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Exam appeals

Very few people fail their exams at Cambridge. You may be unhappy with your exam result and if this is the case, there is an exam appeals procedure. The exams appeals procedure is intended for those students who have a complaint with how their exams were conducted or whose exam performance was affected by conditions at the time (e.g. illness on the day of exams). If you are disappointed with your exam result and feel it was due to extenuating circumstances in the preparation of your exams throughout the year then the exams appeals procedure may not be right for you. There are alternatives such as asking your tutor to apply to the University Applications Committee for certain allowances: see Illness and Personal Problems.

Undergraduate appeals

Class-lists are posted on the screen outside the Senate House shortly after they are agreed by the Examiners. Your college will tell you your results, together with the marks awarded for each paper. If you believe a mistake may have occurred in the examining process, or if you have some other complaint about your exam, you should contact your Tutor as soon as possible after receiving your results. Your Tutor will discuss the matter with them and also probably consult you Director of Studies.

If you prefer not to contact your Tutor, you can submit an exam appeal yourself. You can contact CUSU for support and guidance in submitting your exam appeal.

Either you, or your Tutor acting on your behalf, must refer your case to the Registrary who will seek a response from the Chairman of Examiners. Your representation (i.e. a letter outlining your appeal) has to be sent to:
The Registrary
The Old Schools
Trinity Lane
Cambridge
CB2 1TN

Appeals have to be made within a month of the class list being signed (usually the day of or day before they are published outside Senate House) and are usually based on one or more of the following criteria:

a. Material circumstances existed about the conduct of the exam of which the Examiners were unaware.

b. Procedural irregularities occurred in the conduct of the exam, which casts reasonable doubt on the conclusion reached by the Examiners.

c. There is evidence of prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment in the examinations process.

Your letter to the Registrary should outline the reasons for your appeal (e.g. that there was a procedural irregularity such as a mistake in the exam rubric), any evidence that you have to support your appeal (supervision reports, examiners' comments etc) and what you would like the outcome of your appeal to be (e.g. for one paper to be reconsidered by the examiners).

Both you and your Tutor will be told the action which the Chairman of Examiners has taken, including any change to the outcome of your results.

If your complaint cannot be resolved with the exam appeals procedure, then matter can be referred to the Examinations Review Committee. You may apply again to the Registrary for the matter to be referred to the Examination Review Committee. Such an application must be made within 3 months of receiving the response from the Chairman of Examiners to the earlier representations.

The case will be considered if it fulfils one of the following criteria:

a. That there existed material circumstances relating to the conduct of the exam (excluding circumstances related to the period of study) which the Examiners were unaware.

b. That procedural irregularities occurred in the conduct of the examination, which were of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether the Examiners would have reached the same conclusions had the irregularities not occurred.

c. That there is evidence of prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment in the examinations process.

A Review Committee consists of a Chairman appointed by the University Council, 1 member external to the University appointed by the General Board, and 2 members of the Regent House appointed by the General Board. No-one may serve on an Examinations Review Committee who has been involved in the case at an earlier stage. You will be informed of the membership; and you may object for good cause to any member appointed, in which case the Vice-Chancellor may authorise the appointment of a replacement.

You will be required to provide a full written statement of your complaint and your grounds for complaining. Those immediately concerned with the examination, including the Chairman of Examiners, will be shown the written statement and be asked to comment on it. You will be invited to respond to their responses. The Committee will appoint a date and time for the hearing, at which you will be entitled to be present and be accompanied by your Tutor or another advisor (i.e. fellow student, CUSU Officer or a member of the Regent House); any person accompanying you may act as your representative and speak on your behalf.

The Examinations Review Committee may dismiss the complaint or, if they feel it is justified they may do one of the following:

• Require the Chairman of the Examiners to reconvene as many of the original Examiners as possible to reconsider their decision.

• Require the General Board to appoint 1 or more additional Examiners to make an independent report or reports on the work you presented and require the Chairman of the Examiners to reconvene as many of the original Examiners to meet with the new examiner/s as possible to reconsider their decision.

• Require you to be re-examined under whatever arrangements may be specified by the Review Committee, after consulting the Chairman of Examiners.

Some Common Questions

Can the Appeals Procedure be used due to a long-term illness throughout the year?

No. The Appeals Procedure only relates to problems that have occurred in relation to the conduct of the examination and not matters relating to extenuating circumstances. If you have suffered any kind of illness or extenuating circumstance which has affected your examination revision or performance, the correct procedure is for your Tutor to submit an Examination Warning and/or Examination Allowance (you should refer to the separate guidance note on examination warnings and allowances).

When should I raise problems, and with whom?

