Academic Appeals

An academic appeal is when you formally ask the University to review a decision that has already been made about your studies.

This could include decisions about:

• Review of Grade
• Special Consideration
• Credit for Prior Learning
• Honours
• HDR Scholarships
• Fitness to Practice Outcomes

You cannot apply for an appeal simply because you disagree with the result. It is about checking whether the decision was made correctly and fairly.

You can only submit an appeal after a final decision has been made under a policy listed in the Academic Appeals Procedures.

For example:

• After you receive the outcome of a Review of Grade
• After you receive your Honours result
• After a Special Consideration outcome

You cannot submit an appeal before a decision is made.

Your appeal must be submitted within 20 working days of the notification of the decision you are appealing. Weekends, Public Holidays and other University shutdown periods are not included in the time calculation.

You can appeal against a decision made under the policies listed in the Academic Appeals Procedure. 

You are strongly encouraged to try to resolve the issue at a local level first. This means that you should contact the people involved in your matter first. Some examples of who you might need to contact include:

• Your Subject Coordinator
• Your Head of Discipline
• Your School

Many issues can be explained or resolved quickly without needing a formal appeal process.

You may consider an appeal if:

• You believe the correct process was not followed
• There was an error in the way the decision was made
• You have new and important information that was not available when the decision was first made.

You should not submit an appeal if:

• You simply disagree with your mark
• You do not have any new evidence
• You have not tried to resolve the issue first

You can only appeal on specific grounds.

These include:

• where there has been a breach of procedural fairness; or
• where substantial and relevant new or fresh evidence is available that was not available for the student to provide when the original decision about the student’s case was made.

An in-depth description of what these grounds mean is included below.

Believing the outcome of a decision is unfair does not constitute a breach of procedural fairness.

This means the decision may not have been made in a fair or correct way.

For example:

• You have evidence the correct process was not followed
• You were not given a chance to respond or provide information
• You have evidence important information was not considered or that irrelevant information was considered
• You have evidence the decision-maker was biased in their decision

In simple terms, this ground is about how the decision was made, not just the outcome.

The three main principles of procedural fairness are:

• Did you know the details of the matter/academic decision that adversely affected you?
• Did you have the opportunity to provide comment on the matter for the decision maker to consider before the decision was made?
• Was the decision maker fair and unbiased?

A valid appeal must demonstrate that any one of the three principles of procedural fairness was breached and/or that the decision made was not in accordance with University policies, procedures, and rules.

This means you now have important information that was not available at the time you made your initial application.

The evidence must:

• Be relevant to your case, and
• Not have been reasonably available at the time of the original decision

For example:

• New medical evidence
• Documents or information you could not access before

In simple terms, this ground is about new facts that could affect the decision.

It cannot include information that was available to you at the time of your initial application, but you chose not to provide.

To submit an appeal:

1. Complete the Academic Appeal Form
2. Clearly explain:
   • What decision you are appealing
   • Why you believe it is incorrect
3. Include a clear timeline of events in chronological order
4. Attach relevant supporting documents, such as:
   • Emails
   • Medical certificates
   • Relevant evidence
5. Ensure the file names for all supporting documentation are appropriately named and dated
6. Submit your appeal within the required timeframe

Late or incomplete appeals may not be accepted.

Step 1: The appeal is received by the Conduct and Investigations Office for initial review to ensure:

• A relevant decision has been made that can be appealed under the Academic Appeals Procedures
• The appeal clearly outlines the ground of appeal
• Includes supporting documentation
• That the appeal has been submitted on time – within 20 working days of initial decision

Step 2: The Committee Secretary seeks and compiles all related documentation to provide to the decision-maker.

Step 3: The appeal will be sent to the Chair of Academic Senate to review the application to determine if your appeal has established grounds.

• If grounds are established:The application will proceed to a hearing of the Academic Appeals and Integrity Committee (AAIC). The student may or may not be invited to attend the hearing. The Committee will make a decision, if there are grounds, and make a decision on the outcome of the appeal.
• If no grounds are established: The application will be referred to the Deputy Chair of Academic Senate, or the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Learning & Teaching (or nominee) for review.
  If they agree that no grounds were established, the appeal will be dismissed.
  If they disagree with the Chair of Academic Senate, and believe that grounds have been established, the appeal will proceed to a hearing of the Academic Appeals and Integrity Committee (AAIC).

Step 4: You will be advised of the outcome of your appeal to your student email account.

If you believe your final grade does not accurately reflect your performance against the subject criteria the correct process to use is the Review of Grade.

