Appeals Against the Results of University Examinations and Assessments

Below is the definitive Procedure, which must be read in full prior to launching an appeal.  A Guide to the Appeals Process is published and should be read alongside this Procedure http://www.leeds.ac.uk/aaandr/pdf/appeals_guide.pdf

A flow chart is available at: /www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR/docs/appeals_flow_chart.pdf

Office of Academic Appeals and Regulation* (referred to below as the Office)

www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR

1. Scope
This procedure applies only to students registered on taught programmes of study or taught modules who appeal against either the results of their University Examinations or Assessments as determined by the School or Faculty Committee or Board of Examiners or another decision of the Committee or Board.  Such results or decisions may affect the progress in, the award of, or the classification or level of the degree or qualification. 

2. Potential Appellants
Acceptance of the degree or qualification either through conferment at a Degree Ceremony or in absentia will result in an appeal being void.  See Section 4 Conditions.

2.1 Prior to taking the final decision as to whether to proceed with an appeal or not but noting that the timescale (see 5.1) will always continue to apply, the student shall:

2.1.1    seek academic counselling from his/her tutor and/or Head of School informally to ensure that the relevant decision of the School Board of Examiners is fully understood (see footnote 1), and
2.1.2    then if he/she wishes, speak to a member of staff from LUU Student Advice Centre to seek further advice advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk.

3. Procedure
Appeals are first scrutinised by a University Investigating Officer (see 3.4).  These are senior members of academic staff appointed by but not members of the Committee on Applications.

Appeals are determined for and on behalf of the Senate by an autonomous Committee of the Senate, the Committee on Applications.  As well as determining individual cases the Committee is responsible for determining its procedures.

If the student decides to appeal, this Procedure and conditions in Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 below will apply.

All communication between the appellant and the School will be through the Office (see 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3).

The Appeal
3.1. When submitting the appeal the appellant must supply the following information by completing a form, available to download www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR/forms.htm

• student ID number
• full name
• title of the degree, programme of study and year (e.g. BSc Chemistry 2nd Year)
• date of publication of results that are the subject of the appeal
• name of Parent School
• address for all correspondence concerning the appeal (see Condition 4.12)
• email address which will be used by the Office for the duration of the appeal and phone number (a mobile has been found to be the most convenient)
• appellant’s signature

An appeal cannot be accepted without this information and failure to supply it in full will result in the appeal not being processed.

The appellant shall submit the complete appeal in writing to the Office.  This will set out the perceived injustice in full, with the reasons and justifications.  The appellant must ensure that no additional evidence or information is held over in the expectation that it can be included either in the Concluding Comments (see 3.3) or at the Hearing (see 3.5).  If it is, it risks being discounted.  The case will be self-contained and will include all supporting documentation required for the case and shall not assume a knowledge of informal exchanges (see 2.1.1).

3.1.1. An appeal can be rejected without full consideration of its merits if in the opinion of the Head of Academic Appeals and Regulation it is frivolous,  vexatious or based on fraudulent or false evidence.  In respect of evidence, the Office may investigate its authenticity.

The appellant will:

• supply a total of three copies of the appeal (typed not handwritten) and its supporting documents;
• submit all the documents including appendices in A4 size, single-sided, unbound, unstapled, no index tabs etc;
• number all the pages in the top right-hand corner (e.g. if the appeal, including appendices and supporting documents consists of 8 pages in total then the numbering will be as follows:  1/8, 2/8, …….8/8)
  
  The appeal will proceed in accordance with the timescale (see 5.1).
  
  The Office will forward the appeal as presented in its entirety to the Head of School.

The Response
3.2. The Head of School will reply (see footnote 2) to the appeal. The Response will address the central tenets of the appeal including the reasons and justifications that the appellant advances. The Response will be self-contained and will neither assume a knowledge of informal exchanges with the appellant in the School (see 2.1.1) nor assume that additional evidence or information can be presented directly to the Investigating Officer (see 3.4) or to the Committee at the time of the Hearing (see 3.5 and 3.10).

