STUDENT ACADEMIC

APPEAL PROCEDURE
1. SCOPE OF THESE PROCEDURES
1.1 What is covered by the Procedure
This document contains procedures for dealing with academic appeals from students against the
decisions of Boards of Examiners for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The
procedures apply to appeals against the decisions of Boards of Examiners for both qualifying and
final examinations.

These procedures are not intended to supersede the following existing provisions for students to
make representations to Boards of Examiners prior to decisions being made as defined in the
General Regulations for each level of study Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Postgraduate
Research.

1.2 What is not covered by the Procedure

There are issues that will not be considered through the Academic Appeal Procedure,
including but not limited to:
• Disagreement with the academic judgement1 of a Board of Examiners in assessing
the merits of an individual piece of work or in reaching a decision on a student’s
progress or on the final level of an award, based on the marks, grades and other
information relating to the student’s performance, cannot in itself constitute grounds
for an appeal.
• Concerns about assessment outcomes that have not yet been approved by a Board
of Examiners you should seek advice in the first instance from your College,
Personal Tutor or module leader.
• Suggestions, comments, concerns and complaints in respect of the student experience at
the University, including but not limited to services and facilities This would be dealt with
under the Complaints Procedure.
• A complaint related to an admissions decision. This would be dealt with under the Applicant
Appeals and Complaints Procedure and you should contact the Director of Admissions,
Outreach and Recruitment.
• An attempt to have a same complaint reconsidered where the University has completed its
procedures, unless new material evidence has come to light or a new, material event has
occurred.
• Where the complainant has entered another University process regarding the same or
similar matter.
• A complaint which relates to an issue currently being considered by the Office of the
Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), a court or tribunal.

2. VERSION CONTROL
Version Officer Responsible Effective Date

2022.1 Associate Pro-Vice [June] 2023

Chancellor Students

1If you are unsure about what is meant by academic judgement, please seek advice from the SU
Aston Student Advice team in the Students’ Union [email protected] or from the relevant Associate
Dean from your College.

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3. DETAILED PROCEDURES STATEMENT
Following the informal early resolution stage which involves raising concerns with the
appropriate College. The Academic Appeal Procedure comprises the following stages.

Formal stages Following submission of a Formal Academic Appeal Form, formal

1 and 2 investigation, and determination of an outcome.
Review Stage Following submission of an Academic Appeal Outcome Review request

If at any stage students are not aware who they should contact about their academic appeal, they
should seek advice from the Academic Appeal Team.

Students can contact the SU Aston Student Advice team in the Students’ Union for independent
advice and support with submitting an academic appeal.

Early resolution

The purpose of early resolution is to enable students and the University to address straightforward
concerns quickly at College/School level.

It is expected that students will raise any concerns or exceptional circumstances promptly by the
published deadlines on the university website. This will enable the University to address and
resolve issues swiftly. The exceptional circumstances procedure is available to all students here.

Where a student wishes to raise a concern or make an academic appeal application, they should
first take steps to resolve the matter with an appropriate staff member (for example, their module
leader/personal tutor or supervisor).

It is not possible to challenge academic decisions relating to marks, progression or awards but
students are given the opportunity to seek clarification and/or feedback in relation to these
decisions.

Any general issues relating to Programmes may be addressed through the Course Representative
system whereby students can notify their Course Representative of any issues (e.g. dissatisfaction
with resources/equipment/teaching), and these issues can then be raised at the Student Staff
Committees.

If the student is satisfied by the outcome of early resolution the matter will be considered resolved.
If the student does not consider their concern has been resolved, they may consider submitting an
academic appeal.

The Formal Stage

Academic Appeal Procedure

A student wishing to appeal against the decision of a Board of Examiners may submit an academic
appeal to the University if they are able to meet one or more of the grounds set out below.

The academic appeal should be made in writing using the University’s academic appeal application
form available on the Aston University website.

Unless there is a demonstrable reason for needing a longer period, the academic appeal
application complete with supporting evidence, must be received by the Academic Appeal Team
not later than 14 days, including weekends and public and University holidays, after the student's
Exam Board decision have been issued on MAP (My Aston Portal).

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Any member of staff of the University may request a review of the decision of a Board of Examiners
with appropriate grounds (i.e. one or more of those listed below). The request must be made in
writing as detailed above.

