Academic Appeals

An Academic Appeal is a request for a review of your results, progress or award decision agreed by the Programme Assessment Board (PAB).

Please find the University's academic appeal regulation and guidance on the appeals process below:

You can also read Your Advice Service's guide on how to write your academic appeal.

The deadline to appeal is within ten working days of your result release date on SOLAR. Your appeal statement should be well written, include evidence supporting your statement, and explain the ground(s) on which you are appealing and how you meet them.

Grounds For Appeal:

Procedural Irregularity: The University made a mistake or did not follow the regulations. For example, added up marks incorrectly

Improper Assessment: Your marks were affected by prejudice or bias. You cannot challenge the academic judgment of the marker. For example, appeal because you feel you deserve a higher mark.

Extenuating Circumstances: You were affected by events outside of your control and could not apply for an extension or a deferral at the time. For example, you were very ill.

Reasons You cannot Submit an Academic Appeal:

To challenge the outcome of an academic misconduct case - see here for more information about appealing an ACO judgement
If you disagree with the mark and think your work deserved a better grade
If your results have not yet been released on SOLAR
If you don’t meet the grounds
If you have no evidence
If the grade you are appealing is an "AB" or Absent mark - apply for a retrospective deferral using the Extenuating Circumstance Request process in this case.
After 10 working days, unless you have serious problems which meant that you were unable to submit an appeal on time. Your statement will need to explain this and include evidence of this, as well as evidence to show how you meet the ground(s).

The Appeal Process:

Submit the appeal as soon as possible using the correct appeal form and to the correct email address for your campus as outlined below:

Coventry University Academic Appeal Forms should be submitted to ArgAppeals.reg@coventry.ac.uk
Coventry University London Academic Appeal Forms should be submitted to registry.london@coventry.ac.uk
CU Coventry Academic Appeal Forms should be submitted to ARGAppeals.CUG@coventry.ac.uk
CU Scarborough Academic Appeal Forms should be submitted to ARGAppeals.CUG@coventry.ac.uk. (CU Scarborough based students studying in the School of Health and Care should use the Coventry University appeal form and email address).
CU London (Greenwich) and CU London (Dagenham) Academic Appeal Forms should be submitted to ARGAppeals.CUG@coventry.ac.uk

If you can’t get evidence in time, submit the appeal using the academic appeal form with a note explaining why you could not get the evidence, and when you expect to have it. Send the evidence as soon as you have it, preferably within 5 working days of the appeal deadline.

If you're struggling to write your appeal take a look at our academic appeal template.

Once your appeal is received, it will be checked to make sure it meets the guidelines. If it does, the ARG (Assessments Review Group) will consider the appeal and decide whether to reject the appeal, uphold the previous decision, or change the decision.

Appeals can take up to 90 days to process. It's important that you follow the advice provided on SOLAR in the meantime.

Challenging the Outcome of an Academic Appeal:

If you are unhappy with the outcome of an academic appeal you have the right to appeal within 10 working days on the following grounds:

Additional grounds which add a new dimension to the case and were not considered at the review stage, only came to light after the review process had been completed and could not have been made available earlier
Significant new evidence which adds a new dimension to the case was not considered at the review stage, only came to light after the review process had been completed and could not have been made available earlier
There was a mistake in the review process or the University did not follow the rules properly and this disadvantaged you.

Your appeal statement must explain how you meet the ground(s) above and include evidence.

Your Students’ Union Advice Service are happy to proofread appeals if you are able to send us a draft a few working days in advance of the deadline by completing an Enquiry Form. When doing so, please include the original outcome letter and the grounds you intend to appeal where this is known.

If the appeal is not granted, you will be issued a Completion of Procedures (COP) letter that will enable you to take your case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE).