Assessment Disputes

Issues with assessment – and particularly final grades – are fairly common, especially as the pressure mounts toward the end of a degree. Ultimately the basis for all assessment disputes is a belief that the final mark is not fair, or appropriate.

However, if the problem is that you worked hard, believe you approached the assessment sufficiently well to pass (or better), and you are disappointed with the final result, then this is an assessment dispute.

Despite it being a very common issue, requesting a review of a grade, or disputing a result generally, is not a simple matter, and there are a number of things you need to understand to make sense of the University’s processes and go about things in the right way.

There are a lot of internal university processes that relate to quality assurance to make sure marks are given fairly, transparently and without bias.

For example, all assessment and marking are overseen by a Board of Examiners (BoE). They also approve final marks and are consulted in the results moderation and verification processes as well as the re-scaling and/or standardisation of marks.

Another example is that the person who enters the results for the assignment is not the same person who verifies (or double checks) if the results were entered correctly.

And another example involves failed grades, which is considered separately from the rest of the grades for a particular assessment. Double marking is required for failed assignment tasks.

Finally, where practicable, there is scope in the policy for anonymous marking. Of course, if it is a placement or an oral presentation, then anonymous marking isn’t practical and where possible the BoE should plan for two markers to be present during the performance or oral presentation. Placements, of course, are a little more difficult.

As you can see, as a student learning from the tutor or subject coordinator, you will need to mount a convincing case for why you think your mark was not a fair one as they are tasked with having subject matter expertise.

Faculties, and their academic staff, have subject matter expertise. It’s the reason you chose to enrol in the subject in the first place – to learn from somebody who is a scholar and has demontrated expertise in the discipline you’re studying.

So, when it comes to marking your assessment, your tutor and subject coordinator understand assessment design, the marking rubric assigned to the assessment, the signs of whether you UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and met the learning objectives of it.

This means that if you want to dispute the grade, you’ll need to lay some groundwork.

Once your results have been released for the assessment, the first step is to request a feedback session with your subject coordinator. The subject coordinator may provide this feedback session via Zoom or in person.

During the feedback session, the subject coordinator should provide you with:

• Information on how you performed against the marking criteria,
• Comments on how you might be able to improve your performance in future.

Make sure to make notes during this session and if you disagree with your subject coordinator, we encourage you not to bring this up during your feedback session.

Instead, after the feedback session, and while it is still fresh in your mind, open a new document and make notes about where in the assessment you think you met the standards set out in the marking criteria and compare it to the marks and feedback you actually received.

You can request access to your examination script by requesting this in writing to the Dean of your faculty (or the faculty in charge of the subject) by the end of the second week of the following teaching period.

That’s when you should get in touch with us, and we will try to help you get a response.

There are two types of assessment disputes:

You would dispute a grade when you are unhappy with the mark that you received. You would challenge the way the assessment was conducted if you are unhappy with any aspect of the assessment process itself.

Each of these processes have similar aspects at the beginning, but ultimately, when disputing a grade, the matter is resolved within the faculty. However, if you are challenging the way an assessment was conducted, then you might be able to escalate the matter outside of the faculty to the Academic Registrar for a formal complaint.

Below is a flow chart showing how these matters can be escalated.

Download the process map here

Let’s break this down, beginning with disputing a grade.

You will need to write to the chair of the BoE for the subject in question requesting a review of the result. You should be able to locate who is the chair of the BoE by writing to Stop 1.

In your email to the Chair, you should include the reason (or rationale) why you think you have not been marked properly.

For example:

You have within 10 business days after the publication of the results for the assessed item. If it is beyond the 10 business days, you can write to the Dean requesting permission to submit a review of your mark after that time, but you will need to show that there were exceptional circumstances that did not allow you to request a review of the mark on time.

No, the chair of the BoE will decide whether you are entitled to have your grade reviewed. This is why it’s important to explain why you should be entitled to have your grade reviewed.

Yes! Under the Assessment and Results Policy, the chair of the BoE may:

• Award an improved mark
• Decide that the original mark stands, or
• Award a lower mark.

Once your mark is reviewed, there’s no going back to the original mark you received.

No. Faculties have subject matter expertise and so the faculty has final say on how they mark assessment. Once this process reaches a conclusion, no other avenues outside of the faculty have authority under policy to review the mark.

The University’s web page on seeking a review of a result provides further information on this process.

Alternatively, your concern might more properly be framed as a procedural error regarding the conduct of the assessment. For example, the way the assessment has been set may not comply with the requirements in the Assessment and Results Policy.

In this case you would still put your concerns in writing to the chair of the BoE. You can follow the same template above, but you would outline the procedural concerns you have with the assessment, following the feedback session with your subject coordinator.

If you are not satisfied with the response from the chair of the BoE, you can escalate the issue to the Academic Registrar.

The Assessment and Results Policy outlines several categories in which an assessment dispute may be made on procedural grounds.

The table below sets out the different categories and what aspects of them are covered in the Policy. We recommend reviewing what requirements are in place for each section and that you make a note where the University may have breached this requirement.

Once you have reviewed the table above and selected the relevant categories to your matter, we recommend completing the following template outlining your complaint to the Academic Registrar. Once you have completed a draft of the letter, you can send it to us together with any supporting documentation you are using to strengthen your case. You can contact us here.

We can provide feedback on your letter before you submit this. When you're ready to submit, complaints with the Academic Registrar can be lodged here by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

If after raising the complaint with the Academic Registrar, you are unhappy with the outcome, then you can raise the matter with the Academic Board under the Student Appeals Policy. Visit our Student Appeals to the Academic Board page here.