Hello lovely people! 

 

It is PG results season! First and foremost – a big well done for getting through exam season, and for waiting what seems like forever for results! Now, if you need to put in an appeal for whatever reason, this can be totally intimidating – so I wanted to give you some quick-fire tips on how best to get help with appeals! 

 

START PREPPING EARLY, AND REMEMBER THE TIMELINE 

First and foremost – you need to put in your appeal in 14 days ; this includes weekends, so it is best to get together an appeal as soon as you can.  You should have an idea of why you need to appeal before your results are published. This means you can start building a case as soon as possible – even before you get your results. 

 

As a reminder, the grounds for appeals are: 

• The Board of Examiners were unaware of circumstances which affected your performance, and you could not disclose these to your Director of Studies earlier, for example because you were too unwell or were distracted by the circumstances. This is colloquially called a “late IMC” Take time to think about this – what stopped you sharing the information earlier? 
• There were irregularities in the procedure of the exams or assessments which are likely to have affected the decision of the Board of Examiners. 
• The examiner’s decision was influenced by prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment. 

Remember that dissatisfaction with your marks is not accepted as a grounds for appeal. 

 

DOWNLOAD THE ACADEMIC APPEAL TEMPLATE  

The first thing to do is download the appeal form. Look at the questions and start to add some information. You can ask The SU Advice and Support Team for help making your appeal, but you need to have started the form so they can offer feedback on your answers. 

 

GATHER YOUR EVIDENCE 

Your evidence is gonna be key in an appeal, so gathering it early is key – this also helps you prep before asking The SU Advice and Support Team for help, so you can get tailored advice on your appeal as soon as possible.  

 

EMAIL AHEAD 

Once you’ve got a draft of your appeal form, email The SU Advice Team at suadvice@bath.ac.uk. Advisors respond to emails chronologically and answer in 1-2 working days. This is also where it helps for you to come with your draft appeal form and evidence as by the time they get to your email they can give you tailored advice as soon as possible, rather than having to ask you about your case, and then you falling to the back of the line! 

 

Don’t know what to email? You could try a template like this: 

Subject: Request for Assistance with Appeal 

 

Dear SU Advice and Support Team, 

 

I am reaching out to request guidance and support in submitting an appeal related to the assessment for [Unit Code]. I have attached a draft of my appeal form and I am appealing on the grounds of [late IMC/procedural irregularity/prejudice, bias, or inadequate assessment]. 

 

The assessment in question is [assessment type/title]. I have gathered relevant evidence to support my appeal, including [briefly describe the type of evidence, e.g., "medical documentation," "correspondence with faculty," or "record of technical issues"]. 

 

Could you please advise on my draft appeal form and any additional steps I should take to strengthen my application? 

 

Thank you for your time and support. 

 

Kind regards,   

[Your Name]   

 

SEEK ADVICE SIMULTANEOUSLY 

Although SU Advice and Support are absolute stars, they cannot give you advice on visas and immigration. If you need advice on this, you need to simultaneously go to the Student Immigration Service – who you can email on mailto:studentimmigrationservice@bath.ac.uk. They can tell you all about what you need to do if you need to come back to sit an exam in January, May, or August. 

An email template could be something like: 

 

Dear Student Immigration Service Team, 

 

I am contacting you to seek guidance on how resitting an exam for [Unit Code] may impact my visa status. I am currently seeking an appeal, but if I am required to retake this assessment, I am concerned about any potential implications this might have on my current visa. 

 

Could you please advise on what steps I need to take if I need to resit an exam? I do not know yet if this would be sat alongside the next cohort in Jan/May or if it would be in the resit period in August. 

 

Thank you for your time and assistance. 

 

Kind regards,   

[Your Name]   

 

And that’s it! I hope these templates and bits of info help you out – but if you have any further questions just let me know ! ??