Academic Appeal and Award asessment board

[RollerCoasterRides]

Hi everyone, can someone help me better understand how the Award Assessment Board works at UK universities? My daughter has been asked to repeat the entire year due to failing one exam, and we have submitted strong written evidence and extenuating circumstances to support her appeal. If the appeal is reviewed by the university’s appeals team and is upheld, with the outcome being a resit of a practical examination, will the Award Assessment Board follow that recommendation based on the evidence and extenuating circumstances provided? Or could they decide on a completely different outcome? Additionally, we’re worried because the new academic year starts on the 9th of September, and we’re concerned this might not be concluded in time, causing her to miss classes. Any examples or insights would be greatly appreciated. It’s a total minefield, and getting a better understanding would really help in this extremely stressful time. Thank you!

The thing about resits is that in most universities the resit period over the summer has now passed. And again universities have regulations about when assessment periods are, and when exam boards can take place.

Usually for a failed assessment the opportunity to resit would be in the third semester - usually submission in July, for exam boards in august so students can be ready to re enrol in September. So this seems really late to be requesting resits and putting in extenuating circumstances forms. This should have come to light in June in most cases.

@takeabeat the results came on 4th July and appeal was put in on 12th July whereas appeal deadline was 18th July . The university has taken its own time and still not conveyed an outcome. So we followed all rules of appeal and have provided evidence so yes it is this difficult situation and lack of information hence my post.

@EveningSpread, I understand, but are you saying they would never consider an off-cycle resit, even if there were valid reasons presented in the appeal?

It will depend on the assessment and the school, but short answer is no I'm afraid.

The assessment needs to be written (potentially takes hours if it needs to be a unique exam), reviewed by an internal member of staff, external examiner and/or professional body. Then the mark same for the marking. Then the mark and the progression need to be approved by the board.

We don't typically process individual students outside of that cycle for staff workload reasons.

@EveningSpread ok thank you and I understand your point.

In terms of accommodation, whether she’s resitting the year or progressing into next year, she still needs accommodation so you might as well crack on with that!

Resitting years is quite common, she doesn’t need to be despondent about it.

It may simply not be possible to construct an out of cycle resit of an exam - especially some practical exams which require a huge amount of preparation.

if she has struggled to reach the requirements to complete the year - for whatever reason - it might well be that a resit of the year ends up being helpful for her and allows her to consolidate her knowledge and have a more secure base for moving on. It sucks and is obviously hugely stressful but a resit of the year is not necessarily a terrible outcome.

@Violetmouse yes that's also a pro that we have considered but like you say it's a huge impact on her mentally and financially to support an additional year.

I have previously worked in appeals at a University, and the from reading the thread I have some questions. Firstly, can your daughter demonstrate that she was unable to report her extenuating circumstances before the exam board met? Not that she didn't, but that she couldn't because it was not possible. If this is the case, then the appeal might be upheld. The second problem is then around the timing with the new academic year fast approaching, is there time for her to resit/resubmit her outstanding assessment? It may be that even if her appeal is upheld, it is now too late for her to pass the outstanding piece of work before the start of teaching. If this is the case then the option given to her to repeat the year may be her best option in any case and it would be that the remedy open to the person assessing the appeal would be that the resit attempt wouldn't be capped with a minimum pass mark or that the number of attempts for that assessment wouldn't be affected (usually students have two or three tries at an assessment before they are out of attempts). The third problem is that the appeal will be affected by any professional body and/or programme regulations from the sounds of it. These can be particularly strict in relation to medical/dental/health care related degrees, and it may be possible that the most the University can offer is an uncapped repeat rather than a resit.

What is the normal time that the University in question has to consider an appeal under its regulations?

In my uni, if the student has made an appeal, the deadline is usually the standard resit date (given to all students) or the latest date possible within that period. Beyond this, the submission date will be in the next academic year.

Part of the problem is that your DD didn’t put in any extenuating or mitigating circumstances until after she found out she’d failed the assessment. This is not looked upon favourably, to be frank.

Generally, if a student’s circumstances are such that they fail an exam because of them, the student is obliged to let us know before the assessment. Otherwise it looks awfully like excuses, rather than mitigating circumstances …

Yes exactly, we have a very strict rule whereby the students are declaring themselves fit to take any assessment they show up for/assignment they submit. Exceptional circumstances for someone who showed up for an assessment would really only be granted if it went wrong in the exam hall and couldn't have been anticipated - the extreme example being a seizure.

We have bent that rule for students in mental health crisis as we obviously know that can prevent them from recognising that they aren't well or from engaging with the processes. But that would be at the original exam board, not at the stage where results have been released.

@Bunnyannesummers sorry it's complicated and course spans over different cities.

@Welshcake15 yes the reason for not informing before exam is well documented and is submitted in the appeal as evidence. Understand about the timing so just waiting to see what happens.

It really depends whether it’s possible within the regulations and academic calendar. And there is logic to those, and exam periods: realistically, how would a student be able to study for and pass a failed exam between now and teaching re starting in September? Also staff don’t have unlimited time to set and mark exams as hoc.

It’s hard to advise as courses and unis are different, but why is this only being dealt with now, so late? As before, if your daughter had failed something she would have been made well aware much earlier than this, and been given the opportunity to resit over the summer if it was possible within the regulations. Has that happened? If not, why not?

I’m not saying this is what has happened in your case, but sometimes people don’t engage with the processes and expect endless opportunities to pass and are confused to find out it’s too late or not possible. For degrees to have value they have to have quite strict processes. Staff always try to help the students but they only have the power to do within the approved regulations.

It's not just a question of why she was unable to report before the exam itself. She must also be able to demonstrate why she couldn't report the circumstances by the exam board that considered the results for her cohort and made the progression decisions. Academic schools will publish the dates of the exam boards to students in advance with guidance for how to report any extenuating circumstances and the deadlines for doing so. Usually, the types of appeals that are successful on these grounds are around a late medical diagnosis of some sort or incapacitation. The other type of situation is if the dates of the exam board weren't published in advance and therefore students were unaware of the deadline to report their circumstances until after it passed.

@Welshcake15 oh ok I understand your point. Just have to wait and see what happens.

Ah I'm sorry this sounds very stressful for your daughter and you.

University regulations can be very inflexible
and the systems are opaque at the best of times. If you have followed the 'procedure' as set out by the uni then there is little to do but wait - I would say though you may have luck and/or support by trying to talk to a named person within the uni - perhaps someone from the academic course or an administrative manager who deals with student issues? I'm not saying they'd be able to change an outcome but they would be able to explain the process and what the likely timescales are.

If it’s a medical course, it’s a BMA regulatory requirement that all exams must be passed before moving onto the next year. There is no leeway on that even if there are mitigating circumstances.

I imagine the chance to retake the year is being offered to give your Dc the best chance.

In terms of timescales, the OIA say that the formal and review stage of academic appeals should be completed within 90 days. Often the formal stage is 45-60 days. Additionally this is the busiest time of the year for appeals teams.

This.

I've worked at both the department and review stages for academic appeals in the past.

Hi, can I ask which university your daughter attends?. I have a very similar situation with my son.