The Appeals process cannot be engaged until a decision has been finalised in the Review of Grade process.The Appeals process is not an alternate mechanism for having your Review of Grade application reassessed. You may submit an appeal against the outcome of your Review of Grade if one, or both grounds for appeal are met.

Unfortunately, you cannot use the Academic Appeals process to appeal the mark given in a single assessment item. Academic Appeals relate to a decision made under the policies listed in the Academic Appeals Procedures.

If you are dissatisfied with a result in an assessment task you should contact your Subject Coordinator.

According to the Assessment Procedures – Review of Grade cl. 5 states “Students seeking review of individual items of assessment should, in the first instance, approach the academic staff member in writing responsible for the marking of that assessment item or their Subject Coordinator. Where, after such discussion, the student believes an error persists or the result is not an accurate reflection of their work, the student may apply for a review at the end of the term following the formal notification of the final grade in line with Part F – Review of Grade in the Assessment Policy.”

You have 20 business days from the date of the decision to submit your appeal. The date of decision is considered as the date the outcome was sent to you, which is not always the date that you first viewed the outcome.

Business days are working days of the University and do not include weekends, public holidays, and University closures.

In accordance with Clause 10 of the Academic Appeal Procedures, late appeals (more than 20 working days after the decision was made) are considered at the discretion of the Chair of the Committee. For this to be considered, students must provide documented extenuating circumstances that prevented them for being able to submit their application on time. Students must prove their claim for extenuating circumstances by providing appropriate independent supporting documentation.

The definition of extenuating circumstances is outlined at Clause 3 of the Academic Appeal Procedures and states that these are defined as circumstances beyond a person’s control (i.e. the person is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for the situation). The events or circumstances must be unusual, uncommon or abnormal.

When making a late appeal, students must include a statement that explains why the appeal is late and address the extenuating circumstances that prevented an on-time application. Independent documentation that supports the claims of extenuating circumstances must be provided.

The extenuating circumstances will be considered by the Chair to determine if the Chair will review the appeal or not. If you don’t meet the requirements for a late appeal, the Chair will not review the appeal.

You should provide independent documentation that substantiates your claims. You will need to ensure that your supporting documentation is on official letterhead (if relevant) and signed and dated. A Statutory Declaration may only be considered where no other supporting documents are available.

Additional information on supporting documentation accepted by the University, including types, can be found here.

You need to allow 6 weeks for the resolution of your appeal, especially during peak appeal periods which are the weeks following the official release of results. The full process and timelines are documented in Section 4 of the Academic Appeals Procedure.

A poor application that does not clearly demonstrate grounds for appeal will only delay review and resolution of your appeal. Such an application will likely be dismissed.

If the Committee upholds the appeal, then it will either:

1. substitute its own findings, and, if applicable, set aside or vary any decision previously made; or
2. if it decides that the original finding or decision regarding the student should not be set aside or varied, despite allowing the appeal, confirm that finding or outcome.

Please note that the Committee cannot decide to provider a higher mark or grade. In cases where an error is determined, it will be referred back to the relevant School for a review of the mark or grade. [ER1]Don’t think this follows the chapeau?

If the Committee dismisses an appeal, then the original finding will stand. The Committee’s decision is final, and there is no further avenue of internal appeal available in relation to the same matter/issue. (Clause 40 of the Academic Appeals Procedures).

Staff in the Conduct and Investigations Office can provide advice to you in relation to the appeals process, related policy restrictions and application requirements, and you can contact them at StudentAppeals@westernsydney.edu.au.

Support services are available should you wish to access them. The University offers free and confidential support to students through Student Wellbeing Services.  Appointments with a member of the Counselling team can be booked at a time that suits you via the Wellbeing Service - Online Booking system. 

These services can also be contacted via 1300 668 370 (Option 5) or by email:

• Counselling: counselling@westernsydney.edu.au
• Disability: disability@westernsydney.edu.au
• Welfare: welfare@westernsydney.edu.au

If you require assistance with completing an Academic Appeal application, you can contact the Student Services Hub.

If you are alleging that Western Sydney University processes and/or policies have not been followed or adhered to, you can contact the Conduct and Investigations Office and/or the National Student Ombudsman, if you believe that the University has not properly followed its published policies and procedures.

• Appeal applications must be submitted within 20 working days of the outcome of the decision being communicated to you
• You must provide clear reasons and evidence
• Not all appeals are successful
• The outcome of your appeal will be communicated to you via your student email
• The appeal process does not re-mark your work
• The appeal process can only check whether a decision-making process was fair and correct
• Submitting Supporting documentation is strongly recommended