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The University's Academic Appeals Procedure is the process you can use to change a finalised mark or degree classification, and you can also challenge academic decisions such as withdrawal from studies, or a transfer to MPhil (if you are a PhD student).

Other decisions, like disciplinary, academic misconduct and academic progress decisions, can be appealed under different procedures. For these cases, read our related articles and contact LUU Advice as early as possible.

You can only appeal against finalised marks. If you disagree with a provisional mark that you got for an assessment, you should contact your School for feedback in the first instance.

Once your results have been published online or you have received your decision in writing, you will have 20 working days to submit your appeal.

The grounds for appeal are the only basis upon which you can appeal. These are:

a) There were relevant mitigating circumstances (for example, illness), and you have a good reason for failing to notify the examiners of these sooner (taught students).

b) You did notify the examiners earlier about mitigating circumstances or some other disruption of the assessment process, but you believe that the examiners or the examining body did not give sufficient consideration to this information (taught students).

c) The assessment was conducted unfairly or improperly or the assessment of your achievement was biased.

d) A material procedural irregularity has occurred in the processing of your assessment or results.

e) The supervision of your postgraduate research (postgraduate researchers) or Final Year Project or dissertation (taught students) was unsatisfactory.

f) The decision to refuse a suspension or extension of study was unreasonable (postgraduate researchers).

Appeals against the academic judgement of the examiner are not accepted. This means that unless you have strong evidence that the marking procedure for your course was not followed, you cannot just appeal because you don’t think the mark is correct and would like it to be remarked.

See here for an outline of the appeals process and to get an idea of how long it takes.

If you’re not sure how your situation fits into the procedure, come and speak to an Advisor or email us at advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk

FAQs

I’m unhappy with my assessment/exam results, what can I do?

If you’re unhappy with how your assessments have gone or are disappointed with your results there are a few things you can try.

Speak to your School, the Module Leader or your Personal Tutor first. It's best to discuss your worries and concerns about your results with them, they may be able to offer some guidance on the best option for you. They might also be willing to go over your work and provide feedback on why you got the mark you received.

If there have been any difficulties which affected your ability to work or take an exam and they have not been taken into account, you might need to appeal based on these circumstances.

You cannot appeal just because you disagree with the mark given - this is called challenging the academic judgement of the examiner and is not a ground for appeal.

How can I appeal against a rejected mitigating circumstances application?

You cannot appeal against this directly. Instead, you need to wait for the academic result to come out for the module(s) in question, and if you failed due to your mitigating circumstances request being rejected, you should appeal this finalised mark under ground b).

I’m a Postgraduate Researcher, how do I appeal?

Please read our related articles on PGR appeals before getting in touch with LUU Advice for further support.

Can I still attend graduation if I’m appealing my final degree classification?

Unfortunately you will not be able to graduate on time. You should inform the Graduation Office (graduation@leeds.ac.uk) of your intention to appeal so that your award isn’t conferred. If you attend graduation (or don’t tell Graduation in good time) while an appeal is in progress, your appeal will be withdrawn.

I’m going to be excluded from university, can I appeal?

If the decision to withdraw you is due to academic failure, then you will need to appeal using the Academic Appeals Procedure described here.

If the decision is due to Disciplinary Procedures, Fitness to Study, Fitness to Practise/Health and Conduct, Progression Procedures or Academic Misconduct you should read our related articles on how to appeal these.

Can I appeal academic misconduct decisions made in my School?

Yes, but this is under a different procedure. Read our related articles about plagiarism and cheating to find out more.

Can I appeal to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor?

Possibly, yes - read our related articles to find out more.