Academic Appeals

Information on eligibility and how to submit an Academic Appeal

Board of Examiners make decisions on assessment outcomes, student progress and awards. An academic appeal is a request for a review of a Board of Examiners decision.  

You might have grounds to appeal if you have evidence that:

  1. There were circumstances that significantly affected the student’s academic performance, where for compelling reasons, the relevant Extenuating Circumstances Panel was not made aware of the circumstances through the Short-term Illness and other Extenuating Circumstances Procedure; 
  2. There occurred a material irregularity (an administrative or procedural error) that had a significant impact on a student’s performance, and which had not been determined prior to a Board of Examiners; 
  3. There is substantive evidence that one or more of the examiners can be shown to have been biased or prejudiced against the student in one or more specific assessments.

How to submit an Academic Appeal  

Before making an appeal  

Please read Section 7: Academic Appeals Procedure.   

You can seek independent advice from UCL Students’ Union Advice Service. To contact the advisors, please use the contact form or by calling 020 3549 5232.  

To make an appeal 

You must complete the Stage 1 Academic Appeal Form and submit this with all supporting information and evidence within 10 working days of your results being published.

What’s not covered by academic appeals? 

The Academic Appeals Procedure is not intended to encourage students to challenge disappointing results. 

You should not appeal because you disagree with the Board of Examiners decision – for instance to complain about the decision of academic staff on the quality of your work. This is defined as academic judgement. 

The appeals process excludes complaints against services provided by the University including the delivery of a programme and the teaching you receive. 

If you have concerns that these factors are having an impact on your ability to perform at your best in assessments, you will need to raise these through the Student Complaints Procedure as soon as you are aware that you are being affected by a service delivery shortfall. Waiting for your results before speaking up about such complaints will probably be too late.