What happens after the student submits their appeal

What happens when I submit my appeal?

On this page, you will find information about what happens to your studies while you wait for the outcome of your appeal, how we process your appeal and what to expect when you receive the outcome of your appeal.

Information on this page applies to both formal appeals and appeal reviews.

How long it will take?

  • Formal appeals - the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office aims to process formal appeals within 28 calendar days. 
  • Appeal review requests - the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office aims to process formal appeals within 28 calendar days. 
    • If a hearing for an appeal review request is required, it will take longer for the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office to provide you with an outcome. 
    • We will contact you if the Chair decides to convene a hearing. It will normally be held within 14-calendar days of us informing you.
    • We will send you the outcome of the Academic Appeals Review Panel within 7-calendar days of the hearing.

Some appeals may take longer to process due to the high number of appeals received within a short time period. If we experience delays in processing your appeal and cannot complete your appeal within the timeframes above, we will contact you to let you know.

Please be assured that we prioritise all appeals and deal with the most urgent ones first.

Please note that we can't provide you with an update on the progress of your appeal.

On this page

What happens with my studies while I wait?

Information about any action you should take while awaiting the outcome of your appeal

How is my formal appeal processed?

Information about how the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office processes your formal appeal

Receiving the outcome of your formal appeal

Information about the possible formal appeal outcomes and next steps available to you

How is my appeal review request processed?

Information about how the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office processes your appeal review request

Receiving the outcome of your appeal review request

Information about the possible appeal review outcomes and next steps available to you

What happens with my studies while I wait?

We understand that you may be anxious while waiting to hear your appeal outcome. You also may have questions, such as: 

  • Will my appeal affect my graduation ceremony? 
  • Do I need to prepare for my resits?
  • Can I continue my studies?

You can find answers to these and other relevant questions on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

Please note that information on the FAQs page is relevant to undergraduate and postgradute students on taught courses only.


See our FAQs page to find out more

How is my formal appeal processed?

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Your appeal is received

Appeals are processed by the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office.

We perform all the necessary administrative tasks and create a record of your appeal.

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Prioritising appeals

We prioritise appeals to ensure that urgent appeals are dealt with first. 

Where appeals are assessed as less urgent, they will be processed in the order in which they were received.

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Assigning a Case Manager

Your appeal will be assigned a Case Manager who will investigate your appeal.

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Checking technical conditions

The Case Manager will firstly check that your appeal has met the technical conditions.

If you have not met one or more of the technical conditions, your appeal may be dismissed.

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If your appeal has met the technical conditions

Appeal Investigation

The Case Manager will investigate your appeal and gather additional information relevant to your appeal, where appropriate.

The Case Manager may also liaise with your Division and other University colleagues during the investigation of your appeal.

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Appeal Outcome

When the outcome of your appeal is reached, we will send it to your University/Institutional email address and your personal email address, if you provided one.

Receiving the Formal Appeal outcome
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Next steps

We will include all the necessary information about the next steps available to you when we send you the outcome.

Receiving the outcome of your formal appeal

Information about what to expect when you receive the outcome of your formal appeal

  • We aim to process your appeal and send you the outcome within 28 calendar days.
  • Sometimes it can take us a bit longer to process appeals, especially when we receive a large number of appeals within a short period of time.
  • We want to assure you that we asses the priority level of all appeals we receive and we process the urgent ones first.
  • If we experience any delays in processing your appeal, we will contact you to let you know.
  • We kindly ask you not to contact us for the progress update on your appeal. We will not be able to give you any updates, only to confirm that we have received your appeal.

If you are a student on a taught course and are concerned about what to do in particular situations that relate to the outcome of your appeal, you may find 'What happens to my studies while I wait for my appeal outcome?' webpage useful.

We will send the outcome of your formal appeal to your University/Institutional email address and your personal email address if you provided one.

If you provide a personal email, please ensure that no-one has access to it who you don't want to access your appeal outcome.

The Case Manager of your formal appeal will arrive at one of the following outcomes:

  • Your appeal is upheld. This means your appeal has been successful and all outcomes you requested had been achieved.
  • Your appeal is partially upheld. This means that your appeal has been partially successful and part of the outcome you requested or an alternative outcome has been reached. The outcome will result in the academic body changing their original decision to your benefit. 
  • Your appeal is dismissed. This means that your appeal has NOT been successful and the outcomes you requested or alternative outcomes have not been achieved. 

