Appeal for masters dissertation marking

You can't usually appeal on academic judgement, so thinking a supervisor is 'inadequate' might not cut it, especially if you did not raise these concerns previously.

The usual route for appeal is administrative error or procedural error. Has there been any? Did you have mitigation in place, disability support and so on, and what did the relevant team say about this? if they were considered, you should have transparency on how it was actioned. If it was declined, then you should also have some transparency on the reasons why. It's not an automatic given that personal circumstances be accounted for, unfortunate though that is.

Reply 2

OP

I’ve asked for a different supervisor because my current one had zero clue on my topic and also he didn’t give me any feedback.. he gave me one line of feedback for 4000 words lit review and also he didn’t take into consideration the fact that I was under medication for my depression for more than 7 months. But they didn’t give me another one they simply ignored me and I just let it pass.. and now I’m really torn in what to do.. I doubt that even with the appeal my mark will change.. what do you reckon?

Reply 3

OP

Also How can I know if there has been an administrative or procedural error?

Reply 4

If they think the academic in question is qualified then that's probably (annoyingly!) a nonstarter. The feedback things is less than ideal. that could be an opening if your institution classes inefficient or inadequate supervision as a procedural issue. You should ask your Union about this, and take any evidence.

The personal circumstances thing is a possibly stronger opening, but it depends. The supervisor themselves do not have to (and should not) account for your personal issues or illnesses etc.

There are School-level mitigation procedures for this that apply outside of the supervisor. Indeed, it would be inappropriate in most cases for any supervisor to act outside of these procedures. However, if you tried to act on this and were not facilitated then there is an argument that there has been a procedural mistake, viz. that the relevant mitigation was not made available to you.

The big caveat here, though, is that the onus for seeking mitigation and getting in contact with the relevant people rests on the student and not the supervisor. Did you do this? If you did and it was ignored, there's maybe a route to challenge things. if you didn't, then I can't really see how a successful appeal could be mounted in the majority of cases.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 5

Original post by Koni05

Also How can I know if there has been an administrative or procedural error?

Basically by looking at your degree regulations and seeing if you think any of the criteria they outline for appeals have been met.

Reply 6

OP

Firstly, thank you very much for your help!
The module leader was aware of my condition and the struggling I had with my meds but besides a zoom call there wasn’t much of help. I simple asked for an extension and it was given to me but I wasn’t ready to talk about the struggles with suicide I’ve been dealing this year.
I did some psychotherapy sessions with a psychologist from my home country as it was easier for me to communicate about my depression in my native language, do you reckon a letter from him could help?

Reply 7

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Koni05

Hello guys! Can I appeal my Master's dissertation mark? Is the procedure worth it? I got a 50% (pass) from Durham University, and I feel that my supervisor was totally inadequate for my project and my personal circumstances and mental health issues weren't taken into account. What is your opinion? I really appreciate any help you can provide.

I would advise some caution on your part, and a frank, personal review of your work. Both the quality of your Supervision and your health, while very likely impactful, absolutely should have been declared beforehand, to their fullest extent. Mitigation shouldn't be a response to a grade - or would you still be arguing for a review if you'd got 70% in the same circumstances?

Take a look at your previous grades and the quality of that work, compared with the quality of your dissertation. From an entirely external perspective when someone, who has otherwise got decent grades, gets exactly the pass mark (which I presume 50% is) it suggests that mitigation has been applied, that in fact a failing paper was submitted and the pass mark is the full consideration.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by threeportdrift

I would advise some caution on your part, and a frank, personal review of your work. Both the quality of your Supervision and your health, while very likely impactful, absolutely should have been declared beforehand, to their fullest extent. Mitigation shouldn't be a response to a grade - or would you still be arguing for a review if you'd got 70% in the same circumstances?

Take a look at your previous grades and the quality of that work, compared with the quality of your dissertation. From an entirely external perspective when someone, who has otherwise got decent grades, gets exactly the pass mark (which I presume 50% is) it suggests that mitigation has been applied, that in fact a failing paper was submitted and the pass mark is the full consideration.

I understand your point truly , however my grades to the other modules were on average 63-64% which is way more than 50%. I got a 68% on my undergrad dissertation, I’m not a phenomenal student but I’m not that bad as failing a dissertation, I got good feedback on the literature review and my supervisor said that the topic is extremely interesting and since it was an online questionnaire instead of 50-60 respondents that he asked me to collect , I got 168… that’s why I’m struggling a lot to see where that 50% came from..

Reply 9