Student Guide to Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Concerns

An appeal is not an opportunity to ask the University to reconsider an academic judgement simply because you disagree with the outcome. Appeals can only be considered where they meet one of the grounds set out in the relevant procedure.

If you do need to appeal against an Award Board decision, you must do so through eVision. You can appeal up to two weeks (excluding bank holidays and University closures) following publication of your results on eVision.

• Log into your eVision account using your university email and password
• Select the “My Student Information & Support” tab
• Follow the process to submit an appeal

This will ask you a series of questions to help to establish whether your appeal is eligible for consideration. It will also help to ensure you have provided all the information we need to assess your appeal.

You will need to provide the following information:

• The module assessments that you are appealing about
• The specific reason for appeal
• An explanation of how your appeal relates to these reasons
• All relevant supporting evidence, which must meet the university’s expectations on evidence, as outlined in the Student Guide to Providing Evidence

If you do not provide all of this information, we may be unable to consider your appeal.

There are very specific reasons that students can appeal for, and if your appeal does not meet them, we may be unable to consider it.

You can find more information about the process on the Complaints and Appeals Procedure.

An appeal is not an opportunity to ask the University to reconsider a judgement simply because you disagree with the outcome. Appeals can only be considered where they meet one of the grounds set out in the relevant procedure.

Exceptional Circumstances (EC) claims can be submitted one month before and up to two weeks after the deadline for an assessment.

If you wish to appeal in relation to providing new evidence, you should first check to see if you are still in time to submit a new claim. If you are in time, we recommend that you consider submitting a new claim with this evidence. This claim will be considered separately from any previous claim and will likely result in a quicker outcome than the appeal process.

If you do need to appeal a decision, you must do so through the University’s Solve portal. You can appeal up to two weeks (excluding bank holidays and University closures) following receipt of the decision on your EC claim.

• Log in using the Microsoft login button and your university email and password
• Select Request Something
• Select Student Related Query
• Select Exceptional Circumstances Appeal

This will ask you a series of questions to help to establish whether your appeal is eligible for consideration. It will also help to ensure you have provided all the information we need to assess your appeal.

You will need to provide the following information:

• Your student number
• The ECR Reference number associated with the claim
• The specific reason for appeal
• An explanation of how your appeal relates to these reasons
• All relevant supporting evidence, which must meet the university’s expectations on evidence, as outlined in the Student Guide to Providing Evidence

If you do not provide all of this information we may be unable to consider your appeal.

There are very specific reasons that students can appeal for, and if your appeal does not meet them, we may be unable to consider it.

You can find more information about the process on the Exceptional Circumstances Procedure.

An appeal is not an opportunity to ask the University to reconsider a judgement simply because you disagree with the outcome. Appeals can only be considered where they meet one of the grounds set out in the relevant procedure.

Before submitting an appeal, you should read the email you have received carefully. Before an attendance withdrawal is finalised, you will have the opportunity to contact the Student Life team to explain your reason for not engaging or attending. If you are still in time to do so, you should do this first, as this will likely result in a quicker outcome than the appeal process.

If you do need to appeal a decision, you must do so through the University’s Solve portal. You can appeal up to two weeks (excluding bank holidays and University closures) following receipt of the Attendance Withdrawal decision.

• Log in using the Microsoft login button and your university email and password
• Select Request Something
• Select Student Related Query
• Select Attendance Appeal

You will need to provide the following information:

• The specific reason for appeal
• An explanation of how your appeal relates to these reasons
• All relevant supporting evidence, which must meet the university’s expectations on evidence, as outlined in the Student Guide to Providing Evidence

If you do not provide all of this information, we may be unable to consider your appeal.

There are very specific reasons that students can appeal for, and if your appeal does not meet them, it will not be eligible, and we will not accept it.

If you do not submit your appeal in time, we will only accept an appeal if there was nothing you could have done to submit it on time. You will need to explain why you could not appeal in time and provide evidence to show why your appeal is late.

Each year the University receives a significant number of appeals. Many cannot be considered because they do not meet the eligibility requirements set out in the regulations. On average, only 35% of appeals submitted are eligible for consideration.

This is because the grounds for appeal and the timeframes for submission are set out in the University’s processes and Procedures and are applied consistently to ensure that all students are treated fairly and equitably. The University's regulations form part of the terms and conditions of study and apply equally to all students. Applying these consistently helps ensure fairness across all cases.

