ACADEMIC APPEALS
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CONTENTS 3 YOUR RIGHT TO APPEAL 3 WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR APPEAL?
Ground 1 Ground 2 Do these count as grounds for appeal?
5 GETTING MORE INFORMATION 6 SUBMITTING AN APPEAL Formal appeal
8 THE APPEAL PROCESS Stage 1 Stage 2
10 WHILE YOU ARE WAITING FOR THE DECISION
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YOUR RIGHT TO APPEAL As a student at MMU, the appeals procedure allows you to appeal a Board of Examiner’s decision (for most courses this will only be at the end of each year after all exams & coursework are completed) or an Academic Disciplinary Panel decision. If you do not have one of these decisions, then you may be better looking at our Academic Problems booklet to see what other options are open to you; such as the Exceptional Factors procedure. To appeal a decision, you must establish clear grounds. You cannot appeal simply because you disagree with the examiners marking OR you think the decision unfair OR you are close to a higher grade boundary.
WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR APPEAL? Grounds for appeal fall into two categories as per the student assessment regulations. You can appeal if you fulfil one or both of the following grounds:
Ground 1
Regulation i 2.1.i) Exceptional Factors
Your performance in assessments (coursework or examinations) was adversely affected by exceptional factors AND you can provide evidence of these factors AND you can explain why you could not notify the University of these factors before the Board met. Examples of Exceptional Factors:
You became ill towards the end of your exam period so missed the final one and you can provide GP evidence which corroborates the dates. You had personal problems when you completed an assignment and you can provide professional evidence. More information on what is considered as Exceptional Factors and what evidence you should include can be found in our Academic Problems booklet. Additionally, if Exceptional Factors affected your performance, you MUST give a satisfactory explanation for not informing MMU of your difficulties at the time they were happening. Students are expected to do this by submitting an Exceptional Factors form to their Local HUB which will be reviewed by the Faculty Exceptional Factors Panel and a final decision on your case will be made by the Board of Examiners. If you do not have a valid reason for not submitting an Exceptional Factors form, your appeal may be refused. The fact that you were not aware of the procedures is unlikely to be a sufficient reason. 03
An example could be; you were ill in hospital when the Panel met and can provide evidence from a medical professional corroborating the dates.
Ground 2
Regulation i 2.1.ii) Material Irregularity
You can illustrate that an irregularity or error occurred in the conduct of your assessment or with the proceedings of the Board of Examiners which casts doubt on the validity of your result(s). Examples:
Invigilator stopped the exam too early. Board of Examiners applied course regulations incorrectly. Students on PhD, MPhil or MRes programmes should discuss appeal grounds with an adviser.
Do These Count As Grounds for Appeal? •
You disagree with the examiners’ marking:
No. The appeal procedure does not permit you to challenge the academic judgement of the examiners, nor do the University regulations allow you the right to demand a remark, as the marking process is overseen by external examiners. We suggest you ask your tutor for feedback. •
You have already written to explain your circumstances to the Faculty Exceptional Factors Panel but they don’t seem to have taken any notice:
Possibly. If your appeal is to succeed, it is likely you will need to submit fresh evidence. You can ask the Exceptional Factors Panel why they didn’t accept your claim. •
You did badly because of poor tuition:
No. MMU will not normally accept this as grounds for appeal and suggest you raise this matter through the University’s Complaints Procedure. However each case should be considered on its own merits. More information on complaints can be found in our Academic Problems booklet. We strongly recommend you consult Your Advice Centre before taking any action as only a successful appeal can lead to a change of the Board of Examiners decision. •
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You had financial difficulties and had to take a job, so your studies suffered:
No. Whilst it sympathises with the financial predicament of many students, MMU will not normally consider financial hardship as a ground for appeal unless it relates directly to the assessment. Example: House repossession at exam time or other unexpected events. •
You were ill during assessments:
Possibly. The regulations state an exceptional factors form and medical evidence needs to be submitted at the time. If you need back dated evidence for your appeal it is likely to carry less weight. •
Borderline Grades
No. Being borderline is not itself grounds for appeal. It’s worth checking that the marks have been added up correctly and that any marks ending in 0.5% and above have been rounded up to the next whole number. Then check whether any grounds for appeal apply to each individual assessment. Also consult your course handbook to see whether you should have had a viva voce examination, however very few courses offer this method of testing now. Your Advice Centre will be happy to discuss grounds for appeal with you.
GETTING MORE INFORMATION Follow some or all of these steps to help you decide whether to appeal and to prepare your case. However, please be aware that the normal deadline for an appeal is 14 days from the decision. •
Discuss your results with your tutor and/or course leader.
•
Check the course regulations to make sure that procedures have been followed correctly and that you understand how the marking scheme works. The course regulations are contained in the course handbook, which should have been given to you at enrolment or may be available online in your moodle account.
