REGULATION XIV. STUDENT APPEALS AGAINST PROGRAMME BOARD OR MODULE BOARD DECISIONS

Grounds for Appeal

1. The grounds for appeal by a student against the decision of a Programme Board or Module Board shall be confined to one or more of the following circumstances:

(i) that there were serious circumstances affecting the student ’s performance of which the Programme Board or Module Board was not made aware when it took its decision;

(ii) that there were procedural irregularities in the conduct of the assessment or of the Programme Board or Module Board;

(iii) that there is evidence of prejudice or bias against the candidate on the part of one or more of the Examiners which was not available at the Programme Board or Module Board.

Challenges to the academic judgement of the examiners will not be considered as grounds for appeal.

Relocated para: An appeal which is not made in accordance with the grounds set out in 1(i) to 1(iii) above or does not conform with the conditions set out in paragraph 5 below shall be dismissed by the Director of Registry Services. [taken from paragraph 6]

Submission of Appeals
2. A student wishing to appeal against the decision of a Programme Board or Module Board must do so in writing to the Director of Registry Services normally within 14 10 working days of the publication of the decision of the Programme Board or Module Board.

3. The letter of appeal should set out the grounds for, and nature of, the appeal. Evidence should be provided to support the appeal. The Director of Registry Services may request further information or evidence from the student before initial consideration is given to the appeal.

4. No additional grounds may be cited, nor additional substantive points made, at any later time in the consideration of the appeal.

5. An appeal on the grounds set out in 1(i) to 1(iii) above will only be permitted only if there was good cause for the student not to inform either their Head of Department or the Director of Registry Services in writing of the circumstances or complaint at least two working days in advance of the meeting of the Programme Board or Module Board, by the deadline set for the submission of impaired performance forms by the Director of Registry Services, or if the cause for the complaint grounds for appeal arises out of the operation of the Programme Board or Module Board itself.

6. An appeal which is not made in accordance with the grounds set out in 1(i) to 1(iii) above shall be dismissed by the Director of Registry Services and. In considering the appeal, the Director of Registry Services will refer to the student’s marks, any impaired performance form and the report from the relevant Programme or Module Board. The student shall be informed in writing of the decision with reasons within five working days of receipt of the complete appeal documentation from the student. [Move paragraph to next section]

Consideration of Appeals

7. Appeals that are not dismissed under paragraph 6 above shall be considered by the Dean of a Faculty other than the student’s own. The Director of Registry Services shall send the appeal documentation to the Chair of the Programme or Module Board or his/her nominee for written comment. The report on the appeal from the Chair of the Board shall be made available to the student for written comment if the student so wishes. The Dean who shall decide in consultation with the Director of Registry Services, on the basis of the evidence submitted by the student, the additional information referred to under paragraph 6 above, the Department’s report and the comments of the student, on the action to be taken. The Dean may take one of the following decisions: whether there is a prima facie case for consideration.The Dean and the Director of Registry Services shall have available for consultation at this stage a copy of the Report of the Programme Board or Module Board and of any relevant mark sheet.

(i) If the Dean decides that there is not a prima facie case for consideration , the appeal shall be dismissed. To dismiss the appeal in which case the student shall be given the reasons for the decision in writing. There shall be no further right of appeal against this decision.

(ii) To uphold the appeal where the report from the Chair of the Board supports the student’s case, or the Chair of the Board is willing to accept the Dean’s recommendation. If the Dean decides that there is a prima facie case for consideration, the appeal shall be referred to an Academic Appeal Committee

(iii) To refer the case for further investigation by an Academic Appeals Committee.

New para: Where the Dean has upheld the appeal under paragraph 7(ii) above, the case shall be referred back to the Programme or Module Board for reconsideration in accordance with paragraph 15(ii) or (iii) below.

8. The Dean shall normally convey his/her decision in writing to the student within 10 a maximum of 25 working days of receipt of the complete appeal documentation from the student by the Director of Registry Services.

