Academic Appeals

You can submit an academic appeal for the following reasons:

• Personal circumstances affected your performance or ability to attend or submit, and you have a good reason why you could not report this at the time.
• A procedural or administrative error occurred in relation to your assessment (or when applying the programme regulations) which was significant enough that it may have affected your outcome.
• Evidence of prejudice or bias by one or more of your examiners.
• Unsatisfactory supervision that was serious enough to have adversely impacted your academic outcome, and you have a good reason for not raising this before.

In all cases, you must provide evidence to support your appeal.

No. You cannot appeal purely because you disagree with the academic judgement of staff. Assessors use their expertise to determine marks, feedback, and progression decisions, and there are safeguards to ensure consistency and fairness.

You also cannot appeal how mitigation was applied unless you can demonstrate that correct procedures were not followed.

You can only apply for mitigating circumstances or extension requests around the time of the assessment(s) for which you are applying. 

You can only submit an academic appeal after the outcome of an assessment has been ratified (e.g. marks confirmed), which in most cases is during the Summer.

Your School or Doctoral Academy will not accept an appeal if you could reasonably have used the Mitigating Circumstances Procedure at the time you were impacted by your circumstances.

Academic appeal vs. mitigating circumstances

• Mitigating Circumstances:
  Requests must be made at the time of the affected assessment(s).

You normally can’t appeal the outcome of a Mitigating Circumstances application, unless you believe a procedural error has occurred (for example, your School didn’t look at evidence you submitted). You should let your School know as soon as you notice an issue and they will investigate this.

If you’re not happy with how your School handles your concern, you can submit an academic appeal once the Examination Board (or equivalent body) has published its final decision.

• Academic Appeals:
  Appeals can only be submitted after your assessment outcome has been ratified (e.g., marks or progression confirmed -- usually in Summer).

Your School/Doctoral Academy will not uphold an appeal if you could reasonably have used the Mitigating Circumstances Procedure when the issue first arose.

An academic appeal is about the outcome of assessments or academic decisions, where you are seeking a different academic decision.

Complaints can be made when you are dissatisfied with the University's actions, services, or lack of support. Students are encouraged to raise issues informally first with the relevant service area (e.g., your School or Doctoral Academy).

You must:

• Explain clearly why you are appealing.
• Provide evidence relevant to the period being appealed.
• Submit evidence in English or provide a certified translation that includes translator contact details.

If you declare that you are registered with the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS), or you include information on a potential disability, the person handling your case may contact DASS for comment.

You can seek independent support from the Students’ Union Advice Service.

• You have 20 working days from the date you were notified of the academic outcome.
• Late appeals must be supported with evidence explaining the delay. Appeals submitted late without good cause may not be considered.

To submit an appeal, please complete the Stage One appeal form.

• The original decision of the Exam Board (or relevant body) remains in place while your appeal is considered.
• If your appeal is submitted on time and meets the grounds for consideration, it will be reviewed by School administrative staff and an academic appointed to act on behalf of the Examination Board.
• Your School aims to provide an outcome within 20 working days (or 10 working days if your appeal is not eligible). You will be informed of any delays.

If you disagree with the Stage One outcome, you can ask for your appeal to be escalated to your Faculty. Details on how to do this will be included in your outcome letter.

The decision you are appealing against remains in place while an appeal is considered.  If an appeal is upheld, and it changes a progression decision, the University will usually give you an opportunity to progress at the next available opportunity.  However, this might be in a subsequent academic year.

Unsatisfactory supervision refers to situations where supervisory support fell significantly below expected standards and had a material impact on the outcome being appealed.

For PGR students, supervisory responsibilities are outlined in the Supervision Policy for Postgraduate Research Degrees.

You must show:

• That unsatisfactory supervision occurred, supported by evidence.
• A direct link between the supervisory failings and the academic outcome being appealed.
• That you could not reasonably have raised concerns earlier, or if you did, they were not adequately resolved. Students are expected to raise issues at their earliest opportunity (e.g. with their Academic Advisor, Wellbeing Hub, Professional Services staff, or via the Student Complaints Procedure).

Common forms of evidence include:

• Emails or records showing lack of meetings or feedback
• Notes from supervisory meetings
• Research log entries
• Records of concerns raised
• Medical or wellbeing evidence if poor supervision worsened existing difficulties

Recording must comply with the Policy on the Recording of Lectures and other Teaching and Learning Activities.

No. Personality clashes alone do not meet the threshold for an appeal.

No, and raising issues early is encouraged.

For PGRs, if it is judged that continuing with your supervisor cannot continue, alternative supervision will normally be arranged. If no suitable supervisor is available at the University, the Head of School (or delegate) may support you, for example by providing a list of institutions undertaking similar research.

Academic judgement:
A decision made by academic staff using their expertise—for example, determining marks, feedback, or the application of mitigation. Academic judgement cannot be appealed.

‘A good reason’:
A good reason means it was understandable that you didn’t formally report your circumstances any sooner. For example, explaining and evidencing why you didn't apply for mitigating circumstances at the time of your assessment, or you didn't report PhD supervision issues any earlier. 

Working days:
Monday–Friday, excluding Bank Holidays and the University's Christmas closure.