Decision Report 201706835

Summary

Miss C, who was a postgraduate student, was required to resit a coursework assessment. Her second submission was unsuccessful and she was withdrawn from her course. She appealed the university's decision, but her appeal was not upheld.

Miss C complained to us that she had not received appropriate support during her postgraduate studies. We found that she had met with her supervisor on two occasions for assessment feedback and that the supervisor had referred her to revision guidelines and a resit session. Although Miss C provided an email trail showing her attempt to arrange a further meeting with the supervisor, she provided no evidence of having told the supervisor that she was struggling with the work, or of having persevered with trying to arrange a meeting after the supervisor declined. We did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.

Miss C further complained that the university had failed to take her health issues into account when considering her appeal. We found that the Appeal Committee had taken Miss C's medical evidence into account when considering her appeal, but had not considered it sufficient for justification of submission of a late Extenuating Circumstances Statement. She also complained that the university had failed to follow their procedures before withdrawing her from her course. We found that procedures had been followed appropriately and we did not uphold these two aspects of the complaint.