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• Academic Appeals Procedure
• • What decisions can students appeal against?
  • What are the grounds for making an appeal?
  • Lodging the appeal
  • How the appeal will be considered
  • Some reasons why an appeal may be rejected
  • Appeals Panel hearings
  • Independent review of the appeal decision
  • Other types of appeal
  • Appeals Forms
  • Further support and advice

Appeals Panel hearings

If yours is among those very rare cases to be considered at a hearing, members of the central administration who are independent from the running of assessment operations will first prepare a detailed report on the nature of the appeal, the evidence, and the outcomes available under your course regulations. A date for the hearing will be set, and a letter confirming the date and time of the hearing will be sent to you, with a copy by email, so that you have a minimum of five days' notice of the hearing. A copy of the report and any other information that is being sent to members of the Appeals Panel will be sent to you by post (or by airmail if you are abroad).

The Appeals Panel

The composition of the Appeals Panel is set down in Regulations:

•  The Vice-Chancellor or (more usually) a Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Chair) or other experienced academic member of the Appeals Board.

•  Two academic faculty members of the University, who will not have been involved in teaching or examining you.

•  A student; usually either the President or one of the other sabbatical officers of the Students' Union, nominated by the President of the Union.

Before the Hearing

You should contact the Secretary of the Appeals Panel immediately if:

•  you do not intend to be present at the hearing;

•  you wish a friend to attend with you; and if so, whether you wish them to act as your representative and answer questions from the Panel on your behalf;

•  you have any special needs (e.g. due to a disability).

If you intend to be accompanied, please let the Secretary of the Appeals Panel know the name of that person at least two working days before the hearing. It is your responsibility to ensure that your friend has copies of any papers, and is aware of the date, time and location of the hearing. We will not contact them on your behalf.

As suggested in 'Further support and advice' if you wish the person accompanying you to act as your representative you are strongly recommended that this be a person from the Students' Union.  You may not be represented by a member of staff of the University.  Please note also that the Chair of the Appeals Panel will have discretion not to permit a person to attend a panel with a student where this is judged to involve a conflict of interest, or likely to be prejudicial to the interests of a fair outcome.

If you do not intend to attend the hearing, you may send in written comments in response to the papers that have been sent to you, if you wish. Such comments must be received at least two working days before the day of the hearing. If any of the information in the papers that have been sent to you is unclear, you should contact the Secretary of the Appeals Panel.

What Happens at the Hearing

The Panel members will have read the appeal papers that have been sent to you before the hearing. The procedure at the hearing is as follows:

•  You (and, if applicable, your friend) will be invited to join the Panel, who will introduce themselves.

•  You will be invited to make any statement, either to highlight particular points made in your written appeal or to add further comments, in light of the documentation.

•  The Panel members may ask you questions about the evidence or the circumstances of your appeal;

•  Your friend (if applicable) will be asked whether they wish to make any additional statement on your behalf.

•  You (and, if applicable, your friend) will be asked to leave the room and to wait nearby, while the Panel considers the evidence and your discussion with them.

•  You will be invited to rejoin the Panel, so that they can give you their decision.

Panels are expected to reach a decision on the day of the hearing. If, exceptionally, this is not possible, the decision will be confirmed to you in writing within seven working days of the hearing unless otherwise specified by the Appeals Panel at the time of the hearing.

Expenses for Attending an Appeal Hearing

If your appeal is successful, you (and, if applicable, your friend) will be able to claim any reasonable expenses you have incurred in attending the hearing. For detailed information and an application form, see the form Appeals expenses [PDF 23.02KB].