Appeals against student discipline decisions

Appeals may only be made on one or both of the following grounds: 

a) Procedural irregularity in the conduct of the case.
b) There is new evidence that can be substantiated, including exceptional circumstances, which was not known at the time, and may have affected the outcome had it been known to the Authorised Officer/Discipline Committee and that there is a valid reason for not making it known at the time.

You must submit your appeal in writing to the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Manager within 10 calendar days (not including University closed days or Bank Holidays, but including weekends) from the date of the letter sent to you informing you of the decision of the Authorised Officer/Discipline Committee. Your appeal should specify the grounds and whether it is against a proven allegation or penalty, or both. Any supporting evidence should also be sent with your appeal.

Each appeal will be reviewed in the first instance by a Chair of the University Discipline Committee not previously involved with the case. The Chair will decide whether there are valid grounds for appeal or if there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be considered.

If the appeal is against an outcome imposed by an authorised officer, the Chair can either accept the appeal and amend the previous outcome, or the appeal can be rejected. If the appeal is against the decision of the Discipline Committee and if the Chair agrees that there is a case to be heard, the case will be considered by the Discipline Appeals Committee. The members of the Discipline Appeals Committee considering the appeal will be different to the original Discipline Committee. You will be invited to attend the meeting and will given no less than 7 calendar days’ notice of the date, time and location of the Committee meeting.

Details about the Discipline Committee can be found on the student discipline web page.

The form for all students to submit an appeal can be downloaded here - Discipline Appeal Form‌.

With the form are detailed guidance notes on how to fill the form in.

If you require the form or any other materials in an alternative format, please let us know. On request, we can provide you with an electronic copy, enlarged print on coloured paper, audio recordings or Braille. 

Independent advice on making an appeal can be obtained from Advice & Support at Keele, Students’ Union

Tel: 01782 734800
Email: su.ask@keele.ac.uk

If you have any questions about the process, please contact the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team.

The appeal should be emailed to the Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team.  In order to assist the team in processing appeals as quickly as possible, please send your email to discipline@keele.ac.uk. Please note that appeals will only be accepted electronically if they have been emailed from your Keele email account. 

If it is not possible to email the appeal, please contact the team to discuss the matter further BEFORE the appeal deadline.