Successful academic appeal in a UK medical school?

hello
I've failed my second year in med school. I failed my essay by 2% and hence how to repeat 2nd year. Around the time of submission I had an emergency root canal and had let the university know and was given an extension by one week. Unfortunately, i did not expect this dental issue to go on for so long, but somehow i submitted my essay before the deadline. My word count was 1870 out of 2250 and i didnt realise how badly that would affect my grading (i was under some medications and failed to recheck the word limit). The initial feedback i got for my draft essay did not say much. I have passed all my exams and had no issue with mother essays. I spoke to my tutor and they emphasized that I must've been anxious/stressed around the submission time and that doesnt cover the appeal grounds.
do you think I can bring up these circumstances (with evidence) for my appeal to pass? I'm worried that i'm not fitting the boxes for my appeal to be successful.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Usually you can't appeal on the grounds of academic judgement - only for procedural issues. If you have extenuating circumstances your university should have a process for applying for those to be considered - this is not an appeal of grade though, this is a separate process. It sounds like you already went through that process though.

Not sure you really have grounds to appeal here. @gjd800 is pretty knowledgeable about how appeals processes do (or do not!) for undergraduates and might be able to offer some input? Although ultimately the particular policies are probably university and potentially even department specific so there might not be a universal answer.

Reply 2

gjd800

I'd say the chances are very slim, but that's not to say you shouldn't try. I think the tack I'd take is to try to appeal on MC grounds, maybe by making the claim that the medication etc had me so spaced out that I couldn't reasonably take part in further mitigation processes - but it's a very long shot.

Have you spoken to your student union about it? They can be invaluable.