The Universities official wording for this ground is "that the staff or bodies have failed to follow regulations and/or procedures or have failed to follow them with due care". What this means is that if the University have made an error somewhere, that has then impacted your grade or your progression, for example, then you can make an academic appeal. Examples include: 

• The calculation of your overall degree/module average has been calculated incorrectly 
• The University have applied a late penalty to your work incorrectly 
• The marking of your work demonstrates an error, that is not linked to academic judgement

We are really sorry to let you know that you cannot appeal Academic Judgement, which is to appeal because you believe that your work was deserving of a better grade. The University have employed your marker to be the expert in their field, so you cannot argue that your grade is worth more as the expert has deemed it this way. 

However, if you believe that there was an error in the marking then you can attempt an appeal. In order to gain evidence of an error in the marking, you should: 

1. Book a meeting with your module leader/marker as soon as possible to discuss your grade. OSCAR will not consider your appeal unless you have done this. If your meeting is after your appeal deadline, then ensure you submit your appeal statement but say that you are waiting for a meeting with OSCAR - they will allow you more time. 
   • Take notes in the meeting, which you can then use as evidence of your appeal. One of three things will happen:
   • The module leader confirms an error - in which case, you can use this as confirmation and evidence for your academic appeal.
   • The module leader does not confirm an error but you have a better understanding of the grade you have been given - you may choose not to appeal at this point, or revoke (take away) your appeal.
   • The module leader does not confirm an error but you still believe that there was an error. You can continue to appeal but you may not have strong evidence.
2. Compare your mark scheme against your work. You may find that there are unambiguous areas of the mark scheme that you can demonstrate were marked incorrectly. You can use this as evidence for your appeal 
3. Look through the Code of Practice for Assessment and Feedback. You may find that something in their regulation or code has been breached, which may be considered a procedural error.

The official wording from the University says "that staff or bodies have shown bias or prejudice towards the student in the way that they have made the relevant academic decision". This ground includes perceived bias as well. 

We are sorry to let you know that this ground is extremely difficult to appeal under, and requires significant evidence to demonstrate that a staff member has demonstrated bias or prejudice. We very rarely see appeals upheld on this ground, so if you are wishing to appeal under this ground then we would strongly suggest you emailing us for guidance. 

Previous examples of upheld appeals under this ground include: 

• Where a student has made a complaint against a member of staff, which the University upheld, and this staff member then marked the students work. The student was offered a new marker. 
• Where a student was cc'd into an email chain where the lecturer was saying nasty and derogatory comments about the student. That lecturer then went on to mark the students work. The emails were used as evidence, and the student was offered a new marker. 
• Where a student from the Global Majority was in a lecture where the lecturer made discriminatory comments about their race/ethnicity. The students in the lecture were able to confirm the comments. This was perceived bias and the student was offered a new marker for their work (and the lecturer was investigated by HR). 

Whilst we know that this is upsetting, as many of you will feel that you have faced bias or prejudice from someone at the University in the past, without significant evidence (or an upheld complaint), appealing under this ground is very difficult. 

If you wish to make a complaint about a member of staff, then you can use Report and Support. We, your union, will always support anyone who wishes to report someone.

The official wording from the University says "that the student's performance was affected by extenuating circumstances that they could not report at the time for valid reasons". 

Extenuating circumstances (ECs) refer to any unforeseeable circumstance that makes it temporarily impossible for you to do your best, or attend, an exam or assessment. For example, being unwell or having a bereavement at the time. You can find out more about ECs here. 

Firstly, if you are looking at this ground then we are really sorry to hear that something happened at the time of your assessment that meant that you now need to appeal. We know that exams are stressful enough, without added pressure from external factors. 

When appealing under this ground you need evidence to demonstrate two things: 

1. That you had valid ECs at the time. You can find a list of the valid ECs that the University will accept on the ECs page linked above.
   • Take a look, and identify which ground is applicable to your situation - remember that illness includes mental health difficulties.
   • You will need evidence to demonstrate what your ECs were, and the evidence must cover the time that the assessment happened. So, if you were unwell at the time, then you will need medical evidence to show the dates that you were unwell.
2. That you had a valid reason for not reporting your ECs through the ECs process at the time. We know this is difficult to hear because we know that lots of students think that they can "push through". But, the University do not like students waiting for their results to see if they have been impacted. The University prefer you to submit your ECs at the time of your assessments. So, when appealing under this ground you also need evidence that you have a valid reason why you did not submit at the time. 

Valid reasons for not submitting your ECs at the time

The official wording from the University says "that the student's performance was affected by extenuating circumstances that were reported at the time and relevant new evidence has since become available which has not been taken into account in making the relevant academic decision".

Extenuating circumstances (ECs) refer to any unforeseeable circumstance that makes it temporarily impossible for you to do your best, or attend, an exam or assessment. For example, being unwell or having a bereavement at the time. You can find out more about ECs here. 

