The right to appeal against an exam board outcome is described in the University assessment regulations 2023/24 (PDF, 258kB).

When you can appeal

You can appeal against an official decision of the Board of Examiners. Your programme outcome will state if it’s possible to appeal the Board of Examiners decision. This is published after the Board of Examiners meeting and you will receive a notification by email. Read more about each programme outcome.

You should only appeal if you think you have valid grounds, as set out below. Appeals that do not have valid grounds will be dismissed. 

Grounds for appeal

• there has been a material irregularity in the decision-making process sufficient to require that the decision can be reconsidered. Examples of this are if the University has not applied its regulations correctly or if the Board of Examiners failed to consider exceptional circumstances that you had submitted before the board meeting.
• your performance in assessment was affected by illness or other factors (exceptional circumstances) which you were unable, for good reason, to divulge before the meeting of the Board of Examiners. Your appeal will need to explain clearly why you could not submit these in advance of the exceptional circumstances

Appeals on this ground are normally upheld where students have evidence to support being unable to engage at the appropriate time i.e. being hospitalised or imprisoned. Appeals on this ground are normally rejected where a student states they were unaware of the exceptional circumstances process, the deadline to submit exceptional circumstances or chose not to submit exceptional circumstances due to a reluctance to disclose personal circumstances.

• a penalty for cheating or plagiarism is wrong or disproportionate.

When you can't appeal

You can't challenge matters of academic judgement. These are decisions that can only be made with the opinion of an academic expert, including decisions about what mark you have been given for a piece of academic work. Even if you have submitted exceptional circumstances, you should not expect your marks to change as a result (except where a late submission penalty or word count penalty has been lifted). 

You can only appeal against an official decision of the Board of Examiners as indicated in your programme outcome. Decisions about progression are usually made official at the end of the academic year in June or July (or in September where you have completed work during the reassessment period). Award decisions are normally made for undergraduate students in June or July, and for postgraduate taught students in November or December. In most cases, appeals are not permitted following mid-year exam boards, which take place in February or March. 

If the appeal procedure is not applicable you may wish to make a complaint about your university experience. Please note a complaint is not an alternate route to challenge a Board of Examiners decision or academic judgement.

Potential appeal outcomes

When making an appeal, you should ensure you are clear on which outcome you are seeking. Possible outcomes include: 

• permission to progress to next year of study
• permission to undertake a supplementary year to complete failed unit(s) to satisfactory standard (this may be with or without attendance)
• permission to repeat the year in its entirety
• permission to re-register for programme of study following a required to withdraw decision
• permission to remain on programme of study and not be required to transfer to alternative programme of study
• uplift of degree classification
• removal of penalties or caps to unit/assessment level outcomes.

You cannot use the appeals process to ask for your work to be re-marked. 

What to do if you're thinking about making an appeal

Start preparing as soon as possible. Submitting your appeal promptly gives you the best chance of receiving an appeal outcome in good time to prepare for your next academic year. 

1. Read the University Assessment Regulations, Section 10, to find out more about which grounds of appeal are permissible.
2. Talk to your unit directors, personal tutor, programme director and/or senior tutor if there is anything you do not understand in your marks.
3. Contact the Academic Advice Team, the free and confidential Bristol SU service, for:

• • independent advice;
  • help understanding whether you can appeal;
  • help preparing an appeal.

4. If you are on a Student visa, speak to theStudent Visa team about how your programme outcome, appeal process and appeal outcome might affect your visa status. 

How to make an appeal

You have 21 days (includes weekends but does not include public holidays in England or university closure days) to submit an appeal from the date you receive your decision. It is advisable to submit your form as soon as possible. All supporting evidence should be submitted with the appeal form. However, if there is a good reason why you cannot submit evidence at the same time as the form, please submit the form as soon as you can with an explanation of what evidence is outstanding. Do not delay submitting the form. 

1. Download a Student Appeal Form.‌
2. Organise any evidence you believe supports the reason for your appeal.
3. Email the completed form and evidence to student-appeals@bristol.ac.uk. 

Bristol SU Academic Advice Team provide free and confidential advice If you need support, please read through all the information on their Academic Appeals page and use the Appeal Wizard to create a draft form. The Academic Advice team will review your draft and provide advice, including guidance on evidence to provide.

While you are awaiting your local stage outcome

Until you receive the outcome of your appeal, the exam board decision as published to you still applies.

You must follow the exam board decision you have been issued and complete any additional work required. Please do not assume that your appeal will be successful. It may not be possible to process an appeal against the requirement to complete a supplementary year of study before the start of the next academic year or in time for you to re-join your programme in your original cohort.

Failure to follow the programme outcome that you have been given may affect your progression or award.

What happens after you submit an appeal

The Student Resolution Service will contact you if further information is required, or if your form is not fully completed.

How we will contact you

Emails will be sent to your university email address and any others you provide on your appeal form. 

If your studies are due to end

Your university email account will close soon after your studies end. Make sure on your appeal form you provide an alternative email to your university address so we can contact you to tell you the outcome of your appeal. 

When you will know the outcome of your appeal

You will receive the appeal outcome from your faculty by email as soon as possible, normally within 35 days (includes weekends but does not include public holidays in England or university closure days). If the outcome is not confirmed within that timeframe, you may contact the Student Resolution Service to request an update. 

The time it takes to review an appeal will vary from faculty to faculty. Your faculty will review your appeal, determine the outcome and publish your local stage outcome to you as soon as possible. It is not always possible to respond to appeals before the reassessment period starts (for appeals against exam board decisions taken in July), or the beginning of the next academic year (for appeals against exam board decisions taken in August). 

After receiving your local stage appeal outcome

The appeal outcome letter from the local stage will include information on next steps, including how to progress your appeal if you are not satisfied with the outcome, as detailed in the University Assessment Regulations, Section 10. You will receive this letter by email directly from your faculty. 

If you are dissatisfied with your local stage outcome, you may request that your appeal is progressed to the University stage by completing the Appeal Progression Form and sending it to appeal-progression@bristol.ac.uk within 14 days (includes weekends but does not include public holidays in England or university closure days) of the local stage decision. Further information will be provided in the local stage outcome letter. 

If you are concerned or worried

If you'd like to talk to someone about how you're feeling or how you might discuss your exam board outcome with your family, contact the Student Wellbeing Service:

Phone +44 (0)117 456 9860 or find out what other support is available. 

Related guidance and support

• University Assessment Regulations 2023/24 (PDF)
• Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes
• Code of Practice: Glossary of Terms
• Exam Board Outcomes
• Bristol SU Academic Advice Team
• Assessment support options
• Request wellbeing support