Appeals are commonly rejected because they:

• are submitted after the deadline without a compelling reason for the delay
• are not supported by appropriate independent evidence, or the evidence provided does not meet the University's requirements (LINK)
• are based solely on a disagreement with the academic or procedural decision, rather than meeting one of the permitted grounds for appeal.

Before submitting an appeal, it is important to carefully consider whether your circumstances meet the permitted grounds and whether you have evidence to support your case. Taking time to review the relevant procedure and Student Guide to Providing Evidence before submitting your appeal can help you understand whether an appeal is likely to be eligible and avoid unnecessary delays or disappointment.

If, after reading the guidance, you are unsure whether you have grounds for an appeal, you should seek independent advice before submitting your appeal. If you have not already done so, you may wish to contact the University’s Student Advice Team or the Students' Union Advice Team to discuss the support available to you. Eligibility for support may vary depending on your circumstances, including whether you are a current student. Further information about the services they provide is available on their websites.

A complaint should explain what happened, why you believe the University's service or actions fell below the expected standard, and what outcome you are seeking. It should not be used to challenge academic judgement.

We want to do all we can to make sure you have a fantastic student experience. If something isn't quite right, let us know and we will try to put it right quickly.

If your complaint relates to the conduct of another student, please see the “How do I raise concerns about another student?” section.

If you have not done so already, you should raise your complaint with the person or team which the complaint relates to in the first instance, and within two weeks of the issue arising. This is called early resolution and often allows concerns to be addressed more quickly and informally, before it becomes more complex or escalates. In many cases, a discussion with the relevant member of staff or team can clarify misunderstandings, identify solutions, and achieve an outcome that you’re happy with.

If you have already attempted to resolve this with the individual or team and this hasn’t resolved your complaint, or if the complaint is too serious to resolve informally, you can submit a formal complaint. You must do this using the University’s Solve portal within two weeks of being informed of the informal complaint outcome, or within two weeks of the issue arising. If you’re too late to submit a complaint, please see the “What if I’m out of time?” section for more information.

To access Solve:

• Log in using the Microsoft login button and your university email and password
• Select Request Something
• Select Student Related Query
• Select Formal Complaint

You will need to provide the following information:

• Whether you have attempted to resolve the complaint informally, and if so, what has happened so far
• If you have not attempted to resolve it informally, you will need to tell us it’s not appropriate to do so
• What your complaint relates to
• What remedy or outcome you are looking for from the complaint
• All relevant supporting evidence, which must meet the university’s expectations on evidence, as outlined in the Student Guide to Providing Evidence

If you do not provide all of this information, we may be unable to consider your complaint.

If you are a University of Staffordshire student studying at one of our partner institutions, or if you wish to complain about the Students’ Union, you will need to raise any concerns through their complaints procedure.

If your complaint relates to a partner institution, once you have a final outcome, and if you are unhappy with the way that your complaint has been considered, the University can review it. You will need to provide a copy of the partner’s final outcome, and University of Staffordshire will be unable to give any further consideration to a complaint if the partner institution’s procedure has not been fully completed. Please see the “What if I disagree with the decision?” section of the Complaints Procedure for more information.

Every appeal and complaint undergoes an initial eligibility assessment before the issues raised are considered. At this stage we check, amongst other things, whether the case has been submitted within the required timeframe.

The timeframe for submission is two weeks following the incident for complaints, or two weeks following the decision for appeals. This is a common approach in higher education providers, as it makes sure that appeals and complaint, or “cases”, can be considered in a timely way and, where appropriate, remedies can be put in place quickly.

When a case is not eligible because it is not in time, we will only look at the timeliness, and whether there is any evidence to demonstrate why it could not reasonably have been made in time. This is based on the Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s (OIA) guidance, which is that it is reasonable for universities to have set timeframes in which cases may be submitted.

The OIA are also clear that the longer the delay in submitting a case, the more compelling the reasons need to be for a University to accept a late case for a review. If your case is submitted out of time, we will only accept an appeal if there was nothing a student could have done to submit it on time. This helps to ensure that we apply our procedure consistently.

There is a high threshold for considering late case submissions, for example, because you were in hospital at the time and could not reasonably have submitted your case. Many of the cases that we receive are submitted out of time, and do not have sufficient reasoning or evidence to demonstrate why it could not reasonably have been submitted in time.

