I’ve failed a module and I think I need to appeal. What do I do?

The university’s official guidance can be found here.

I’m going through a tough time and it’s affecting my studies. Can I get help from university?

Absolutely – your course team is there to support you. If you feel like you can talk to them about it, let your personal tutor know what’s happening. It may be that you can apply for and extention or extenuating circumstances (ECs) for any assessments due, or they can point you in the direction of other university support services that can help (for example, the mental health and wellbeing team, Money Advice or support with a disability or SpLD). If you need help with an EC claim, book an appointment with us.

I want to leave my course – what should I do?

Your first point of contact should be your course team. Speak to someone you feel comfortable talking to about the situation – it might be that some adjustments could be made to help you feel more settled on your course. The university has produced some guidance on withdrawing from your course (please read this carefully).

In summary, you’ll need to:

• Contact the Programme Administration department (PAd) based at your campus.
• Speak to someone in the Money Advice team, to understand the financial implications of withdrawing from your course.
• It’s important to note that you haven’t formally withdrawn from your course until you’ve received official notification from the university.

I have a complaint against the university – who will listen to me?

Firstly, we’d always encourage you to resolve a complaint informally if you can. Sometimes talking to your course team can help or you might be able to access support. You could also contact your course rep, or one of the SU’s sabbatical officers. If you’re not able to resolve it informally, the university has a student complaints procedure which we can help advise you on. You’ll need to fill in the form, and consider your grounds for complaint. Evidence is also really important. The complaints process is managed by the Student Procedures team, and the process generally goes like this:

• and evidence submitted (we can check this through for you before you submit it)
• Student Procedures will reply to acknowledge they’ve received your form. They’ll then do an assessment to see if your complaint is eligible for investigation, and they’ll give you a date by which they’ll get back to you.
• If your complaint isn’t eligible, they may come back and ask you some further questions.
• If it’s eligible, they’ll look to appoint an Investigating Officer. This person will then get in touch with you to arrange a meeting to discuss your key points.
• The Investigating Officer will then look into your complaint, and they’ll send you an outcome report once they’re done.

If you have concerns or questions at any point through the process, you can book an appointment with an SU adviser.

What do I do if I’ve been invited to a formal meeting?

Firstly, make sure you follow all the deadlines set out in the email or paperwork you receive. Then, book an appointment with one of our advisers. We can support you with malpractice panels, fitness to practice meetings/panels and other meetings classed as disciplinary or supportive (such as progress reviews). We can help you prepare, and we can help represent you in the meeting as an independent third party. To make sure your adviser can help you in the best way possible, please be prepared for your appointment with all the paperwork and meetings details to hand.