2024-25
Code of Procedure for Appeals to the Senate Appeals Committee
The Code of Procedure for Appeals to the Senate Appeals Committee is governed by Resolution No. 570 of the University Court.
28.1 Senate Assessors for Appeals
28.1.1 The University Senate shall appoint from its members two Senate Assessors for Academic Appeals, one of whom shall be the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals and the other shall be their deputy. Any of the duties of the Senior Senate Assessor may be performed by the Deputy Senior Senate Assessor. In the event that neither the Senior Senate Assessor nor their deputy is available or where a conflict of interest precludes both from involvement in a case or in a particular stage of the case, the Clerk of Senate shall nominate another member of the Senate Appeals Committee to act as the Senior Senate Assessor.
The term of office shall normally be three years.
28.1.2 The duties of the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals[1] shall include consideration of the admissibility of late appeals, directing the student with respect to further information, consideration of appeals, convening a hearing before the Senate Appeals Committee, notifying the outcome to the student and reporting outcomes and any recommendations to Senate annually.
28.2 Jurisdiction of the Senate Appeals Committee
28.2.1 The Senate Appeals Committee shall consider appeals by Undergraduate Students, Taught Postgraduate Students and Research Postgraduate Students against a decision of a College Appeals Committee which falls within the scope of grounds for an appeal to Senate.
28.2.2 The Committee shall not have authority to alter the decision of a Board of Examiners. If relevant factors are raised by the appeal which should have been made known to the Board of Examiners or which the Board failed to take into account, the Committee shall instruct the Board to reconvene to reconsider the assessment.
28.2.3 The Committee shall not have authority to permit the resubmission of a thesis for a degree by research where a Committee of Examiners following due process, has recommended rejection of the thesis or resubmission for a lower degree. If the appeal reveals failure on the part of a School or a College to meet the standards set by the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research Degrees, the student may raise a complaint under the Complaints Handling Procedure (Regulation 29).
28.3 Lodging an Appeal
Time within which an appeal is to be lodged and late appeals
28.3.1 Where an appeal lies against a decision of the College Appeals Committee in terms of §28.4.1, the appeal or an intention to appeal shall be submitted in writing to senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk for the attention of the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals, within 10 working days[2] of the intimation to the student of the decision against which the student is appealing. Where an intention to appeal is submitted, the full appeal, including the grounds, remedy and all supporting evidence, shall be submitted within 20 working days of the student's intention to appeal submission.
28.3.2 The timescale of 10 working days to intimate an intention to appeal combined with 20 working days to submit an appeal is designed to provide sufficient time for preparation of the appeal. Students are responsible for ensuring that arrangements such as: consultations with representatives, and data requests made under Data Protection or Freedom of Information legislation, are initiated at the beginning of the process. In considering any request from a student for an extension to the normal timescale for submission of an appeal, the timeliness of the student’s own actions will be taken into account.
28.3.3 An application for an extension of time for submitting (i) an intention to appeal beyond 10 working days, or (ii) an appeal and complete paperwork beyond 20 working days after intimating an intention to appeal, shall be made in writing to senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk for the attention of the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals and shall state the grounds on which an extension of time is sought and be accompanied by such evidence of medical or other adverse personal circumstances as are relevant to the application for additional time. The application should include sufficient information about the appeal itself to identify the assessment in question and give an indication of the nature of the appeal.
28.3.4 An application for extension of time for submitting an appeal, or an intention to appeal, shall not be granted unless the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals is satisfied that the student was precluded from submitting within the timescales set out above, as a result of serious illness or other circumstances which are both exceptional and relevant to the appeal.
28.3.5 Documents required for the consideration of an appeal shall be treated as having been given or sent on the day that it is received by senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk; and any letter or document sent to any person including the student in connection with the appeal shall, if sent to the person's last notified address, be treated as having been given or sent on the day that it was posted or emailed.
28.4 Grounds for Appeal
28.4.1 An appeal may be made to the Senate Appeals Committee against a decision of a College Appeals Committee only on the grounds that:
i) relevant new evidence has emerged which could not reasonably have been produced to the College Appeals Committee; and/or
ii) there has been defective procedure by the College in its disposal of the appeal; and/or
iii) the disposal at College level was manifestly unreasonable.[3]
28.4.2 Evidence of medical or other adverse personal circumstances must be provided in accordance with the Code of Assessment (§16.45 - §16.46).