The School will:

• supply a total of three copies of the response and its supporting documents;
• submit all the documents including appendices in A4 size, single-sided, unbound, unstapled, no index tabs etc;
• number all the pages in the top right-hand corner (e.g. if the Response, including appendices and supporting documents consists of 8 pages in total  then the numbering will be as follows:  1/8, 2/8, 3/8 …….8/8)
  
  The Response must be received by the deadline (see 5.1).
  
  The Office will forward this complete Response, including the supporting documents, to the appellant.

Concluding Comments
3.3. The appellant will send written Concluding Comments to the Office in accordance with the timescale (see 5.1).  These written comments should address only issues either already raised in the appeal and/or by the School in their Response.

Where new information is included in the Concluding Comments, if it is decided by the Investigating Officer that the information could reasonably have been included in the Appeal he/she will be free to discount it.

The appellant will:

• supply a total of three copies of the Concluding Comments (typed not handwritten) and its supporting documents;
• submit all the documents including appendices in A4 size, single-sided, unbound, unstapled, no index tabs etc;
• number all the pages in the top right-hand corner (e.g. if the Concluding Comments, including appendices and supporting documents consists of 8 pages in total  then the numbering will be as follows:  1/8, 2/8, 3/8 …….8/8)

When the Concluding Comments are received or notification is given that the appellant has nothing to add, the case will proceed to 3.4.

If nothing is received by the deadline the appeal will be deemed to have been withdrawn and the decision of the Examiners will be confirmed.

The Investigating Officer
3.4. The Investigating Officer will consider the appeal and determine whether or not there is a prima facie (3) case to be heard by the Committee on Applications. The Investigating Officer considers cases in good faith and will accept statements and documents accordingly but referring the case to the Office as necessary under 3.1.1.

3.4.1    If the Investigating Officer determines there is such a case, it will be heard by the Committee (see 3.5 to 3.11) and the appellant and the Head of School will be notified.

3.4.2    If it is determined that there is no prima facie case, the appeal procedure within the University will be at an end.  This determination of the Investigating Officer together with the reasons will be issued in writing to the appellant and the Head of School.

The Hearing
3.5. The appeal will be heard and determined on behalf of the Senate by the Committee on Applications, which has delegated powers of the Senate to consider and decide upon appeals. The Membership and schedule of meetings is published on the website. Cases will be scheduled for the next available meeting in the order that paragraph 3.4 of the procedure is completed.  See Condition 4.7

The Committee hears cases in good faith and will accept statements and answers accordingly.  However, the Committee will not ignore abuses of its trust or deceptions and reserves the right to take further or separate action where such abuses are found to have been perpetrated.

Neither the appellant nor the supporter nor the School representative can question the Committee.  If there are any questions or concerns, these should be addressed to the Office in advance of the day of the hearing.

Although it is to be expected that new or additional information may emerge through the questioning of either the appellant or the School, the Committee will take action, including but not limited to the discounting of such information, where it is decided by the Committee that the information could reasonably have been included in the Appeal or the Response.

3.6. The case, arising from 3.1 to 3.3 inclusive, will be sent to the Committee on Applications.

The Committee may call for additional information from either party prior to or at the time of the hearing.

3.7. The Committee will hear appeals individually.  Although cases of appeal may be related one to another, each appellant will be heard separately and his/her case will be the subject of an individual and separate judgement and determination.

3.8. The Committee on Applications will invite the appellant to appear before it.  The appellant may be accompanied by one supporter of his/her choice who may or may not be a member of the University.  The supporter shall not be a member of the Board of Examiners which has at any time considered the work of the appellant.  The supporter will neither be permitted to appear separately from the appellant, nor be permitted to represent the appellant, nor be involved in a related case.  All this applies equally to legal counsel.

3.9. The appellant may make a statement.  If this is read from a prepared text, the appellant must bring 12 copies of the text to the hearing to be given to members and for the files.  Members of the Committee may question the appellant.  The appellant will respond to the questions unless the Chairman permits otherwise.

3.10. Where the Committee so decides the Head of School or his/her nominee(s) will appear before it to answer questions.

The Head of School or his/her nominee(s) will appear separately from the appellant.

3.11. No one who is not a Member of the Committee or who has an interest in the case may be present at the determination of the appeal, which will not necessarily be made at the time of the hearing.

