Appeal an exam board decision
Source: https://student.sussex.ac.uk/assessment/appeals Parent: https://student.sussex.ac.uk/international/visas
How you can appeal against decisions from the exam board (Progression and Award Board).
Appealing against an exam board
Full details of the appeals process can be found on the main academic appeals page: this page provides more detailed guidance to appealing against decisions from the Progression and Award exam board.
Students who are on a taught undergraduate or postgraduate course will usually receive marks and feedback within three weeks following completion of an assessment. At this stage, your marks are provisional. Your school examination board will meet, usually at the end of an academic year or following resits, to approve the marks awarded and make decisions about whether you need to undertake resits, whether resits should be capped or uncapped and whether you can progress to your next stage of study. The exam board will also make award decisions including the classification for the award.
These decisions are then formally communicated to students through Sussex Direct. Find out more about how to get your results.
How to appeal a decision made by an exam board
Once your full results and the exam board decision have been published, you become eligible to enter the Academic Appeals process. You can do this either by submitting an Informal Resolution request or a Formal Appeal within 10 university working days following the publication of your results and the exam board decision. Result publication dates and the deadlines for appeal can be found below.
Before submitting an appeal
See what you need to do before submitting your appeal, and where you can get advice and support with the process.
Choosing whether to submit an Informal Resolution request or a Formal Appeal
Read the information below before making your decision.
Informal Resolution
Some student concerns or queries can be addressed quickly and directly by contacting your school.
Matters that can be dealt with via Informal Resolution are limited: examples of what can be considered include:
- a mark that has not been correctly recorded, or other administrative error
- requesting an optional sit for a module that has been compensated by the exam board
- confirmation that accepted Exceptional Circumstances (EC) were considered by the exam board and the rationale for any decision made, such as why you may not have been offered a sit
- if you already have an accepted EC Claim for late submission of a particular assessment, you can ask the exam board if you can be offered an uncapped sit for the same assessment on the basis that your circumstances at that time impaired your marks.
You can also ask for clarification of the examination board’s decision and the rationale for that decision – for example:
- how your degree was classified – whether you were on the borderline for a higher classification and whether this was considered
- why you haven’t been allowed to progress to the next stage of study
- why a particular module wasn’t compensated or condoned.
Important: You should only provide your EC Claim number. You do not need provide any further information about your circumstances.
Examples of what cannot be considered include:
- Exceptional Circumstances for assessments that have not already been approved via the EC process – you’ll need to submit a Formal Appeal
- disagreement of a mark awarded – this is a matter of academic judgment and cannot be appealed via Informal Resolution or Formal Appeal.
If you wish to seek Informal Resolution, then you must complete and submit the following Informal Resolution Request Form [21KB DOC].
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Complete the form ensuring that you respond to all questions
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Attach your completed form together with any supporting evidence that you would like to provide to a new email. You should then send it to your School, using the contact information below.
Important: If you do not submit the required form to the specified email address, your request will not likely qualify for Informal Resolution under the Academic Appeals regulations.
Central Foundation Year: FDNstudentexperience@sussex.ac.uk
School of Education and Social Work: eswcao@sussex.ac.uk
School of Engineering and Informatics: engInf-InformalResolutions@sussex.ac.uk
School of Global Studies: globalcao@sussex.ac.uk
School of Law, Politics and Sociology: lps.cao@sussex.ac.uk
School of Life Sciences: lifesci-informalresolution@sussex.ac.uk
School of Media, Arts and Humanities: MAHInformalResolution@sussex.ac.uk
School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences: MPSInformalResolutions@sussex.ac.uk
School of Psychology: psychologyinformalresolution@sussex.ac.uk
University of Sussex Business School: Business-CAO@sussex.ac.uk
Formal Appeal
You may decide to submit a Formal Appeal rather than seeking Informal Resolution. This is advisable where the matters you wish to raise fall outside the scope for Informal Resolution (see above limitations). This would include where you wish to provide evidence of Exceptional Circumstances that may have impacted your assessments.
You can also submit a Formal Appeal if you’re not satisfied with the outcome of Informal Resolution. This must be done within 10 university working days following the issue of your school’s Informal Resolution decision.
Important: It’s essential you present your case clearly and in full as your appeal will be considered solely on the basis of the case and evidence you provide. To give yourself the best chance of having your appeal accepted, make sure you have read this guidance, the academic appeals regulations [PDF 290.43KB] and the advice on the main academic appeals page.