28.4.3 In the case of a claim of unfair or defective procedure, evidence in the form of written statements or formal documents such as the Minute of the Board of Examiners must be provided. Advice on a subject data access request can be obtained from the Data Protection Office.
28.4.4 Where the student claims that the disposal at College level was unreasonable, the student must state in writing the respects in which they believe that the College Appeals Committee was mistaken in its decision.
28.5 Submission of Appeal Form
28.5.1 In order to appeal, students must complete an Appeal Form. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all information required to consider the appeal is submitted by the relevant deadline. Additional submissions will not normally be accepted.
28.5.2 An appeal will not be considered by the Senate Appeals Committee unless an Appeal Form has been completed.
28.5.3 Students must submit any relevant evidence with their Appeal Form. Guidance on appropriate evidence is set out on the Form.
28.5.4 To complete an Appeal Form, students will need to state:
i) the name, address and student ID number of the student and the email address to be used for correspondence (the student email address will be used unless otherwise instructed by the student);
ii) the decision appealed against;
iii) all the grounds for the appeal: additional grounds may be admitted subsequently only at the discretion of the Senior Senate Assessor; additional grounds presented at the hearing may lead to adjournment of the hearing;
iv) the remedy or remedies which the student seeks.
28.5.5 The Appeal Form must also clearly identify any new evidence, describe how the procedure was defective, and/or explain why the outcome was unreasonable. If new evidence is submitted, the Appeal Form must explain why this could not have reasonably been produced at an earlier stage.
28.5.6 Evidence should consist of complete documents that are clearly dated. Non-textual images will not normally be considered. Evidence put forward to support the appeal which is suspected of being dishonest or to have been dishonestly acquired may be referred for investigation under the Code of Student Conduct.
28.6 Senate Appeals Committee - Constitution
28.6.1 The Committee shall be constituted as follows:
i) The Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals or their deputy shall convene the Committee. In the event that neither the Senior Senate Assessor nor their deputy is available or where a conflict of interests precludes both from involvement in a case or in a particular stage of a case, the Clerk of Senate shall nominate another member of the Senate Appeals Committee to act as a Convener.[4]
ii) Eight members nominated by each College to serve for a period of three years. The nominees will be individuals with experience of assessment, teaching and supervision at undergraduate and postgraduate (including research) levels. The nominees will not be members of any College Appeals Committee.
28.6.2 The membership of the Committee shall be reported to Senate annually. Members shall normally serve for three years.
28.6.3 A representative of the student body may attend the hearing in the role of observer unless the student has expressed the wish that no such representative shall be present.
28.6.4 Where a member of the Committee has participated directly in the decision appealed against or has an affiliation to the School(s) in which the student has been studying, that member shall not sit for that appeal.
28.6.5 The quorum of the Committee to consider a specific student appeal shall be three. Exceptionally the Committee shall have powers to co-opt up to two members of academic staff in order to obtain a quorum.
28.6.6 The Committee may have the assistance of legal advisers.
28.6.7 A member of Academic Policy & Governance or nominee shall act as Clerk to the Committee.
28.7 Consideration of Appeals
Power to give directions
28.7.1 Upon receipt of an Appeal Form, the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals may direct the student (or their representative) or any party to the proceedings, to furnish additional evidence, information or explanation as may be thought to be appropriate.
28.7.2 A direction to the student (or their representative) shall state the period of time by which the student shall respond in writing following which the appeal may be dismissed by the Senior Senate Assessor.
Referral of College Appeal Preliminary Review
28.7.3 If a student wishes to refer for review the decision of the Convener of the College Appeals Committee made in accordance with §27.5.3, the student must submit an Appeal Review Form, along with any relevant evidence, within 10 working days of being notified of the College Appeals Committee’s decision, stating their reasons why they believe that the College’s judgement was unreasonable. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all information required to review the decision of the Convener of the College Appeals Committee is submitted by the relevant deadline. Additional submissions will not normally be accepted. The Senior Senate Assessor will review the student’s form and the College’s decision not to accept as competent their ground or grounds for appeal. If the Senior Senate Assessor agrees that the ground or grounds in question were not competent, the student’s referral for review will be dismissed.
