Guidance on preparing an appeal

What do I need to build a case on ground A?

• What is the error? you will need to identify and name this
• If you’re able to find the policy you believe the university hasn’t followed, I would suggest you include a link and highlight which section you believe hasn’t been followed.
• Do you have the evidence to support this, if so, include this.
• Any concerns you have with your supervisor or programme team, needs to be addressed in a complaint. This is not an appeal ground.

What do I need to build a case on ground B

• You must include information on why you didn’t submit a PEC. We have seen many appeals over the years rejected for not providing a explanation on this. Therefore, it is essential to include this information at the start of your appeal.
• If you did submit a PEC and this was accepted, any information in this ground needs to be new and not included in your PEC.
• All circumstances in your life need to be time relevant around the time you were working on your assessments and/or completing exams.
• Add a timeline of events, this is usually a good way to structure your appeal.

The university acknowledges that students may experience circumstances that impact their studies, which is the purpose of the PEC and extension processes.

Therefore, you must include an explanation of why you did not submit a PEC. Unfortunately, not being aware of the PEC process is not considered a valid reason, as emails regarding this are sent to all students each semester.

If your personal circumstances influenced your decision not to inform the university through a PEC, we recommend including as much relevant information as possible in your appeal.

If you visited the GP, you would need to include information on why you didn’t tell the university. As the university may consider if you had the decision-making ability to seek help from your GP, why did you not also seek help via a PEC? 

Please understand that these comments are not intended to be critical. Our goal is to provide guidance to help you prepare a strong appeal that includes the information typically considered in such decisions

Overall guidance on writing your appeal

• First think about, why are you unhappy with your marks and/or award or the decision made regarding PEC/SE.
• Write down all your concerns you have and then look at the appeal grounds, do any of these concerns fall within the grounds. Appeals can’t be based because you are simply unhappy with the marks, its important to demonstrate why your case meets at least one of the eligible grounds.
• Is there anything you feel the university has contributed to these?
• Was there anything going on in your life at the time of the assessments that you think have had an impact on your studies?
• What outcome do you desire and is this achievable? For example, has the university make it clear a student are unable to request a remark? Is the timeframe realistic? Has a decision been made that is set in another university process, for example you have been withdrawn from the university due to academic misconduct?

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