Every student has the right to make an academic appeal against certain decisions made by the University. These could be decisions about;

• Whether you can continue studying at the University
• Whether you can progress onto the next year of study
• Your degree classification or incorrect credits/ grades
• If the University had decided that your Extenuating Circumstances are not valid

You should note that appeals against decisions taken in relation to hearings for academic misconduct, disciplinary and fitness to practice offences are covered under different procedures. Please see www.wlv.ac.uk/polsregs or speak to an adviser at the Students’ Union Advice and Representation Centre.

You cannot appeal against the academic judgement of the University. This means that you can’t question your grades or another University decision simply because you feel you could have done better or you are disappointed by the result. This is because the academic staff are the experts, and the University has internal and external moderation procedures to ensure your assessment is marked fairly.

If you do not agree with a decision of an Award Board, the University’s regulations allow you to appeal within twenty working days of that decision providing you have grounds to do so. These could be one or more of the following:

• Your grades on E-vision have been published incorrectly.
• There has been a material irregularity in the assessment process which casts reasonable doubt on the validity of the result.
• Your performance was affected by exceptional factors which could not (for valid reasons) be notified to the Assessment Board prior to its meeting.
• The University has not followed its procedures correctly; that these have been applied incorrectly in a decision of the Assessment Board in relation to continuation, progression, completion or conferment.
• Your degree classification has been calculated incorrectly.

If you are considering an appeal you should discuss the matter with an adviser within the Advice and Representation Centre of the Students’ Union.

You will need to put your appeal in writing using the University Academic Appeals Form. Submissions should be made within 20 working days of the Board meeting to the Conducts and Appeals Unit

An initial review will be conducted by the Head of the Conduct and Appeals Unit and you will be informed in writing of the outcome.

If you are not satisfied that the matter has been resolved at Stage One you have 20 working days to submit a written request for review to the Head of Conduct and Appeals. The grounds for appeal against the outcome at Stage One are:

• That an administrative error or material irregularity has occurred in the conduct of the investigation.
• That there were undisclosed personal circumstances which you believe would have affected the decision taken at Stage One. You must have good reason not to have disclosed these circumstances at Stage One of the appeal.

Appeals that have exhausted the University's appeals procedure may be eligible for review by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) www.oiahe.org.uk

Please contact the Advice and Representation Centre for further information and advice. Please also read the University's regulations for Academic Appeals.

As a student, it is not your right to question the professional judgement of your lecturers. The University, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator and the courts will not interfere with what they call 'academic judgement' (i.e. a lecturer's judgement about a student's academic performance).

However, if you can show there has been procedural or other irregularities in the assessment process (e.g. something other than academic judgement has crept into the assessment process), you can use the academic appeals process to request a remark.