Frequently Asked Questions

You can appeal against the decision of a Board of Examiners or another academic body responsible for decisions on your assessment, progression and award.

Progression decisions relate to whether you can proceed to the next stage of your course, for example:

• course termination
• requirements to resit failed assessments

Award decisions relate to whether you have completed sufficient credits to be awarded your degree, and appeals may relate to:

• being awarded a lower qualification than the one you were originally registered, for example being awarded a Postgraduate Diploma instead of a Masters
• degree classifications, for example being awarded a 2:2 instead of a first class honours.

You may not appeal if your results are not as good as you had hoped or worse than you believe you deserve. This is known as ‘challenging academic judgement’, which is not permitted under Senate Regulations.

The university operates robust systems of marking and moderation to ensure that there are adequate checks on the accuracy and appropriateness of marking and to help prevent prejudice and bias. Marks are awarded to a student’s work on the basis of the academic judgement of the examiners in conjunction with an agreed assessment criteria relevant to the assignment in question. Programmes are also overseen by independent external examiners appointed from other institutions to ensure the University’s academic standards.

The timeframe allowed for submitting an appeal varies depending on your study profile, as follows:

• All campus based undergraduate students – usually 7 calendar days from the date of notification of your results
• Postgraduate campus-based students and all distance learning students – usually 28 days from the date of notification of your results

We work hard to resolve appeals as soon as we can, however we need to gather all the necessary information to make a decision. For this reason, it may take several weeks before you receive an outcome.

In the summer, we prioritise cases where a positive outcome may result in the requirement to undertake re-assessment in the August additional assessment period. We aim to notify such students of their outcomes as soon as possible to allow them to prepare. 

You must follow the current Board of Examiners decision while your appeal is being considered. Submitting an appeal is not a guarantee of a successful outcome.

You should not delay any preparations for re-sit examinations.

If you are due to graduate in an upcoming ceremony, you are encouraged to attend graduation to celebrate your achievements with your cohort. It is therefore important that you register for your graduation as normal.

Your appeal will be considered by a member of Education Quality, Enhancement and Development. They will likely request further information from your School, which may be provided by either the School Office or a designated academic in your School. No decision to reject an appeal will be made solely by the EQED reviewer.

If your appeal progresses to an Appeals Panel, no member of the panel will be from the School(s) in which you study or have had any other involvement with you.

See our page regarding potential appeal outcomes. This page also contains some helpful case studies to help explain the outcome to common circumstances.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal, you have 14 calendar days to submit a review of the appeal process.

Appeal reviews can only be requested on the following two grounds:

1. There is evidence of a procedural irregularity in the consideration of the appeal, and/or
2. There is evidence submitted with your original appeal, which you feel has not been fully considered

It is not usual for additional evidence to be accepted as part of an appeal review.

Requests for a review should be submitted to Education Quality, Enhancement and Development by email to appeals@le.ac.uk using the Appeal Review Request Form.

Contact Education Quality, Enhancement and Development (appeals@le.ac.uk) if you require further information about the appeals process. The team cannot assist you in formulating an appeal but can provide procedural information.

You may also find it helpful to speak to your personal tutor or supervisor/postgraduate tutor if you are considering submitting an appeal. Please contact your School if you aren’t sure who your personal tutor or supervisor/postgraduate tutor is. 

Alternatively, contact the Students’ Union Advice Service for free and confidential advice about various aspects of your studies - including mitigating circumstances, concerns about final grades, and putting together an academic appeal.

We are keen to ensure that if you are experiencing stress during the appeals process that you are aware of all the support options available to you. Should you need support for your mental wellbeing it’s important that you reach out for help. Below are some of the free support options that you are able to access;

• Online self-help resources are available to everyone 24/7.
• Health Assured provide a 24/7 helpline for students residing in the UK offering a range of support including counselling. To access their service you can call them for free on 0800 028 3766.
• The Central Access Point are a 24/7 NHS team that support people within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for urgent mental health issues. To access their service please contact them on 0808 800 3302. 

If you are residing outside of the UK please seek medical advice from the appropriate services available in the country you are residing in. You can also register with our Wellbeing Service for practical wellbeing advice. To register with our Wellbeing Service please complete the referral form.