We will send you a document called a 'Case File' which will include: 

  • the outcome of your appeal and the reasons behind the decision;
  • investigation notes of your appeal;
  • any additional documents that were relevant when investigating your appeal. 
    • Please note that we will not include a copy of your appeal form and any documents that you have submitted in order to reduce risks of data loss. 
    • However, if you wish to receive these documents, please email appeals@kent.ac.uk and we will respond within 28 calendar days.
  • We will also include information about the next steps available to you if you are unhappy with the outcome of your appeal. If this is the case, you will be able to submit an Appeal Review Request.

  • We provide explanation of your appeal outcome and information about any action that you need to take in the Case File.
  • If you are unsure about certain terms used in your outcome, visit our Appeal Terminology webpage.
  • If you are still not clear, contact appeals@kent.ac.uk.

How is my appeal review request processed?

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Your appeal review request is received

Appeal review requests are processed by the Quality Assurance and Compliance Office.

We perform all the necessary administrative tasks and create a record of your appeal review request.

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Prioritising appeal review requests

We prioritise appeal review requests to ensure that urgent appeals are dealt with first. 

Where appeal review requests are assessed as less urgent, they will be processed in the order in which they were received.

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Assigning a Case Manager

Your appeal review request will be assigned a Case Manager. It will be a different Case Manager to the one who investigated your formal appeal.

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Assigning a Chair

A Chair of an Academic Appeal Review Panel will be assigned to your appeal review request. 

The Chair is an academic member of staff outside of your Division.

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Arriving at the decision

The Chair will review your request and may take the following actions:

  • To refer your case back to the Academic Body that made the original decision.
  • To refer your case back to the Formal Appeal stage.
  • To convene a Panel hearing.

 

Read more about Panel hearings
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Appeal review request outcome

The Chair (or the Panel) will decide on the outcome of your appeal review request.

We will send the outcome to your University/Institutional email address and your personal email address, if you provided one.

Receiving the Appeal Review request outcome
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Next steps

We will include all the necessary information about the next steps available to you when we send you the outcome.

Receiving the outcome of your appeal review request

Information about what to expect when you receive the outcome of your appeal review request

  • We aim to process your appeal and send you the outcome within 28 calendar days.
  • Sometimes it can take us a bit longer to process appeals, especially when we receive a large number of appeals in a short period of time.
  • We want to assure you that we prioritise all appeals we receive and we process the urgent ones first.
  • If we experience any delays in processing your appeal, we will contact you to let you know.
  • We kindly ask you not to contact us for the progress update on your appeal. We will not be able to give you any updates, only to confirm that we have received your appeal.
  • We will contact you if the Chair decides to convene a hearing of an Academic Appeal Review Panel.

If you are a student on a taught course and are concerned about what to do in particular situations that relate to the outcome of your appeal, you may find 'What happens to my studies while I wait for my appeal outcome?' webpage useful.

We will send the outcome of your Appeal Review request to your University/Institutional email address and your personal email address if you provided one.

If you provide a personal email, please ensure that no-one has access to it who you don't want to access your appeal outcome.

The Chair of an Academic Appeal Review Panel will make one of the following decisions:

  • Your appeal review request is upheld. This means your appeal has been successful and all outcomes you requested had been achieved.
  • Your appeal review request is partially upheld. This means that your appeal has been partially successful and part of the outcome you requested or an alternative outcome has been reached. The outcome will result in the academic body changing their original decision to your benefit. 
  • Your appeal review request is dismissed. This means that your appeal has NOT been successful and the outcomes you requested or alternative outcomes have been not been achieved. 

The Chair may also decide to convene a hearing of an Academic Appeal Review Panel to consider your case.

  • We will inform you of this decision and provide all the necessary details .
  • You will have a right to attend the hearing.
  • The hearing will normally be held within 14 calendar days of us informing you of the Chair's decision. 

See more information about Panel hearings.

We will send you a document called a 'Case File' which will include: 

  • The outcome of your appeal review request and the reasons behind the decision.
  • Commentary by the Case Manager and the Chair.
  • Any additional documents that were relevant when considering your appeal review request. 
    • Please note that we will not include a copy of your appeal and any documents that you have submitted  in order to reduce risks of data loss. 
    • However, if you wish to receive these documents, please email appeals@kent.ac.uk and we will respond within 28 calendar days.
  • We will also include information about the next steps available to you if you are unhappy with the outcome of your appeal review request. Appeal Review is the second and the last step in the internal appeal process and you will be able to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA).
  • If your Appeal Review request has been dismissed, you will also receive a Completion of Procedures letter.


    • We provide explanation of your appeal review request outcome and information about any action that you need to take in the Case File.
    • If you are unsure about certain terms used in your outcome, visit our Appeal Terminology webpage.
    • If you are still not clear, contact appeals@kent.ac.uk.