What is an academic appeal?
12For the purposes of this Framework an academic appeal is defined as:
“a challenge to or request for reconsideration of a decision by an academic body that makes decisions on student progress, assessment and awards This may include a request to change marks or progress decisions, or final award classifications.”
13An academic appeal relates to the outcome of an assessment or exam, or a student’s progression, and may be based on:
- a procedural irregularity in the assessment process
- bias or reasonable perception of bias
- circumstances affecting the student’s performance where, for good reason, the academic body was not made aware of a significant factor relating to the assessment of a student when it made its original decision
- a challenge to the outcome of a student’s request for additional consideration of personal circumstances which have affected their performance (if the provider’s procedures for responding to requests for additional consideration don’t include an appeal stage).
14Most providers’ academic appeal procedures don’t allow students to question the exercise of academic judgment, that is, a decision made by academic staff on the quality of the work itself or the criteria being applied to mark the work (rather than the administrative marking process).
15The provider needs to set out clearly what its academic appeals process covers and the grounds on which a student can make an academic appeal.
16Students have the right to appeal the outcome of other internal procedures such as disciplinary and fitness to practise processes. To avoid confusion, it is good practice for those procedures to include a separate appeal route, rather than using the academic appeal process.
17When a student complains to us at the end of the higher education provider’s internal processes, we refer to it as a complaint whichever internal process the student has followed. This is in line with the language of the Higher Education Act 2004.