28.7.4 If the Senior Senate Assessor disagrees with the College’s decision made under §27.5.3, the appeal will be referred back to the College Appeals Committee with whatever guidance or direction they consider appropriate.
Preliminary Review of Senate Appeals
28.7.5 Prior to consideration of an appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee, the Senior Senate Assessor will review the student’s appeal to determine whether it raises one or more competent grounds for appeal.[5] In cases where a student has appealed on the ground of relevant new evidence which could not reasonably have been produced to the College Appeals Committee, the Senior Senate Assessor will make a judgement about whether the student has submitted competent reasons for not having presented their circumstances to that Committee.
28.7.6 The Senate Appeals Committee will only consider an appeal in relation to the grounds that have been accepted by the Senior Senate Assessor to be competent.
28.7.7 If an appeal is deemed by the Senior Senate Assessor not to have satisfied any of the grounds for appeal, the appeal will be dismissed.
Consideration by the Committee
28.7.8 The Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals, in consultation with two members of the Senate Appeals Committee, may make a decision without a hearing where the paperwork is comprehensive and informative and no further information is required from the student or where the student is no longer available for a hearing.[6] The Committee may:
i) dismiss the appeal because the subject-matter of the appeal does not fall within the scope of §28.4;
ii) dismiss the appeal because no competent grounds have been stated or because the appeal is frivolous or vexatious or because the appeal is out of time or because the student failed to comply with a direction made in terms of §28.7.1 and §28.7.2;
iii) dismiss the appeal because it does not establish a case that disposal at College level involved defective or unfair procedure, or a failure to take relevant medical evidence or adverse personal circumstances into account or was manifestly unreasonable;
iv) dismiss the appeal because the new evidence submitted by the student could reasonably have been presented to the College Appeals Committee;
v) dismiss the appeal because the new evidence submitted by the student is not relevant or makes no material difference to the consideration of the case;
vi) set aside the decision of the College Appeals Committee and refer the appeal to the appropriate academic body responsible for the application of the progress regulations or to the Board of Examiners with whatever guidance or direction it considers appropriate;
vii) refer the appeal to the College Appeals Committee with whatever guidance or direction it considers appropriate, which may include a direction that the appeal is heard again by a Committee which is not constituted by any member who was involved in the first decision;
viii) refer the appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee for a full hearing. Provision of a hearing does not imply that a case has been established.
28.7.9 The Senior Senate Assessor may also take such other interim action by way of direction as they deem appropriate.
28.7.10 The Clerk to the Committee shall state in the outcome letter to the student (or their representative) the reasons for the decision and shall provide the papers which were considered by the Committee.
28.7.11 If a student believes that a factual error or omission has been made regarding the consideration of their appeal by the Senate Appeals Committee, they (or their representative) must contact senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk within 10 working days of the date that the outcome letter was sent to them. The Senior Senate Assessor will consider the claim and determine the appropriate action to be taken.
28.7.12 If the student is dissatisfied with the University’s consideration of their appeal, they shall have the right to a review by an external adjudicator (§28.15), details of which shall be provided at the conclusion of the appeal, and are available from senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk.
28.8 Arrangements and Procedure for a Hearing
Timing of the hearing
28.8.1 When a hearing is required, the Committee shall meet within 20 working days of receipt of the full appeal. Where this is not possible the student should be informed as soon as possible within the 20 day period and be given the reason(s) for the delay.
Preparation of papers
28.8.2 The Clerk of the Committee shall:
i) request a copy of the papers which were before the College Appeals Committee and a report of the hearing including information relating to the manner in which the decision appealed against was reached;
ii) request any other reports or information relevant to the appeal;
iii) request the Convener of the College Appeals Committee to provide a written response to the statements made in the Appeal Form and to name any person or persons the College wishes to appear to provide evidence;
iv) provide the student (or their representative), normally 10 working days in advance of the hearing, with a copy of all papers which will be before the Committee and the names of those persons who will be in attendance. The papers will normally be sent to the student by email unless other means are requested by the student;
v) notify the student (or their representative) no less than five working days prior to the hearing of the date, time and location of the hearing and the names of the members of the Committee who will consider the case.