Evidence
Appeals should be supported by evidence. Evidence is defined as ‘written information from someone who knows you in a professional capacity and can independently verify your circumstances, and from when and how they affected you’.
Evidence should be a letter or email. Evidence should be robust, explain the impact of the circumstance and the dates and duration of the circumstance.
What to do if you’re awaiting evidence
Don’t delay submitting your appeal. Late appeals are rarely accepted. You can tell us on the appeal form that you are awaiting evidence.
If you’re still awaiting evidence one calendar month after submitting your appeal, you must inform us by emailing appeals@sussex.ac.uk, quoting your candidate number. Otherwise, your appeal may be considered without evidence.
Appeals will be rejected if:
- the evidence provided is not from someone who knows you in a professional capacity – for example, it was from a friend or relative
- the evidence provider cannot fully confirm your circumstances – for example, the provider can only confirm what you have told them
- the provider of the evidence cannot be verified
- supporting evidence is not provided
- the grounds of the appeal are not permissible – for example, you cannot appeal against the academic judgment of the examiners, defined by the OIAHE as “a judgment that is made about a matter where only the opinion of an academic expert is sufficient” – in other words, you cannot challenge a mark because you think your marker was wrong
- the outcome requested is not permissible under the Progression and Award regulations
- your appeal does not meet the grounds for appeal – in this respect, it’s important that you fully answer the questions detailed on the appeal form
- your appeal is submitted after the published deadline – late appeals are rarely accepted (please refer to Academic Appeal regulation 5.2 for examples of when a late appeal may be accepted for consideration).
If the grounds for your appeal can be upheld, either the Appeals Office or the chair of your examination board will determine whether an outcome can be offered.
Important: Only outcomes that are permissible under the Progression and Award regulations can be considered.
Typical outcomes that are permissible under the regulations include the:
- waiver of a late submission penalty
- conversion of a resit for capped marks to a sit for uncapped marks
- offer of a sit for uncapped marks.
Typical outcomes that are not permissible include:
- the disregarding of marks
- an increase in a classification on the basis of exceptional circumstances
- the remarking of work.
- progressing to the next stage of study where you have failed more than 30 credits.
Making your Formal Appeal
Complete and submit your appeal with supporting evidence using our online form.
Make sure you give yourself time to review your appeal and ensure that evidence has uploaded successfully before you submit it.
Appeal process
Find out more about the next steps in the appeal process.
Appeal deadlines
You can find out when your marks and the exam board’s decision will be published below together with the deadlines for entering the appeal process (Informal Resolution or Formal Appeal).
Assessments for DL blocks 1 and 2 (A1)
Date results published:19 March 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 2 April 2026
Assessments for DL blocks 3 and 4 including resits undertaken in A2 (April/May)
Date results published: 15 July 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 29 July 2026
Assessments for DL blocks 4 and 5 and resit assessments undertaken in A3 (August/September)
Date results published:21 October 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 4 November 2026 - ZJSU-Sussex AI Joint Institute
Masters students for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Date results published: 20 February 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 6 March 2026
All undergraduates for Autumn Term modules
Dates results published: 6 March 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 20 March 2026
Undergraduate finalists for Spring Term modules (S2,A2) and resits for Autumn term modules
Dates results published: 26 June 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 10 July 2026
Progressing undergraduates for Spring term modules (S2,A2) and resits for Autumn term modules
Dates results published: 7 August 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 21 August 2026
Masters students for Spring term modules (S2,A2) and resits for Autumn term modules
Dates results published: 7 August 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 21 August 2026
Masters students: resits for Spring term modules undertaken in A3****
Dates results published: 2 October 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 16 October 2026
All undergraduates: resits for Spring term modules undertaken in A3
Dates results published: 2 October 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 16 October 2026 - All other students
Resits for Masters students taken during the Semester One assessment period A1 (including deferred dissertations)
Dates results published: 19 March 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 2 April 2026
Undergraduate Finalists, following Semesters One and Two (A1,A2)
Dates results published: 17 June 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 1 July 2026
Progressing undergraduates, following Semesters One and Two (A1,A2)
Dates results published: 6 July 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 20 July 2026
Masters students, following Semesters One and Two (A1,A2)
Dates results published: 15 July 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 29 July 2026
Resits for all undergraduates (A3)
Dates results published: 10 September 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 24 September 2026
Resits and dissertations for Masters students (A3)
Dates results published: 21 October 2026
Deadline for entering appeal process: 4 November 2026