Breakdown Academic Appeal processes

What is a Stage 1 (informal appeal)

If you have a query about your examination board letter or PEC/SE (short extension) decision, you think that there may be a problem or something which needs clarifying, you should raise this with a staff member from Ask4Help. They may be able to help you understand the decision made, make contact with a marker or clarify things for you.

If your question is about your feedback, you should contact the marker or module tutor who will be able to help you.

It is essential that you raise any queries as soon as possible and always within 10 working days of receiving your decision.

You can contact Ask4Help by ‘Raise an enquiry’ via your Student Portal.

Students are required to complete the Stage 1 process first and following this stage if you remain dissatisfied, the only way to challenge the decision made is through a Stage 2 Formal appeal. Students are unable to submit a Stage 2 Formal appeal until they receive a written outcome on the PEC/SE or your examination board letter

Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 must be completed within 10 working days of receiving the decision you are appealing.

It is important that all appeals are based on at least 1 of 2 of the eligible appeal grounds. You will be required to complete a Stage 2 Student Appeals Form and send this with your evidence to studentappealsandcomplaints@northumbria.ac.uk.

You can find the appeal forms and student guidance Handbook of Student Regulations.

For PEC/SE (Short Extension) requests

a. correct procedures were not followed when considering your PEC claim or Short Extension request and this significantly affected the outcome;

and / or

b. you have new information that could not be provided earlier, and this significantly affects the outcome. You must have a valid reason for why you could not provide the information before the decision on your claim or request was made, and evidence this where possible.

For examination board letter

a. correct procedures were not followed in your examination, other form of assessment (including coursework), or in the conduct of the exam board itself, and this significantly affected the outcome. If you are alleging that the exam board did not properly apply an approved PEC claim to your academic profile you should submit your appeal under this ground. However, once the exam board has properly applied an approved PEC claim to your academic profile it then uses academic judgement to make a decision about your academic performance and as this is a matter of academic judgement, this is not grounds for an appeal (see 7.2.3).

and / or

b. relevant information about your health or other personal circumstances was not made available by you to the exam board by submitting a PEC claim by the relevant deadline. In this case, you must provide and evidence a valid reason with your appeal for not providing this information by the relevant PEC deadline/s. If you submit evidence of your circumstances after the exam board has met, we will consider whether this evidences a good and valid reason for the delay. If a good and valid reason is not established, the evidence will not be considered any further.

Please see our other guidance on Guidance on Writing your Appeal.

You will normally receive an outcome within 30 working days of submitting your formal appeal.

It is important to be aware that the Student Appeals and Complaints team only determine if you have met the ground(s) you have based your appeal on.

If they agree that your case has met the ground(s), they will return this to the team who made the original decision to see if they want to reconsider this. A common outcome is granting resits when this opportunity had not already been granted.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your Stage 2 Formal Appeal, the only way to challenge this decision is by submitting a Stage 3 Request for Review or taking your case to the OIA.

Stage 3 Request for Review

For further information please see our section on Request for Reviews.

What is the OIA?

Further information can be found on our OIA page

The Advice Team are here to help you with your case. For personalised advice or to ask further questions please email su.advice@northumbria.ac.uk