•
Consider asking for a copy of your University file, as permitted by the Data Protection Act. This may help to identify if there has been a procedural irregularity. To request a copy of your file, complete an Access to Information form, available from your Local HUB or online at www.finance.mmu.ac.uk/legal/. You will need to pay a £10 fee, and your file may take up to 40 days to be released.
•
Gather together documentary evidence to support your appeal. 05
This can play a vital role in confirming the circumstances which affected your performance. Examples:
• • •
letter from Counsellor or GP police report on burglary copy of death certificate
The University recognises that in some limited cases it will not be possible to provide any supporting documents. You will have to detail why you have been unable to provide evidence in your supporting statement. You should always try to provide some evidence, otherwise your appeal may be refused. •
Clarify in your own mind what outcome you would like from your appeal. MMU do not usually increase marks unless an error has been made in calculating them.
Possible outcomes can be:
• •
a resit opportunity opportunity to sit as a first attempt (ie: your resit mark won’t be capped)
Finally review MMU’s website for more information on Appeals: www.mmu. ac.uk/sas/studentservices/appeals/index.php before coming to Your Advice Centre. We may be able to assist you with any of the above as well as providing guidance throughout the whole process.
SUBMITTING AN APPEAL Before submitting a formal appeal, it may be worth talking to your Head of Department, Programme Leader or Unit Tutor about your situation. They can also help you to understand the reason for the marks you were given. However, ensure that you speak to your Head of Department as soon as possible after the publication of your results because there are strict time limits for submitting a formal appeal; this is usually 14 days from the date on your results letter.
Formal Appeal
If you remain unhappy after speaking to your Head of Department, you can submit a formal appeal. Formal appeals should be submitted within 14 days of the publication of your results, this includes weekends and bank holidays. The University may extend this deadline if there is a good reason for the delay i.e. there was a postal strike or you were ill around the deadline; however you need to provide sufficient evidence to support your late submission.
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To begin a formal appeal, you must complete an AA1 Form and review our Academic Problems booklet and Exceptional Factors leaflet for further information on how to write an Exceptional Factors statement. A copy of the AA1 form and checklist is available at www.mmu.ac.uk/ sas/studentservices/appeals/index.php. You will need to complete the supporting statement section fully (you can type or handwrite this if your writing is legible) and provide documentary evidence to support your case. We have produced the following template for you to include in your supporting statement: I wish to seek a review under regulation i 2.1 of the recent Board of Examiners decision that (insert details of the result which you are dissatisfied with e.g. my re-sit mark will be capped or I have failed my assessment for the final time and have no further re-sit opportunities) Then choose one of the following; I am appealing under ground (i) exceptional factors OR I am appealing under ground (ii) material irregularity OR I am appealing under grounds (i) exceptional factors AND (ii) material irregularity You must now give full details of the exceptional factors and/or material irregularity. You should include; WHAT the problems were e.g. I fainted and became extremely ill the day before my last exam so I could not attend it. WHEN they occurred i.e. write the date you began to feel ill and the exam date here. Include what assignments/exams were affected i.e. write here the title of the exam you missed. HOW EXACTLY they affected you. You must include as much information as you possibly can here about how your assessments were affected by your exceptional factors or material irregularity e.g. I was vomiting uncontrollably; I was unable to sleep as I was sick every hour on the hour. I couldn’t keep water down. I was shaking. I went to the GP as soon as it was daylight and I was diagnosed as having.....and prescribed the following medication‌.i was then hospitalised on (what date) for (how long). I am now well enough to continue studying. As my illness was severe and unexpected and affected my performance, I would like the cap removed from my re-sit. As you can see by my earlier results, I usually achieve a good grade in this unit but my health affected my mark greatly. If you have exceptional factors, you MUST also explain why you were unable to present these to your Faculty Exceptional Factors Panel when they met and you must provide evidence; e.g. I was in hospital when the Exceptional Factors Panel met so I missed the deadline to submit my 07
form. I have enclosed medical evidence confirming the dates I was in hospital and this corresponds with the date the panel met. I enclose the following documentary evidence to support my case. This must usually be from a professional person, such as a GP letter, counsellor, social worker. If you do not have evidence you must detail why. I hope that this additional information will enable the Board of Examiners to review its decision in order to (insert your desired outcome e.g. I would like to resit the assessment without a cap or I would like to have one more re-sit opportunity). Thank you for your time and consideration of my case.
THE APPEAL PROCESS There are two internal stages to the appeal process.