Allowed grounds for appeal

The student must state the grounds on which the appeal is made and attach any supporting
documentary evidence (e.g. medical certificates). The student’s grounds for appeal must fall into
one or more of the following categories:

a) that there has been an administrative error or some other material irregularity relevant to
the assessments has occurred on behalf of the University.
b) that the assessment procedure and/or examinations were not conducted in accordance
with the approved regulations.
c) that the student’s performance was adversely affected by illness or other specific factors
which they were unable for valid reasons to submit to the Board of Examiners before it
reached its decision. (It will be very difficult to appeal under these grounds as all students
are required to bring exceptional circumstances to the prior attention of the Board of
Examiners, and accordingly, evidence would be required that there were very good reasons
for failing to notify the Board of Examiners of any factors affecting their work e.g. a medical
condition diagnosed after the meeting of the Board).*

*If a student is suspected of submitting either a fraudulent claim for exceptional circumstances, or
falsifying evidence to support a claim for exceptional circumstances, the case will be referred to the
University Discipline Officer. If the case is found to be proven, an agreed penalty will be applied by
the Disciplinary Board and the claim for exceptional circumstances will not be accepted. If third
party evidence is suspected to be fraudulent the University may contact the provider to validate the
evidence.

Formal Stage 1 Initial consideration of academic appeal application

Initial consideration of the application will be made by the Head of Academic Services to ensure
that the students application meets the allowable grounds and that the appeal has be made by the
14 day deadline. The student will be informed in writing if there are no appropriate grounds to
progress the academic appeal to Formal Stage 2 with the reason(s) why. This concludes Formal
Stage 1 of the Academic Appeal Procedure.

Formal Stage 2 Academic Appeal Resolution

If an appeal can be resolved by the Head of Academic Services in conjunction with the Chair of the
Board of Examiners and any other appropriate persons, then appropriate action will be taken
provided that it is in accordance with the current University regulations.

The Chair of the Board of Examiners may

1. take Chair’s action in line with the exam board procedures in changing the original decision
of the Board
2. agree to put new evidence to the full Board, without the need to hold a meeting of the
Academic Appeals Committee.
In such cases, students will be informed in writing of the outcome by the Head of Academic
Services. Responses will be sent to the students University email address, unless due to a
student’s status this is inactive. In which case the students personal email address will be used.

This communication shall be deemed to be sufficient and the duty to inform the student will be
completed. This concludes the Formal Stages of the Academic Appeal Procedure.

In complex cases the Head of Academic Services may consider it appropriate for an academic
appeal application to be reviewed by the Senate Academic Appeals Committee. This decision
will be at the discretion of the Head of Academic Services following assessment of a student’s
individual case.

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 Review Stage: Academic Appeal Outcome Review

If the student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the Formal Stages, they may request an Academic
Appeal Outcome Review. The grounds for a review request are

a) a review of the procedures followed at the formal stage if it is believed the procedures
were not carried out in line with Regulations
b) a consideration of whether the outcome was reasonable in all the circumstances
c) new material evidence which the student was unable, for valid evidenced reasons, was
unable to provide earlier in the process.

Unless there is a demonstrable, significant reason for needing a longer period, the request must
be submit within 14 calendar days of the Formal Stage outcome to the Academic Appeal Team. In
the Academic Appeal review request, the student must clearly demonstrate how they meet one of
more of the allowed grounds.

If the student has no grounds under which to request an Appeal Outcome Review the student may
request a Completion of Procedures letter so that they may take their case to the Office of the
Independent Adjudicator. To request a Completion of Procedures letter the student should email
the Academic Appeal Team no later than 31 days after the date on the appeal outcome letter
(Please put Completion of Procedures Letter Request in the email subject box).

A reviewer will be a nominated to conduct the Academic Appeal Outcome review and will be
an academic member of staff from a different subject area and having not been involved with
the students appeal.

The review will not involve considering the students concerns anew or involve a further
investigation, but a consideration of whether:
• The relevant procedures were properly followed during the formal stages and whether any
errors or failings made a material difference to the outcome.
• The outcome could be considered unreasonable taking account of all the circumstances.
• Any new evidence provided by the student could have been supplied earlier in the process,
and if it had been, whether it would have made a difference to the decision.
• The student received clear reasons why their complaint was not upheld.

The outcome of the review will be communicated to the student by the Head of Academic
Services usually within fifteen working days of receipt of the request to review. The student will
be automatically issued with a completion of procedures letter.

If the Appeal Outcome Review is upheld but no agreement can be made with the Chair of the
Board of Examiners the student will be invited to attend a meeting of the Senate Academic
Appeal Committee which will be made up of members who were not involved in the original
decision.

If the student remains dissatisfied at the conclusion of the Appeal Outcome Review they student
may apply to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education as the internal
process of the University would have been completed (see Independent Review below).