It is vital that you contact your Tutor as soon as a problem or issue becomes apparent. If for any reason you feel unable to raise a problem with your Tutor, speak to the Senior Tutor or another Tutor or College Officer in your College or the CUSU Education Officer.

I got much lower marks than I expected on a particular paper. Can anything be done?

Yes. Either you or your Tutor can make representations to the Registrary for consideration by the Chairman of Examiners. The CUSU Education Officer can provide support and advice with this. The Chairman will organise a clerical check to ensure that all your marks have been corrected calculated and recorded on the final mark sheet and that all sections of your script have been marked. However, you cannot appeal academic judgment, so the fact that you got a lower mark than expected is not grounds in itself to appeal and ask for a remark.

The question paper contained an error which caused me to waste a lot of time. Can anything be done?

Yes. Either your or your Tutor can reported the matter to the Registrary who will ensure that the matter is considered by the Examiners before they draw up the class list.

Are there deadlines for submitting an appeal?

Before exam results are published- 3 days after sitting your final paper

After exam results are published- One month after posting the class list

If you are dissatisfied with the Chairman of Examiners response- Three months

Who can advice me about whether to appeal and help me prepare my case?

In deciding whether you wish to appeal and how to go about it you should contact your Tutor and you can contact the Education Officer at CUSU.

How likely is it that my appeal will be successful?

All cases are considered on their individual merits. However, in submitting an appeal you need to consider carefully if you think you have sufficient grounds and how you can demonstrate this. You should remember that an appeal will be successful if there has been a genuine error or irregularity in the conduct of an examination and if your case is well-set out with appropriate supporting evidence that can be verified or substantiated.

For more information:

Please see CUSU / Board of Examinations Examination Appeals Guidance Leaflet

Graduate appeals
There is a different appeals process for graduates. Appeals are made through the Board of Graduate Studies and have to be made within six months of results being published. You should write a letter outlining your reasons for your complaint about your result and send it to:
The Board of Graduate Studies
4 Mill Lane
Cambridge
CB2 1RZ
If you would like some assistance or advice when writing your appeal letter contact your Tutor, the Graduate President or CUSU.

The Board of Graduate Studies will consult the Degree Committee concerned and will consider the case that you put forward. If they are satisfied that your examination was properly conducted and your result was justified they will inform you of their decision. If they agree with the complaint that you have made, they refer the representation to a Review Committee. You may also refer your case to a Review Committee even if the Board of Graduate Studies does not believe your appeal is justified provided that you do so within six months of receiving the Board of Graduate Studies' decision.

The Review Committee consists of the Vice Chancellor and two people appointed by the General Board. The Review Committee will consider complaints if they fall under the following grounds:

• If there existed material circumstances relating directly to the examination (excluding circumstances relating to your course of research or course of study) of which Examiners were not aware.

• That procedural irregularities occurred in the conduct of the exam, which were of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether the Examiners would have reached the same conclusion had the irregularities not occurred.

• That there is demonstrable evidence of prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment in the examinations process.

You will have to submit a full statement of your complaint and the grounds on which it is based to the Review Committee no later than a date that they determine. The Committee appoints a day and time for a hearing at which you can be present and be accompanied by no more than 2 advisers, who can be an officer of the Graduate Union or a member of the Regent House. These advisers can speak on your behalf if you wish.

Each of the following bodies has an opportunity to submit a written statement, which could include e.g. examiners' reports, in response to your complaint:

• Board of Graduate Studies
• Your Degree Committee
• The examiners concerned

Any person or body specified by the Review Committee.

The Review Committee can dismiss your complaint or consider it justified. They might then decide on one of the following.

• To require the Board of Graduate Studies or the Degree Committee concerned to reconsider their earlier decisions.
• To require the Examiners to re-examine you.
• If you have not been examined orally, to require the Examiners to hold an oral exam.
• If you have been examined orally, to require the Examiners to hold a further oral exam.
• To permit you to submit a revised dissertation, thesis or other exercise to be examined by the same Examiners.
• To require the Degree Committee to appoint one or more additional Examiners to make an independent report or reports on your work.
• To require the Degree Committee to appoint new Examiners and to permit you to be re-examined by the new Examiners OR to submit a revised dissertation, thesis or exercise to be examined by the new Examiners.
• To require the Examiners to set fresh examination papers or exercises that you will take under arrangements specified by the Review Committee.

You will be notified of the decision the Committee reaches and any decision reached by the Committee is final.

CUSU provides confidential, free, non-judgemental support and information to individual students. Contact the CUSU Education Officer, Welfare Officer or Women's Officer by email, phone or by dropping into the office if you would like support or information on any topic.