If a case is submitted out of time, we will only comment on the timeliness, we will not look at or comment on other aspects of the complaint itself. If we conclude that your case is not eligible for consideration, the University are not disputing the circumstances that you have raised but instead are determining that you have not met the terms for raising an appeal or complaint and have not provided a compelling reason for not raising it within the normal timescales.

Where you make a formal report to the University, we will handle this via the University’s Complaints Procedure. Any concerns related to a student’s conduct will normally be handled through a disciplinary process, normally the Student Conduct Procedure, or where appropriate the Fitness to Practise Procedure. You must do this using the University’s Solve portal as soon as possible, and normally within two weeks of the issue arising. To access Solve:

• Log in using the Microsoft login button and your university email and password
• Select Request Something
• Select Student Related Query
• Select Student Conduct Concern/Fitness to Practise/Study Issue

You will need to provide the following information:

• The name or names of the people involved
• A statement about what happened
• All relevant supporting evidence, which must meet the university’s expectations on evidence, as outlined in the Student Guide to Providing Evidence
• Names and, where possible, contact details for anyone we might need to talk to or interview, such as witnesses

You shouldn’t report something that you could reasonably resolve yourself, such as a dispute with another student.

We know that providing this information can be distressing for you, but we need to have as much detail that you can provide so that we can investigate this properly.

The University doesn’t normally accept anonymous complaints. This is partly because we need to present the reported person with all the information we have about a case, including the statement from the reporting person. The reported person is likely to know who has reported them based on the information in that statement. This means that we would be unable to preserve the anonymity of the person making the report.

It is also a case of natural justice. As a University we have a duty to act fairly when investigating incidents. When someone has been reported for something, they should know who they have been reported by and the allegations that have been made. This is to allow them to be able to appropriately respond to the concern being raised.

Where a report relates to someone in the University, we may ask the reported and reporting parties to sign a non-contact agreement. The purpose of this agreement is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved and that they understand the boundaries in any interactions. It is intended to be a supportive measure, especially in those circumstances where we know that continued interaction between people would not be helpful to the wellbeing or ability to study of those involved, or those around them. However, even though this is intended to be a supportive measure, failure to engage with this process by anyone involved may be considered to be a breach of the University’s conduct expectations.

This workflow outlines what this process will look like.

Finding out that someone has raised a concern about you can be worrying. The University is committed to ensuring that all concerns are considered fairly, impartially and in accordance with our procedures.

If a concern has been raised about your conduct, behaviour or fitness to practise, we will normally contact you in writing to explain:

• The nature of the concern that has been raised
• Which University procedure will be followed
• What will happen next and any timescales
• Whether you need to take any action or provide information
• Where you can access advice and support

Being contacted about a concern does not mean that the University has reached any conclusions. We will give you an opportunity to respond to the concerns that have been raised before any decision is made.

Further information about how these matters are considered can be found in the relevant University procedure, such as the Student Conduct Procedure or the Fitness to Practise Procedure.

This workflow outlines what this process will look like.

We understand that raising a concern or submitting an appeal can sometimes feel daunting, and you may wish to have someone support you through the process.

When students join the University, they do so as adult learners and our relationship is with them directly. For this reason, we would normally communicate with you, rather than with a parent, family member, friend or other representative.

Someone else is welcome to help you prepare your appeal or complaint, and if you would like us to copy a supporter into our correspondence, we are happy to do so. You will need to let us know who you would like us to copy in, and our communications will continue to be addressed to you as the student.

If you need us to make different arrangements because of a disability or reasonable adjustments, please let us know and we will discuss how we can best support you.

eVision

If you have forgotten your password, you will need to reset this by following the "forgotten password" link on the e:Vision login page. You will not be able to email your appeal to us in these circumstances.

If you cannot submit your appeal through e:Vision, you can submit it by emailing regulations-compliance@staffs.ac.uk. If you need to do this, you need to tell us as soon as possible and explain why you have been unable to use the e:Vision appeal procedure. This might be because:

• The option is not available on your e:Vision screen
• You do not have access to your e:Vision account because access has been removed

Solve

You log into Solve using your University email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, you will need to reset this by going to the e:Vision login page and following the "forgotten password" link. You will not be able to email your appeal to us in these circumstances.

If you cannot submit your appeal through Solve, you can submit it by emailing regulations-compliance@staffs.ac.uk. If you need to do this, you need to tell us as soon as possible and explain why you have been unable to use Solve to submit your appeal. This might be because you do not have access to your Solve account because access has been removed