Stage 1
To begin your appeal, you will need to complete an AA1 form (which is the formal way to ask the University to review their recent decision on your academic progress or classification). The AA1 form is available at http://www.mmu.ac.uk/sas/studentservices/appeals/ or enclosed. Your appeal form should be submitted to your local Hub within 14 days of the publication of your results (this is the date on your results letter). Double check with your Hub if they have a specific appeal deadline date for your Faculty. Section 4 of the form allows you to include a statement explaining your grounds for appeal so use this space to detail your difficulties clearly and include as much information as possible about how they have affected your studies. If you are unsure how to start the statement, an example can be found earlier in this booklet. If you have exceptional factors and you did not inform MMU of them before now, it is very important that you address this in your appeal statement. For exceptional factors cases, you should also include independent evidence from a professional to support your case; this could be a GP, a Counsellor, or a death certificate. If your case comes under material irregularity, include evidence; such as the relevant academic regulations, course handbook or emails. MMU are reluctant to reconsider any decision without evidence as this stage of the appeals process is purely paper based. Remember to keep a copy of everything you send. Submit your appeal to your Hub.
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The Stage 1 appeals panel should meet to discuss your case and should notify you of their decision by email to both your University account and personal account within 14 days of that meeting. If a decision cannot be made within 14 days, you will be notified of the reason for the delay and usually given a revised date. If you are successful with your appeal, i.e. your case is upheld because you have established grounds for appeal; the Board of Examiners must reconsider their decision. This does not necessarily mean that the decision will be changed but it must be looked at again. If your appeal is partially upheld, or if it is upheld but you are unhappy with the decision, you are still able to ask the Stage 2 appeals panel to review your case within 14 days of the first appeal stage decision email that you receive. You can do this by email or letter to Appeals, Complaints and Examinations Team, MMU Room 2.01, Business School, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH, complaintsappeals@mmu.ac.uk or your student Hub but you must explain why you are unhappy with the decision and provide any further information or evidence to support your case. If your appeal is not successful, the Chair of the Board will give full reasons for this in their decision email and your entire case (form, evidence, results letter and stage 1 decision letter) will automatically be sent by your Faculty to the Stage 2 appeals panel for a further review. The decision email that you receive will explain that you have 14 days to submit any further evidence or information to support your appeal case to the Appeals, Complaints and Examinations Team, MMU Room 2.01, Business School, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH, complaintsappeals@mmu.ac.uk or your student Hub. You should look at the decision letter and see why it was refused and attempt to rectify this.
Stage 2
All unsuccessful appeals will automatically be sent to Stage 2 and will be looked at again. Ensure you have submitted any extra information or evidence that you can within 14 days of the email you received from Stage 1 because this is the final internal appeals stage. The Stage 2 panel will meet to make a decision on your case, the panel will comprise of the Director of Student Services or their nominee, two appeal assessors and either the President or elected Education Officer of the Students’ Union or an elected nominee. This is a paper based stage but the Panel Chair may, in exceptional circumstances, where the facts and evidence are complex, grant a discretionary request for a hearing in person. It may be possible to 09
argue that you are entitled to a hearing in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair hearing). You will receive the Stage 2 decision within 21 days. This decision concludes the internal processes of the University so you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter. External appeals process; Once you have completed the internal appeals process and received a Completion of Procedures letter; if you remain dissatisfied with the way your case was handled, you can forward it to the Office of Independent Adjudicator and/or seek a Judicial Review of the decision in the High Court. This must be done within 3 months of the date on the completion of procedures letter. The contact details of the OIAHE are as follows, however we strongly recommend that you contact Your Advice Centre before this and all stages of the appeals process; OIA
Third Floor, Kings Reach, 38 - 50 Kings Road, Reading RG1 3AA T: 0118 959 9813
E: enquiries@oiahe.org.uk W: www.oiahe.org.uk
WHILE YOU ARE WAITING FOR THE DECISION You can take any resit exams or assessments while you are waiting for the appeal decision. You usually have the right to continue on the course, take assessments and progress to the next level until the decision is made on your appeal. However, some professional courses may not allow this. Please consult Your Advice Centre if you are not being allowed to continue with your course. If you have passed but are appealing to re-sit for a better grade, you can attend your graduation ceremony without prejudicing your request to have your degree classification upgraded, however some professional courses may not allow this. Finally, we urge you to spend as much time as you need on your appeal so you can present the best possible case. Try to cover all of the above points as failing to address why you did not submit Exceptional Factors at the time, failing to say when your Exceptional Factors occurred and which assessments were affected or lack of evidence will have a serious impact on your appeal. If you take the 010
time to submit a detailed appeal now, you are more likely to succeed and avoid having to go to stage 2. If you need more help Your Advice Centre can discuss your case with you and give you guidance and support.
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The Union, Manchester Metropolitan University Publication 2014 Disclaimer: Your Advice Centre has made every effort to ensure that the information in this leaflet is accurate. The Union cannot be held responsible for the consequences of any action taken as a result of reading this leaflet. Before taking any action you are advised to visit Your Advice Centre.
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