Friday 16-06-2017 - 09:31

Most students will soon be receiving their results. After your faculty exam board has met, you’ll be sent a faculty decision letter, with either your degree classification or your year marks.

We hope that the news is good, but if you’re not happy with the faculty decision you can get in touch with Just Ask for some advice.

Every situation is different and Bristol SU’s Just Ask advisers can listen to your situation and advise you about what you can do next. The best way to contact us is by filling in one of our enquiry forms. We do get very busy at this time of year, but be patient and we will get back to you.

You may be able to appeal against the faculty decision. If you want to do this, you have 15 working days (weekends don’t count) to submit your appeal form.

 

Appeals can only be made if they fall under any of three specific grounds. These are:

 

Material irregularity. This ground would apply if the University hasn’t followed it’s own procedures properly which has directly resulted in an unfair outcome for you.

 

Late declaration of extenuating circumstances (ECs). This ground applies if you had ECs that you didn’t tell your school about but there was a good reason why you couldn’t disclose them on time. If this ground applies to you, you will need to fully explain the reasons why you couldn’t submit an EC form before the deadline, which would have been a few days after the end of the assessment period. You will also need to explain what your ECs were and how they affected your performance. If you did fill in an EC form but the University didn’t make appropriate adjustments for them, you might be able to appeal under the ground of material irregularity but you should seek further advice about this from Just Ask.

 

Wrong or disproportionate penalty. This ground could apply if you’ve had a penalty for cheating or plagiarism that you feel is wrong or disproportionate.  You’ll need to fully explain why you think that the penalty is unfair.

 

Depending on your exact situation you could ask for various outcomes from your appeal. It might be that you could ask for certain marks to be disregarded for the purposes of degree classification, or you could ask for any second attempts (resits) to be uncapped.

 

If you want to appeal about your degree classification, you will need to withdraw from graduation as it’s unlikely that your appeal will be resolved before the graduation ceremonies. Whatever the outcome, you’ll be able to graduate at the next opportunity which will be in February 2018. If you need proof of your qualification in the meantime, your faculty office can provide a transcript.

 

Bear in mind that appeals can take a while to get resolved – you have three weeks to get your form in, then the University should respond to you at Local Stage within five weeks (although this is just a guideline, it can be quicker or longer). There’s also a second stage to the appeals process which can take another month or two.

 

Just Ask can help by advising you on your situation, explaining the appeal process and any University regulations you might be unsure about, and by giving feedback on your draft appeal form. Although we can get very busy at this time of year, we do prioritise according to students’ appeal deadlines. You can help us by giving us as much time as possible, so get in touch sooner rather than later!

 

If you’re unsure, or have any questions about any of this stuff  – get some advice from Just Ask! The best way to contact us is by filling in one of our enquiry forms.