Academic Appeal Committee

9. The composition of an Academic Appeal Committee shall be:

A member of Council Senate nominated by Council Senate or by the Chair of Council Vice-Chancellor acting on behalf of Council Senate (Chair)

A Dean of a Faculty other than the student’s own (who may be the Dean who acted under 7 above) selected by the Director of Registry Services

A member of academic staff nominated by Senate or by the Vice-Chancellor acting on behalf of Senate drawn from panel of up to 8 individuals nominated by the Senate on an annual basis

The Director of Registry Services or nominee

A University member of the Loughborough Students' Union Executive nominated by the Executive.

10. The Director of Registry Services Registrar shall on each occasion when an Academic Appeal Committee is required appoint a member of academic-related staff as Secretary to the Committee.

11. Members of an Academic Appeal Committee shall not be members of the student’s department and shall have had no prior academic involvement with the assessment of a student whose case is due to be considered by the Committee in the academic year to which the appeal refers.

12. An Academic Appeal Committee may adopt any method of procedure which it considers appropriate to the circumstances of the appeal.

13. An appellant shall have the right to appear in person before the Committee and may be accompanied by a person of his/her own choosing.

14. The Chair of the Programme Board or Module Board whose decision is the subject of the appeal (or his/her nominee) shall have the right to present evidence to the Committee.

15. An Academic Appeal Committee shall not take any action that would worsen a student's position but may take any other action it deems appropriate in the light of the circumstances of the particular case, provided that, if the Committee decides that the decision of the Programme Board or Module Board should be reconsidered, it shall convey its view in writing to the Chair of the Programme Board or Module Board who shall be directed to reconvene the Programme Board or Module Board to reconsider its decision in the light of the new information.

The Academic Appeal Committee may make one of the following decisions:

(i) to dismiss the appeal, in which case the appellant shall be notified in writing of the Committee’s reasons for its decision.

(ii) to uphold the appeal and recommend to the Programme or Module Board that, for the reasons stated in the Committee’s report, the Board should reconsider its decision. The Committee may advise the Board as it sees fit, except it shall not make any recommendation that would worsen the student’s position. The Committee shall consider the possible effects on other students (who may or may not have appealed) and be empowered to instruct the reconvened Programme Board or Module Board to review its decisions in respect of other students to ensure that equity of treatment is preserved.

(iii) to uphold the appeal and recommend that the Senate appoint a new Programme or Module Board where the grounds for appeal are as set out in paragraph 1(iii) above.

16. The decision of the Academic Appeal Committee to dismiss or uphold the appeal shall be final.

17. An Academic Appeal Committee shall normally reach a decision within 28 a maximum of 25 working days of the Dean referring the appeal to the Committee. The student shall be informed in writing of the decision of the Committee within three working days.

18. A Programme or Module Board reconvened or appointed under paragraph 15 above should normally consider the case within a maximum of 20 working days, but further time may be required during vacation periods or if the attendance of an external examiner is required. The student shall normally be informed in writing of the decision of the Board within three working days.

Whenever a Programme Board or Module Board is reconvened under paragraph 15 above, it shall subsequently inform the Academic Appeal Committee of the outcome of its reconsideration of the case.

19. An Academic Appeal Committee shall report its decision, and if the Programme Board or Module Board has been reconvened the decision of the reconvened Programme Board or Module Board, to Senate. After considering the recommendation and advice of the Academic Appeal Committee, the decision of the Programme or Module Board shall normally be final and the Board’s decision reported to the Academic Appeal Committee. However, where the Board has not followed the recommendations of the Appeal Committee, the Board should provide the reasons for its decision in its report to the Appeal Committee and the Appeal Committee shall either accept the Board’s decision or recommend to Senate that a new Programme or Module Board be appointed.

20. A report of the operation of this appeals procedure shall be presented to Senate on annual basis. The report may include recommendations in relation to An Academic Appeal Committee may report to Senate on any point of general principle which arises during the consideration of a particular case.

JCN/Senate/Reg14-3

04.02.02