Academic Appeals - Keele University
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Academic Appeals

Academic Appeals

Academic appeals are appeals against the recommendations to Senate of Boards of Examiners and the Research Degrees Committee.

 

All programmes of study apart from research degrees

A student may appeal against the following recommendations of a Board of Examiners:

(i)         the mark awarded for any unit of assessment;

(ii)        the overall outcome of a programme of study;

(iii)       failure at any stage of the programme of study;

(iv)       the decision of the Board of Examiners consequent upon failure.

 

Appeals may only be made on the following grounds:

(i)          procedural irregularity in the conduct of the assessment;

(ii)        extenuating circumstances, providing that these circumstances were not known by the Board of Examiners at the time it made its decision, that these circumstances can be substantiated, and that there is a valid reason for not notifying the Board of Examiners in advance in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation 8.

 

Research Degrees

Research Degree students may appeal against the following decisions of the Research Degrees Committee:

(i)     Doctoral progression procedures

(ii)    Requirement to withdraw for not maintaining good academic standing

(iii)   Award following examination

Appeals may only be made on the following grounds:

(i) procedural irregularities;

(ii) extenuating circumstances, providing that these circumstances were not known by the Board of Examiners/Research Degrees Committee at the time it made its decision, that these circumstances can be substantiated, and that there is a valid reason for not notifying the Board of Examiners/Research Degrees Committee in advance in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation 8

(ii) inadequacy of supervision or facilities. (However students should note that alleged inadequacy of supervisory or other arrangements during the period of study must be raised at the time, in accordance with procedures set out in the Code of Practice on Postgraduate Research Degrees, and does not constitute grounds for appeal following the submission of the thesis.)

 

Submitting an Appeal

The full details of the appeal must be submitted on the approved Appeal Form no later than 10 days (not including University closed days or Bank Holidays, but including weekends) from the official notification of the decision of the Board of Examiners or the Research Degrees Committee.  Official notification of the Board of Examiners is either the date of emailing results or the date of issue of the provisional results as approved by a Board of Examiners, whichever is appropriate to the individual case.

Students who wish to appeal against an award must inform the Student Conduct Manager of their intention to appeal before Senate confirms the decision of the Board of Examiners or Research Degrees Committee.  Information of how to do this will be given in the email or letter informing students of their award.  Senate will then be asked not to confirm the Board/Committee's recommendation pending the outcome of the appeal.  Students should note that this could mean that they will be unable to graduate at the next available opportunity.

 

The Process

Appeal cases will be considered in the first instance by the Chair and a member of the University Academic Appeals Committee to determine if there is a prima facie case for the appeal to be heard. Where the Chair and the member of the Committee concerned agree that there is a prima facie case, a decision will be made as to what the next step will be.  The appeal shall either be presented to a meeting of the University Academic Appeals Committee, or referred straight back to the School(s)/Research Degrees Committee for consideration.

If a case is referred to a meeting of the Committee the student has the right to be present at this meeting to give evidence in person, but is under no obligation to do so.  If a student wishes to exercise this right they should let the Appeals Committee Secretary know when they submit the appeals form. 

 

Who do I give my completed form to?

The form should be sent to the Secretary to the University Academic Appeals Committee.  In order to assist the Appeals Office in processing appeals as quickly as possible, it would be preferable if students sent their appeal by email to appeals@keele.ac.uk. Though please note that appeals will only be accepted electronically if they have been emailed from the student’s Keele email account. 

The form for all students (apart from research degree students) to submit an appeal can be downloaded here - Appeal Form

Research Degree Students should submit an appeal using the Research Degrees Appeals Form C8 which can be downloaded from the Graduate School Code of Practice Forms webpage at:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/gradschool/codeofpractice/copannexcformsforsubmisisontordc/

 

Contact Details for Appeals

Student Conduct Manager: Mrs Lynn Knight

Tel: 01782 734004

 

Appeals Officer: Miss Louise Short

Tel: 01782 733956

 

 

Email: appeals@keele.ac.uk

Address: Planning and Academic Administration Directorate, Tawney Building, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG

 

Further information can be found in Academic Regulation 7, which can be found on the web at: http://www.keele.ac.uk/regulations/regulation7/