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Appealing final degree classification (59.30% / 2.2) - is there any point?

So, I got my final degree mark this week, which was 59.30% and a 2:2 at my institution. Understandably I feel disappointed as a 2:1 would have opened so many more doors for me, and I was only a whisker away.

I just spoke with a student union representative at my institution who said that even if I appeal, there would be zero chance of my grade going up. They said the only option I would have (if my appeal was successful) would be to resit modules / assessments whereby I received a low grade, and to have my grade increased.

Does anyone know if this is correct, as I have seen other posts saying that when they appealed against a borderline results, the exam board just increased their grade.

Whilst I do feel I have grounds to appeal, e.g. health issues I was not aware of at the time, COVID during my final assessments, and personal circumstances, I'm still not sure I want to appeal if I have to retake further exams / modules as the university is literally 300 miles away, and I have moved back home.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

So, I got my final degree mark this week, which was 59.30% and a 2:2 at my institution. Understandably I feel disappointed by this as a 2:1 would have opened so many more doors for me, and I was only a whisker away. Plus I worked incredibly hard.

I just spoke with a student union representative at my institution who said that even if I appeal and it was successful, there would be zero chance of my grade going up. They said the only option I would have would be to resit modules / assessments whereby I received a low grade, and to have my grade increased.

Does anyone know if this is correct, as I have seen other posts saying that when they appealed against their borderline final result, the exam board just increased their classification and they weren't required to do anything else as their grounds for appealing were enough.

Whilst I do believe I have grounds to appeal, e.g. health issues I was not aware of at the time, COVID during my final assessments, and personal circumstances, I'm not sure I want to appeal if I have to retake further exams / modules as the university is literally 300 miles away, I have moved back home, and I want to find work.

Anyone?

Anyone help?

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous

To begin with, it is extremely unlikely you will be permitted to retake modules or exams to "bring up your grade". Uni is not like A-levels in this regard. The only situations you are normally permitted to retake in, at most UK unis, is either a) you failed an exam and have to retake to get a passing grade - you will normally have your grade capped at the minimum pass mark in this case or b) you have extenuating circumstances which you applied for to the uni and they agreed to you retaking the exam (usually without any cap).

In terms of an appeal you should be aware that exam boards usually have a robust process for considering the class of students at or near the grade boundary and usually these will have already been gone through before you were awarded the classification. So it's very unlikely an appeal will make a difference, even if you can appeal. Bear in mind also you can normally only appeal on procedural grounds, not on the basis of academic judgement. So you would not be able to appeal because you think you are near the borderline and should be on the other side of it - you could only appeal that e.g. one of your exams was disrupted by x y or z and as a result this will have affected your result, or one piece of work was marked at all which should have been, or something along those lines.

Bear in mind the COVID situation affected all students and would have already been taken into account. For any short term unforeseen circumstances that acutely affect(ed) your studies, there is usually a specific mitigating/extenuating circumstances process to go through for these. There may be time limits on when you can apply for these. I'm not too sure if you would be able to apply for this and have them applied retroactively if they were accepted, although it is probably the only option which is going to even potentially make any difference.

Ultimately outside of the extenuating circumstances process (which may not be available to you anymore), there is not really anything you can do to change the result now. It's likely going to be a matter of picking yourself up and moving on with your life with the 2:2; there are certainly plenty of options available to you with that, it just may take a bit longer or you may have to start at a "lower level" than you might've otherwise had to with a 2:1. Starting at/near the bottom and working your way up is a pretty standard and perfectly reasonable approach to a career rather than jumping into a grad role, as well.

Reply 5

PhoenixFortune

Original post by Anonymous

You could appeal, but all universities have to draw the line somewhere re: grade boundaries. It happens that some people will just miss out, and unfortunately you were one of the those people.

Tbh, I don't know the odds of you being able to resit assignments anyway, unless you failed them AND have proof of extenuating circumstances at the time you completed them first time round.

Appealing final degree classification (59.30% / 2.2) - is there any point?

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