The Decision
3.12. The Committee’s decision will be sent to the appellant and the School.  If the decision is made on the day, this will be issued no later than 7 working days after the Committee’s meeting has ended.  Where the decision is not to uphold the appeal, a letter will then be issued as soon as possible but no later than 28 days thereafter giving the Committee’s reasoned judgement.

Appeal to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor
3.13. If the appellant remains dissatisfied with the decision of the Committee, he/she may appeal to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor through the Office to arrive in accordance with the timescale (see 5.1).  The Pro-Vice-Chancellor will review the case and decide upon it.  This decision is final and the appeal is then at an end in the University.  The appellant, the School and the Chairman of the Committee will be informed of the decision.

4. Conditions
4.1.  Appellant’s Responsibility for the Appeal and Correspondence
An appeal will not be considered unless it is initiated and progressed by the appellant personally.  An appellant cannot delegate this responsibility to a third party.  This does not affect the appellant’s right to a supporter.  No substantive correspondence or discussions will be entered into by the University or the Office with a third party.  All substantive correspondence will be addressed directly to the appellant personally, and will not be copied by the Office to a third party or a supporter.

Awards, Certification, Transcripts and Progression
4.2. An appellant cannot have a degree conferred or an award presented which is the subject of an appeal until either the appeal has been concluded or the appeal has been withdrawn (see 4.3).

No certification or academic transcript will be issued where the degree or award is the subject of an appeal.

In the case of non-Finalists, and where progression would be affected by the outcome of an appeal, only that level of progression that is allowed by the decision of the Board of Examiners will be permitted until the appeal is determined.

4.3. Withdrawal of Appeal, Conferment of a Degree either at a Ceremony or In Absentia
An appellant can withdraw the appeal at any point in the process by completing the form http://www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR/forms/app_with.doc or by writing to or emailing the Office.  Once the appeal has been withdrawn it cannot be reinstated.  In addition, see 3.3.

Acceptance of the degree or qualification either through conferment at a Degree Ceremony or in absentia will be taken as definitive evidence of such withdrawal.  An appellant must contact TSA (ceremonies@adm.leeds.ac.uk) http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ceremonies/index.htm immediately to ensure that the degree is not conferred in absentia against his/her wishes.

The University will not consider an appeal that concerns a degree or a qualification that has been conferred or presented.

4.4. Complaints
An appeal and a complaint cannot be pursued simultaneously where the subject is common to or has a significant bearing on both cases.  Where a complaint is being pursued, an appeal on the same or related matter cannot therefore be initiated until the complaint has either been resolved or formally abandoned permanently.  The timescale for any appeal will continue to apply (see 5.1) and students should seek advice from the Office if in doubt.

4.5. Papers
Appellants are responsible for retaining copies of their case papers, correspondence and other records.  The University will neither return incorrect documents nor provide copies or replacements of documents to appellants or their supporters.

4.6. Supporter
It is the responsibility of the appellant to invite the supporter to attend any hearing and notify the supporter of the time and place of the hearing and for providing any documentation to their supporter.  The appellant is responsible for the conduct of their supporter at the hearing and in support of the case.  The supporter cannot represent the student and cannot attend in his/her absence.

4.7. Availability of Appellants for the Hearing

The schedule of Committee meetings is published on the website http://www.leeds.ac.uk/aaandr/schedule.htm.  The appellant should ensure that he/she is available to attend a hearing on those dates.  If the date of the hearing falls on a day when the appellant is not available he/she must give a satisfactory reason for his/her unavailability if he/she wishes to appear before the Committee at a future meeting.  If it is agreed to postpone the hearing, an appellant will be given a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 4 months notice of the date of the new hearing.  If this new date is still not possible for the appellant, the Committee may choose to hear the case in the appellant’s absence unless the reasons for the absence are, in the view of the Committee sufficiently compelling to warrant a further postponement.  The absence or non-availability of a supporter will not be accepted as reason for any postponement.

4.8  Costs
No charge will be made for the consideration or the hearing of an appeal.  No costs will be reimbursed.

4.9. Procedural Irregularity
If the appellant believes that a procedural irregularity has occurred at any point in the appeal process as it has been applied to his/her case, this must be drawn to the attention of the Office immediately and by way of a separate letter or email headed ‘Procedural Irregularity’.  Notice of such irregularities embedded in the Appeal, Concluding Comments or other correspondence or papers will not be accepted. 

