Submitting an academic appeal

This ground applies when a student had extenuating circumstances in the period of their assessments but were unable to apply for extenuation by the stipulated deadline. If you are appealing under these grounds, you will need to provide:
- New information which has not already been considered by the Assessment Board.
- Reasons and evidence which explain why you feel your circumstances affected your performance in the relevant assessment(s).
- An evidenced explanation of why you could not submit this information prior to the decision being communicated to you. .

Example: A student was experiencing severe mental health issues during their assessment period and, as a result, was unable to submit any of their work. They could not submit an extenuation claim because of the impacts of their mental health on their motivation and concentration. This student will be able to submit an appeal explaining and evidencing this situation under these grounds.

This ground would apply in instances where an administrative error on the part of the University has had a negative impact on the student or their performance in their assessment.

Example: The deadline date for one of the assessments on a student’s module was listed as 11 March in the student’s Module Guide but had a deadline date of 10 March listed on the Turnitin link. The student submitted their work based on the deadline listed in Moodle however their lecturer confirmed that the Turnitin link date was accurate, and the student was deducted 5% due to their submission being late. The student submits an appeal on the basis that this deduction was a direct result of an administrative error on the part of their lecturer.

This ground applies when the University has not followed its own procedures when administering the assessment. Any number of UEL’s regulations, policies and procedures could be listed in an appeal under this ground, so long as the student can demonstrate that the University has not followed their own rules. This ground can also apply when the guidelines for administering placements (social work, teaching, nursing etc.) are not adequately followed, either by the placement provider or the University.

Example: A social work student receives a fail mark for their final year placement due to inadequate progress being made towards their learning objectives. The student submits an appeal demonstrating that several actions listed in their placement handbook, such as the midway review meeting, timely feedback on their work and regular supervision meetings, did not take place. As a result, the student’s appeal argued that their placement had not been conducted in accordance with the regulations set out by the University for the student’s placement.

This ground can apply when there is an irregularity in how the assessment was carried out or marked, particularly as it may have deviated from how the University stated it would be done. Essentially, anything irregular in the way the assessment was administered.

Example: Students on a module are informed that they will be given 60 minutes to complete their exam, however on the day they are only allocated 45 minutes before being told to stop writing. A student submits an appeal on the basis that the reduction in time from what was agreed had impacted unfavourably on the quality of work they were able to produce.

A complaint is usually about a lack of service, either concerning the conduct of a member of staff, the delivery of a programme upon a service provided by our University.

An appeal is where you feel that an assessment was not conducted in accordance with the current regulations or there has been some material error or problem with the way the assessment has occurred.

If you did not submit an extenuation by the deadline date for extenuation, you can submit a late extenuation appeal.

This can only happen if you can prove that you had extenuation circumstances but could not apply for extenuation by the deadline date due to an illness or another good reason that related to your extenuating circumstances (for example, the situation which meant you could not submit/pass your work also meant you could not submit an extenuation claim by the deadline). Simply not knowing the procedure or not being aware of the extenuation deadline is not generally accepted by the University as a valid reason for not submitting on time.

Supporting evidence will need to be provided to support your extenuation claim, as well as demonstrate why you was unable to claim extenuation within the specified timeframe.

Find out more about applying for late extenuation appeals here.

If you have received a progression decision that you are not happy with, you can submit an appeal to try and change it. Please see here for more information on appealing a progression decision.