Firstly, if you are looking at this ground then we are really sorry to hear that something happened at the time of your assessment that meant that you now need to appeal. We know that exams are stressful enough, without added pressure from external factors. 

Secondly, well done for applying for ECs at the time, as this makes appealing much easier. You can appeal under this ground if you have new evidence (i.e. evidence that was not available at the time) to support your EC application. 

Previous examples of appeals include: 

• You saw the doctor at the time, but they couldn't give you confirmation evidence until now. You did ECs at the time but it was rejected due to lack of evidence, and you now have that evidence. 
• You were undergoing a diagnosis of ADHD that was not confirmed at the time. You submitted ECs at the time but it was rejected due to lack of diagnosis. You now have the diagnosis.
• You had a bereavement at the time of your exam, but you did not have access to the death certificate until now. You submitted ECs at the time but it was rejected due to lack of evidence, you now have that evidence.

New evidence must not have been available at the time of your original EC submission. So, make sure that any evidence is dated after the date of your EC submission, otherwise your appeal may not go through.

Where possible, you should submit your appeal within the 10 University working day deadline. If you miss this deadline, then yes you can still submit an academic appeal however, you will need valid reasons why you were unable to submit within the deadline. 

Valid reasons usually only extend to medical reasons, and so you will likely need medical evidence to demonstrate that at the time of the appeal deadline it was impossible for you to submit. For those of you who struggle with mental health difficulties, you should have evidence to demonstrate how your symptoms impacted your mental health to the extend that you were unable to think clearly or rationally about your options at the time.

If you are significantly past your deadline, then your evidence needs to cover the dates of your deadline until the dates you submit your appeal. 

OSCAR are the team that look through your appeals and make decisions on your appeals. OSCAR stands for the Office of Student Complaints, Appeals and Regulations. 

They are independent from your faculty admin and your teaching teams, and stand alone as a department in the University to ensure there is no bias in their decision making. 

You can find out more about the OSCAR team here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/office-student-complaints-appeals-and-regulation

They can be contacted by emailing oscar@surrey.ac.uk 

We are really sorry to hear that your appeal has been rejected, and we know it can be really difficult due to the impact on progression.

If you have been given your stage 1 outcome, then you can take your appeal to stage two which is known as a PRAP (Process review appeal panel). More information is included in this page above for you. 

If you have been through your PRAP and your appeal was still rejected, then your only option to challenge the decision further is to take your case to the OIA (Office of the Independent Adjudicator), more information has been included in this page above for you.

As long as you submit your appeal on time, and before your deadline, then OSCAR should allow you plenty of time to gather your evidence if you need it - but you need to tell them you need it! 

They are likely to give you an extension date for your evidence, but if you need longer then that is ok as well. Just email oscar@surrey.ac.uk and say you need more time. We know of some appeals that have been open for years before due to lack of evidence at the time!

We would always advise that you reach out to the International Support team for visa related issues, as they can get complicated, especially with things like appeals. 

But, to answer your question: your academic decision before you submitted your appeal will remain in place until OSCAR have considered your appeal. 

So, if you have been terminated from your course (we are really sorry to hear that), and your visa revoked as a result, then you would still need to leave the UK before the date that the Home Office has given you, if you haven't yet had a positive appeal outcome. If your appeal is later accepted, then OSCAR will inform the international team who can support you in a CAS letter and potential visa to return to the UK. 

Extenuating circumstances are anything that make it temporarily impossible for you to complete an exam or assessment to the best of your abilities. Examples include things like a bereavement or illness at the time of an exam. 

In the context of an appeal, it could be that you had ECs at the time but either your EC application was rejected, or you didn't report them to the University at the time for valid reasons.

You can only submit an academic appeal if your results have been officially ratified, or you have been given official notice of any decision you are wishing to appeal - for example, the official outcome of an extenuating circumstances application.

You cannot appeal an un-ratified mark (so, one that isn't official yet, usually this relates to provisional coursework results) but, you can prepare for your appeal in this time, so that when your results are officially released, you can submit your appeal quickly.

Yes! You can appeal any module assessment that you think has been impacted by one or more of the grounds for appeal. 

If your appeal is successful for a group project, your other group members will not be impacted by your appeal.

A trailed credit is a credit or module that has been taken over from your previous year of study. 

This usually happens when a student fails or has accepted extenuating circumstances from the Late Summer Assessment (LSA) period in August. If a student fails or has ECs and they only have 15 credits outstanding then they can take those credits in their next year of study to allow them to progress. 

For example, if you had accepted ECs in the LSA from your first year, then you may be able to take it alongside your second year to allow you to progress. 

Third attempts are offered to all students (except medical students and some students on registered courses) where they have failed their second attempt on one 15 credit module only. You can take a third attempt as a trailed credit if you failed your second attempt in the LSA, and it is your only outstanding assessment.