Senate Academic Appeals Committee

In appropriate cases a meeting of the Senate Academic Appeals Committee will take place. The
Committee will comprise Vice-Chancellor or nominee (Chair), two members of academic staff
taken from either the Senate membership, members of the Learning and Teaching Committee or
are Programme Directors (not from the same subject as the applicant), a representative of Aston
Students’ Union (nominated by the President), Head of Academic Services (secretary).

No person who was a member of or was concerned in any way with the proceedings of the
Board of Examiners will be a member of the Academic Appeals Committee

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The Academic Appeals Committee shall have the following functions:

i) to consider appeals against the decision of a Board of Examiners on the grounds that, for
valid reasons, the Board was not aware of certain factors which adversely affected a
student’s performance; or that a material administrative error or irregularity in the conduct
of assessment has occurred; or that the assessment procedure and/or examinations
were not conducted in accordance with the approved regulations.

ii) to report its decisions to the Senate.

A student whose appeal will be heard by the Academic Appeal Committee shall be sent notice of
the meeting to the students University email address, or where this is inactive to their personal
email address, not less than five working days before the scheduled meeting.

A student shall have the right to be accompanied and/or represented by an independent

representative, such as an advisor from the Student Union Advice Centre, or a chosen member
of staff of the University, to present witnesses, and to submit a written statement outlining the
grounds for appeal.

The Committee shall be concerned with aspects of a procedural or personal nature, and not with
testing the academic judgement of a Board of Examiners. In order to facilitate its investigations,
the Committee shall have access to relevant material evidence (including: the programme
regulations, the minutes and papers of the Board of Examiners) and shall require the Chair of the
Board (or the appropriate Associate Dean of Research for appeals from research students) to
submit evidence in support of the decision made concerning the student in question. In addition,
it may require the attendance of witnesses.

All paperwork for consideration by the Commitee will be sent to the student, their representative
and all Committee members not less than 5 working days before the scheduled meeting

At conclusion of the proceedings all non-members of the Committee will be asked to withdraw
and the Committee shall reach its decision in private. The Committee shall have the power to
make one of the following decisions on behalf of the Senate:

i) that the student’s performance has been affected by exceptional circumstances, of

which the Board of Examiners was not aware, and that the Board is requested to
review its decision accordingly.
ii) that on the basis of substantiated evidence of administrative error or other material
irregularity the Board of Examiners is requested to review its decision accordingly.
iii) that on the basis of conclusive evidence of a significant irregularity in the conduct
of, or arrangements for, an assessment, the decision of the Board of Examiners
concerning one or more candidates be annulled and the assessment retaken.
iv) that the appeal be rejected.

The Head of Academic Services shall be responsible for informing the Chair of the relevant
Board of Examiners, or the appropriate Associate Dean of Research, of the Committee’s
decision.

The Chair of the Board of Examiners or the appropriate Associate Dean of Research will ensure,
where appropriate,
1. that the Board reconsiders its decision in the light of the recommendations of the
Academic Appeals Committee, having regard to its role in ensuring that the student is
fairly assessed within the programme regulations as an individual and in relation to their
peers.
2. Where the Board wishes to have further evidence of the student’s performance, it may
require an alternative form of assessment appropriate to the student’s circumstances and
the requirements of the programme regulations, before reaching its final decision.
3. inform the Head of Academic Services of the Board’s decision within five working days of
the meeting of the Board.

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The Head of Academic Services shall inform the student in writing of the Board of Examiners’
decision.

If a Board of Examiners which has been requested to review its decision in respect of 3.6 ii) or iii)
above, does not modify its decision, the Senate shall have the right to annul that decision if in its
opinion due and proper account has not been taken of the relevant factors specified by the
Academic Appeals Committee.

The Academic Appeals Committee shall not have the power to vary the approved general or
programme regulations or to override the prescribed authority of an External Examiner.

If the Senate Academic Appeals Committee was initiated at the Formal Stage and was not a
result of an Academic Appeal Outcome Review the student may request an outcome review as
per the Review Stage detailed in these procedures.

Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA)

If the student remains dissatisfied with the outcome of their academic appeal following completion
of the Review Stage and receipt of the University’s Completion of Procedures letter, they may take
their complaint to the OIA. The OIA will not normally review complaints unless they have been
considered through the University’s own complaints procedure.

The student must submit their complaint in writing using the OIA complaint form which can be found
on the OIA’s website OIA Complaint Form (oiahe.org.uk).

The OIA must receive the student’s complaint form within 12 months from the date of the
Completion of Procedures letter received following Stage 2 under this Complaints Procedure.

Guidance on submitting a complaint to the OIA can be found on the OIA’s website. Students may
also wish to seek advice from the SU Aston Student Advice team in the Students’ Union.

Students should note that the OIA will not review complaints about an application for admission to
the University unless the individual is a former student of the University.

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