supervision should be pursued under the University Student Complaints Procedure; If a student's complaint relates to any other matter, they need to make their complaint under one of the other University or college complaints procedures.

To make an academic appeal the student need to familiarise themselves with the University Academic Appeals Procedure and complete an Academic Appeal Form available from the Proctors’ Office website. Note that:

• A group of students making a joint appeal will need to nominate a spokesperson to make the appeal on its behalf
• If the student is a member of a college and are on a taught course, they should submit their Academic Appeal Form through their Senior Tutor
• Research students should submit their form directly
• Time limits do apply: the student should submit their form within three months of when they were notified of the relevant decision

The Proctors will open a formal investigation of the academic appeal and conduct an investigation. This will usually mean sharing the details of the student's appeal with the person or body that made the decision so that they can respond. The Proctors will normally try and complete their investigation within 30 days of receiving the form. The student will receive a written outcome explaining what the Proctor has done to investigate the student's appeal, his/her decision and the reasons for it, and any directions or recommendations.

If the student is dissatisfied with the outcome they can request a review of the decision on a limited number of grounds – simply disagreeing with the outcome is not enough to request a review. Details of the review process are given in the University Academic Appeals Procedure . If, after a review, the student is still unhappy, they can complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, see Complaints and Appeals Review