In response, the Office will either offer an explanation or appropriate action will be taken to mend the procedure.  If the appellant remains dissatisfied the University Complaints Procedure will be invoked either by the appellant or, if the appellant declines to do so, by the Office in order to secure a resolution of the complaint.

Pending resolution, the progress of the Appeal will be halted. 

If a procedural irregularity is raised at or immediately prior to the hearing it will be set aside by the Committee if it is judged that it could have been raised in time for appropriate corrective action to be taken.

4.10. Allegations of Bias
Where a student alleges bias, prejudice or similar by an individual who is concerned with the progress or resolution of the appeal, it will be halted and the allegation investigated and resolved by the proper University authorities.  Only when this resolution is complete will the appeal be resumed.

If the allegation is raised at or immediately prior to the hearing it will be set aside by the Committee if it is judged that it could have been raised in time for resolution at an earlier stage.
               
4.11. Conditional Appeals
While an appellant is free to request any condition, restriction or reservation in the hearing of or decision arising from an appeal, the Committee on Applications (and also the Pro-Vice-Chancellor if the case should so progress) will take note of but will not be constrained by the condition requested.

4.12. Correspondence Address and Email
A change of address will not be accepted unless a specific and separate request is made in writing directly by the appellant to the Office.  Changes of address embedded in correspondence will not be accepted as notification of such a request.  A form is available to download www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR/forms.htm.  Also see 6.3.

5. Timescale
The absolute time limit for the receipt of an appeal in the Office of Academic Appeals and Regulation is 12 weeks from the date of publication of the relevant result(s) in the University.  The 12-week deadline also applies to a decision of the Board notified to the student where this is not a result and is published only in the department.  There will be no extension to this deadline.

5.1. The following will apply:

An anticipated timescale will be set as the case progresses.  When an Appeal is received a date will be given by which the student should expect to receive the School’s Response.  When the Response is sent to the student a deadline will be set for receipt of the Concluding Comments.  When the Concluding Comments are received a date will be given by which the student should expect to receive the Investigating Officer’s decision.  An indicative timescale is given below (also see 5.2).

Paragraph	Procedure	Timescale	Deadline (see footnote 4)
1	Publication of results of Examinations and Assessments	#	#
3.1	Appeal	6 weeks (see footnote 5)	12 weeks
3.2	School Response	6 weeks
3.3	Concluding Comments	3 weeks
3.4	Decision of Investigating Officer (PFC or No PFC)	4 weeks
3.5-3.11	The Hearing	##	##
3.12	Decision of the Committee	7 working days
3.13	Appeal to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor	4 weeks	4 weeks
	Decision of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor	4-8 weeks

# timescale runs from this date.
## scheduled in accordance with the volume of business.

5.2. The timescale does not take into account the time required to process the appeal in the Office.  Additionally, when the University is closed and during public holidays and when staff of the Office are on leave, the processing time in the Office will necessarily be extended.

6. Advice, Contacting the Office and Receipts

6.1. The Office will be pleased to give procedural advice but will not comment on or offer advice upon any part of the case itself.

6.2. The Office cannot undertake to receive documents by hand.  Papers for submission should be posted to arrive within the time limits.

Contact details are as follows:

Tel: 0113 343 3990
Fax: 0113 343 3991
Postal Address:
Dr C A G Brooks
Office of Academic Appeals and Regulation
Room 11.68, Level 11, E C Stoner Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT

Email: AAandR@leeds.ac.uk

Web site www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR

6.3. Receipt of documents will be acknowledged but only by email and if an email address has been provided.  Appellants are recommended to use their University email account.  In the case of Finalists the Office will at the time of confirmation of receipt of the appeal [where the appeal has been properly submitted see 3.1] request that the email account remains open until the appeal is concluded in the University.

7.   Office of the Independent Adjudicator

Under certain conditions the Office of the Independent Adjudicator may agree to review a case following a final decision of the University. The appropriate form should be used which can be downloaded from the web site www.oiahe.org.uk where further details can be found.

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Footnotes