Academic Appeals Procedure - Students
All about Academic Appeals
What is an academic appeal?
An academic appeal is a procedure, which allows you to ask the University for a review of a recent decision relating to your academic progress or award.
You should aim to resolve concerns informally in the first instance by contacting your College, but if you remain unhappy you can access the formal academic appeal process if you have allowable grounds.
Academic Judgement
It is important to remember that there is no right of appeal against academic judgement which means all matters relating to academic judgement are final.
This means you cannot challenge an assessment or module mark, or award because:
- You are unhappy with the mark or degree classification you were awarded.
- You thought you would, or should have, achieved a better mark or award.
As both of the above are challenges of academic judgement the University will not progress your appeal.
Whilst it is not possible to challenge academic decisions relating to marks, progression or awards students are given the opportunity to seek clarification and/or feedback in relation to these decisions.
(Please see FAQ section for further guidance on academic judgement).
Advice and Assistance
If you require independent advice and assistance in submitting an appeal you can contact the Student Advice Centre in Aston Student Union by phone 0121 204 4848 or by email.
If you need information about the appeals process you should contact the Academic Appeal Team.
- Getting feedback through early resolution
Before you consider submitting an appeal it is a good idea to get feedback about your results and/or the decision of the Board of Examiners. This will help you understand how the mark was awarded and may also give the College a chance to address your concern informally so you don’t need to bring an appeal.
If you remain dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Examiners you may be entitled to submit an academic appeal.
- When can I appeal?
You will not be eligible to submit an appeal until your results have been formally agreed by the Board of Examiners and you have received your decision and results transcripts on your My Aston Portal (MAP).
Once your final agreed results are released to you on MAP your application form must be received by the Academic Appeals Team no later than 14 calendar days after (this includes weekends and public and University holidays).
Be aware late appeals will not normally be accepted.
- Exceptional Circumstances and Fit to Sit/Submit
It is essential that you discuss any issues with your College as soon as possible so that the appropriate support mechanisms can be put in place. Waiting until the end of the year before approaching your College will limit the options available.
The University’s exceptional circumstances webpage lists your College/programme area‘s deadlines for submissions to the Exceptional Circumstances or Absence Panel (ECAP), which makes recommendations to the Exam Board.
This deadline will be before the main assessment periods. If you wish to submit exceptional circumstances you should make a submission even if you are still awaiting supporting documentary evidence.
Claims/evidence for exceptional circumstances cannot be accepted after the published deadlines unless you can provide good reason why you were not able to submit them earlier. You should note that this is not a basis for making an appeal
Fit to Sit/Submit
If you attend a fixed-time assessment or engage with a fixed window assessment, the University considers that you have declared yourself ‘Fit to Sit’ the assessment. Where you have declared yourself ‘Fit to Sit’, the Examination Board will normally consider you to have made a valid attempt at the assessment, subject to consideration of factors affecting performance which may arise subsequent to beginning the assessment.