28.9 Attendance at Hearing
28.9.1 Where the student is prevented from attending by ill health, the hearing shall normally be deferred on submission of medical evidence. If the student does not attend on the date appointed and no notification of the absence has been received, if the Senior Senate Assessor is satisfied that the student has received due notice of the hearing, the Committee may proceed to deal with the case and to reach a decision in the student’s absence.
28.9.2 The student shall have the right to be accompanied, assisted or represented at the hearing by one of the following: a parent or guardian; a fellow student or other friend; an Adviser from the Students' Representative Council Advice Centre; a member of University staff, or any other person. Where the student seeks to have two individuals in attendance, one shall attend as an observer only. The student shall provide the name of any person or persons they wish to attend to the Clerk of the Committee no later than 10 working days before the date of the hearing.
28.9.3 The student may name any person or persons they wish to be present to provide evidence on their behalf. The name of any person or persons called by the student to provide evidence shall be provided to the Clerk of the Committee no later than 10 working days before the date of the hearing. The student shall be responsible for arranging the attendance of such persons at the hearing with the exception of members of staff of the University who shall be notified of the date, time and location of the hearing by the Clerk to the Committee.
28.9.4 If any person or persons are unable or unwilling to attend the hearing, the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals shall be responsible for deciding if the hearing shall proceed on the date arranged or be deferred. A written statement may be presented by any person who has been invited to attend the hearing but who is not available at the date specified.
28.9.5 The hearing shall be held in private. Strict confidentiality shall be observed.
28.10 Expert Advice
Where the Committee requires the advice of an expert to deal with a question of fact or special difficulty, such an expert shall provide a written report and where appropriate shall be invited to attend the hearing to provide evidence.
28.11 Procedure for the Conduct of a Hearing
28.11.1 The Committee shall rely only on evidence presented at the hearing. Unauthorised electronic recordings of previous meetings or events will not be admissible as evidence at the hearing.
28.11.2 The hearing shall be conducted in the presence of all persons invited to attend to provide evidence.
28.11.3 Any unauthorised electronic recording of the hearing is expressly forbidden by the University, and may constitute a student conduct offence in terms of the Code of Student Conduct.
Statements
28.11.4 At the hearing:
i) The Convener shall invite the student and their representative to make a statement. If the student declines the invitation to make a statement, the Committee shall reserve the right to question the student directly.
ii) The Committee shall then address any questions to the relevant parties including those appearing to advise the Committee and shall afford the student and their representative an opportunity to question the persons involved through the Convener.
iii) The Committee shall consider any request from any person present at the hearing to make a statement or to put questions through the Committee to anyone whom the Committee has examined.
iv) The Committee shall afford the student an opportunity to make a final statement or to have one made on their behalf.
v) The Convener shall seek confirmation from all parties that all necessary and relevant information has been conveyed to the Committee, that the questioning is complete and that in the opinion of the student, the hearing has been conducted in a fair manner.
Deliberation of the Committee
28.11.5 Thereafter all persons except the Committee, its Clerk and any legal adviser appointed to advise the Committee shall retire while the Committee considers its decision. The Committee shall reach its decision or defer the decision pending further investigations.
Rules of evidence
28.11.6 In reaching its decision, the Senate Appeals Committee shall not be bound by the rules of evidence. The Committee shall attempt to ascertain all relevant facts with a view to coming to a reasonable disposal.
Adjournment
28.11.7 At any stage the Convener may adjourn the hearing if they consider this to be necessary.
28.12 Disposal
28.12.1 The Committee shall decide the matter at the conclusion of its consideration of the appeal or as soon as possible thereafter.
