Faculty of Arts

Appeals

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If you genuinely believe you have received an inappropriate or incorrect result in an Arts course, there are steps you can take to have that result reviewed. This must be done within 30 working days of the formal notification of results.

You, the student should:

STEP 1
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Discuss the disputed result with the lecturer responsible for the unit.

Action to be taken

• Lecturers generally are reasonable about requests for reviews of assessment.
• They will often re-examine a student's work and inform the student of their decision.
• Many decisions need go no further than this first step.

STEP 2
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If you believe that after Step 1 the result in the unit is still inappropriate, submit a written request to the Head of School for a review of your result.

Action to be taken

• The Head of School will discuss the request with the lecturer concerned. Apart from determining the lecturer's rationale for awarding the particular grade, he/she will also determine whether established assessment procedures were carried out.
• At this stage the Head of School may involve a third examiner in the process of reviewing the grade.
• The Head of School will inform the student of the result of the review process.

STEP 3
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3a. If after Step 2 you still believe the result in the unit is inappropriate, submit to the Dean, in writing, a formal appeal of the result.

3b. You may also seek advice from the Dean of Students.

STEP 4
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The Dean will refer the matter either back to the Department or to the Faculty Appeals Committee.

Action to be taken

The Faculty Appeals Committee will consider the appeal. It will examine:

• a written submission from the student explaining why the result in dispute does not accurately reflect his/her performance;
• a written statement from the lecturer/s involved and/or the Head of School explaining why the result is justified;
• assessment criteria of the unit in question;
• a copy of the work in question;
• the student's own statement if he/she chooses to appear in person before the committee.

The Appeals Committee determines

• whether established assessment procedures have been carried out; and
• whether additional evidence or extenuating circumstances have come to light which might change the final result.

The Committee then recommends to the Faculty that the original result be upheld, or a remark is warranted, or that there is to be a supplementary examination. The Faculty's decision is final. The decision and the reasons for it will be conveyed in writing to the student.