Guidelines and Form for consulting the Dean about the Progress Decision of an Exam Board in respect of a Foundation, First or Second Year Programme of Study

Form for consulting the Dean about the Progress Decision of an Exam Board (to print and complete)

**Please read these guidelines before completing a form**

What is a progress decision taken by an exam board?

This is a decision which affects your ability to progress to the next year of study. Typically this covers one of the following decisions: required to withdraw, repeat the year, take resit exams, and/or submit additional coursework.

How can I appeal against the decision?

There is a formal procedure to follow if you wish to submit an appeal. Please note that very few appeals are upheld because there are strict grounds which must be met, namely:

1. Extenuating circumstances of which the Board of Examiners was unaware and of which the student could not reasonably have been expected to inform the Board in advance, of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether the result might have been different had they not occurred;
2. Procedural irregularities in the conduct of the Board of Examiners (including alleged administrative error) of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether the result might have been different had they not occurred.

However, prior to submitting a formal appeal, you may consult the relevant Dean about the exam board’s decision. The Dean has power to take action on behalf of the Board to change the original decision if you present appropriate new evidence to support your case.

The Dean can also consider requests from students who want to repeat the year rather than take reassessment across the summer. 

How can I consult the Dean?

It will help the Dean if you provide relevant information in a standard format. For this reason we have devised a form for you to use if you are considering making an appeal and wish to consult the Dean about the decision taken by the exam board. You must use this Form to provide the Dean with full details of your case and submit it as soon as possible.

If you have been offered reassessment across the summer and you are asking permission to repeat the year, you can do so on the appeals form as there is a separate box for you to complete.

What happens after the Dean considers my case?

We will let you know as soon as the Dean has reached a decision about your case. If the Dean requires more information from you we will tell you as quickly as we can, which is why it is useful if you provide all your contact details on the form. If the Dean decides not to change the decision of the exam board, then you still have the right of appeal. You would then need to contact the Academic Registrar in accordance with the formal procedure (see above). However you would need to meet the designated grounds for appeal, or your appeal would be rejected automatically.

What is the deadline for submitting an appeal?

If you wish to submit a formal appeal you must do so within 10 working days of the publication of your exam results on the web. Therefore if you wish to contact the Dean in advance of making a formal appeal, you should do so as soon as possible.

Where can I get advice about whether to submit an appeal?

We would strongly advise you to contact the Students' Union Advice Centre before making a formal appeal. You may also find it useful to contact the Advice Centre even before consulting the Dean.

How to provide details of your case

Experience shows that when students contact the Dean about their case, their statements tend to be based on extenuating circumstances or procedural irregularities. We have therefore prepared some notes of points you should bear in mind. Please read the following sections before providing details of your case.

i) Extenuating Circumstances

Points to note:

• Extenuating circumstances are defined as: "Circumstances beyond a student's control which could cause him or her to perform less well in coursework or examinations than he or she might otherwise have been expected to do and which affect the student for a significant period of time."
• Students are supposed to inform the Exam Board of any extenuating circumstances by the deadline of 11 June. If you are now writing to tell the Dean about extenuating circumstances you will need to have a very good reason to explain why you did not submit them by the deadline. Stating that you wanted to wait until you had seen your results does not constitute grounds for appealing.
• The Dean may decide that even if the Exam Board had known about your extenuating circumstances, it would not have made a different decision.

ii) Procedural Irregularities

Points to note:

• You may believe there have been procedural irregularities in the conduct of the Board of Examiners (including alleged administrative error) of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether the result might have been different had they not occurred.
• If you think your coursework mark is wrong, we will check with your department. However in due course you will need to provide copies of your assignments if the department’s records do not match your own.
• You may have received a much lower mark than you were expecting and therefore think the mark is wrong. We do have mechanisms in place for checking that marks are correctly added up and input onto the database. Although we will check to ensure that the mark is correct, the paper cannot be remarked if it is correct as students cannot appeal against academic judgements.

iii) Other Issues

Please note that the Dean will not be able to change the decision of an exam board in the following cases:

• If you disagree with the academic judgement of internal or external examiners. Coursework and examinations cannot be remarked, except in cases of procedural irregularities.
• If you had been given an informal assessment of your work by a member of academic staff, but your final marks are lower.
• If you marginally failed to attain a pass. Unfortunately there will always be some students who fall just below the pass mark.
• If you have booked a holiday during the resit period.
• If you have booked flight tickets to return to Essex for the start of the academic year and cannot change them for the resit period.

Form for consulting the Dean about the Progress Decision of an Exam Board (to print and complete)