28.12.2 The Committee may decide by a majority.
28.12.3 The Committee may:
i) dismiss the appeal because the subject matter of the appeal does not fall within the scope of §26.3;
ii) dismiss the appeal because the disposal at College level did not involve defective or unfair procedure, or a failure to take relevant medical or adverse personal circumstances into account or was not manifestly unreasonable;
iii) dismiss the appeal because the new evidence submitted by the student could reasonably have been produced to the College Appeals Committee;
iv) dismiss the appeal because the new evidence submitted by the student is not relevant or makes no material difference to the consideration of the case;
v) dismiss the appeal because the appeal is frivolous or vexatious; or if it is considered that the student suffered no material prejudice;
vi) refer the appeal to the appropriate College Committee or to a Board of Examiners with whatever guidance or direction it considers appropriate;
vii) uphold the appeal and grant whatever remedy it considers fair in the circumstances which does not involve overturning an academic judgement.
28.12.4 The decision and the reasons for the decision, with reference to any findings of fact, will be provided in writing to the student and their representative by email normally within 10 working days of the decision being determined. If it is not possible to provide the decision and the reasons for the decision within this timescale, the student will be informed of the reason for the delay and a new timescale will be provided.
28.12.5 Where an appeal is upheld, the University shall defray reasonable and proportionate incidental expenses necessarily incurred by the student in the process of pursuing an appeal.
28.12.6 Incidental expenses are those which arose out of the pursuit of an appeal. They might include travelling expenses or expenses incurred in providing documents. Expenses should be reasonable and proportionate. The claim should be supported by evidence in the form of receipts. Where the claim relates to travel expenses, these should be at the lowest rate that could be obtained taking account of the circumstances of the claim.
28.12.7 A claim for expenses should be made on a Complaints Expenses form and submitted to senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk within 20 working days of the date of the letter of outcome of the appeal.[7]
28.13 Reference Back to a College
28.13.1 The Senate Appeals Committee may decide to refer the matter to the College Appeals Committee where it considers:
i) that evidence made available to the Senate Appeals Committee had not been presented to the College Appeals Committee; or
ii) that there had been defective procedure at the College level; or
iii) that the decision of the College Appeals Committee had been manifestly unreasonable.
28.13.2 In the first case, the Senate Appeals Committee may decide to refer the matter to the College Appeals Committee as originally constituted to hear the appeal in order to permit that Committee to consider the case again.
28.13.3 In the second and third cases, the matter shall be considered by a newly constituted College Appeals Committee.
28.13.4 Where an appeal is made to the Senate Appeals Committee against the decision of the College Appeals Committee following a reference back, the Senior Senate Assessor for Academic Appeals, in consultation with any two members of the Senate Appeals Committee, will reconvene to consider the case.
28.14 Annual Review
28.14.1 The Senate Appeals Committee shall review its proceedings annually including a review of actions taken in respect of recommendations to Senate.
28.15 Independent External Review
28.15.1 Outcomes reached under the terms of §28.7.3, §28.7.7, §28.7.8 (i)-(v), §28.12.3 (i)-(v)and (vii) and §28.13.4 shall conclude the internal processes of the University.
28.15.2 If the student is dissatisfied with the University's consideration of an appeal to Senate, they shall have the right to a review by an external adjudicator,[8] details of which shall be provided at the conclusion of the appeal, and are available from senate-appeals@glasgow.ac.uk.
Footnotes
[1] From this point onward, the term ‘Senior Senate Assessor’ refers to the Senior Senate Assessor, their deputy or a nominated member of the Senate Appeals Committee.
[2] For the purposes of this Code, Monday to Friday are counted as working days except when the University is closed for a public or other Holiday. Saturdays and Sundays are not counted as working days.
[3] Unreasonable in this context means that the decision has been irrational or logically flawed. The inclusion of "manifestly" means that the unreasonableness of the decision is obvious or clear.
[4] From this point onward, the term ‘Convener’ refers to the Senior Senate Assessor, their deputy, or a member of the Senate Appeals Committee nominated by the Clerk of Senate.
[5] This section refers to appeals that have been considered by the College Appeals Committee after being accepted at the Preliminary Review stage.
[6] The timing for the consideration and notification of the appeal outcome should not exceed that set for cases considered by a full hearing as specified in §28.8.1 and §28.12.4 of this Code. Therefore the decision should be issued within 30 working days of receipt of the letter of the Appeal Form. Where this is not possible the student should be informed as soon as possible of the reason for the delay.
[7] https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/apg/studentcodes/academicappealsstaff/expenses/.
[8] External adjudication will be provided by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (www.spso.org.uk/).