Student academic misconduct appeals against decisions made by Academic Conduct Officers

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

i) procedural irregularity in the conduct of the original investigations of the Academic Conduct Officer;
ii) exceptional circumstances, providing that these circumstances can be substantiated and there is a valid reason why these were not made 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 date of the letter sent to you informing you of the decision of the Academic Conduct Officer. With your appeal should be sent any supporting evidence.

Appeals will be considered first by the Head of Academic Quality and Student Conduct and one of the members of the Academic Misconduct Committee not previously involved in the case. This is called the 'sifting' stage of the process. It consists of an initial assessment of readily available documentation, including your submission, information on the Student Record System and the paperwork considered by the Academic Misconduct Committee. If it is clear that that there is no case (i.e. you have not fulfilled one or both of the grounds case for the appeal to be considered), the appeal will be rejected and you will be informed of the decision. The Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Manager will so advise you in writing, stating the reasons why. If there is a case for appeal, a meeting of the Academic Misconduct Appeals Committee will be convened and you will be invited to attend.

You will be given no less than 7 calendar days’ notice of the date, time and location of the hearing.

The membership of the Academic Misconduct Appeals Committee will be different to the original Committee membership when the appeal is heard.

The form for all students to submit an appeal can be downloaded here: Academic Misconduct Appeal form - July 2023.

Guidance for Academic Misconduct Appeal - July 2023.

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 and Support at Keele (ASK) in the Students' Union:

Tel: +44 (0)1782 734800
email: su.ask@keele.ac.uk

If you have any questions about the process, please contact 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  appeals@keele.ac.uk. Please note that appeals will only be accepted electronically if they have been emailed from your Keele email account. 

If your Keele IT account has been closed, please send the form using the non-Keele email account you added to your student record.

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