You can find the university’s page on Appeals here. Please read it in full in case your question in answered in the FAQ.

The appeals procedure is intended to challenge decisions like exam board outcomes or other university procedures. Any time you’re eligible for an appeal, you should be told this in an outcome letter. You can submit appeals without coming to talk to us first, using the link above. The form will ask you for some details about you and your course, and then it will ask what outcome you are appealing and on what grounds.

You can appeal on the basis of exceptional personal circumstances or irregularities in the process.

If you’re appealing on the grounds of exceptional circumstances, you’ll need to have evidence that explains why you couldn’t have told the university about this before your appeal. For example: you miss an exam because you were sick, and then get an exam board result that you’ve failed and are being removed from the course. You’d need to provide something like a doctor’s note that explains that you were sick for a long time. You’d then need to say that you couldn’t submit mitigating circumstances forms at the time of the exam due to your illness.

If you’re appealing on irregularities, you’ll need to explain what the irregularity was and how it affected you. You’ll also want proof if you can find it or have it. For example, you might appeal by saying one of your deadlines was listed on three different days, which is why you missed it – e.g. you have a lecturer email that said February 13, and your Moodle said February 10. The email and a screenshot of the Moodle would be good evidence to provide.

If you need advice on an appeal, please provide us with all of the following:

• A copy of the relevant outcome (e.g. Exam Board) that you wish to appeal
• Information about which grounds you wish to appeal on – exceptional circumstances, or defects and irregularities
• Any evidence you have of your exceptional circumstances or the irregularities that occurred

It may speed up the process of getting advice from us if you also send the following (if they are relevant to you).

• (For exam board outcomes) your transcript of marks
• (For committee meetings regarding unfair practice) your allegation letters, transcripts of conversations, and outcome letters
• (For fitness to practice or fitness to study) your allegation letter(s), transcripts of conversations, and anything that indicates if you are actually fit to practice, e.g. work logs
• Anything else you think is relevant

Essentially, we want anything that could be considered relevant information so that we can advise you fully. While we understand you may want privacy, particularly if your grounds for appeal include medical information, when information is withheld we may not issue you with the correct advice.

We also ask that you give us the information in a timeline with clear dates. This makes it easier for us to understand your story and the evidence, but it will also make your case much clearer to the university staff members who have to read it. For example, a good timeline and evidence set for an exam board appeal might look as follows:

• On January 1st my father got very unwell [see father’s medical letter attached]
• On January 5th I travelled home to care for him [see travel tickets]
• My deadline for my coursework was on January 7th, but I missed the deadline because I was caring for my father.
• I did not return to university until March [see travel tickets] and caring for my father took up all of my time, which is why I could not submit mitigating circumstances and is why I need to appeal.

Giving us information like this helps us figure out what evidence you might be missing and makes sure that we can understand what’s happened to you. We can then advise you on any additional evidence you might need, confusing parts of the story that need to be explained differently, or anything else that might need fixing before you submit your appeal.

If you have any questions or need further advice, please check the Appeals FAQ, or contact suadvice@cardiffmet.ac.uk

You can find the university’s complaints page here [Cardiff Met Complaints]. This is also where you can find the online complaints form.

Please note that it states that informal avenues to resolve the issue must have been followed first, depending on the issue. This could include talking to classmates, lecturers, managers of staff members, or course or school representatives, depending on the issue.

Currently a student cannot submit a complaint anonymously, and so your details will need to be entered into the online complaints form and you will almost certainly be contacted as part of any follow up.

You will never be affected negatively or otherwise disadvantaged by submitting a complaint, and this is written into the procedure itself.

Please note that making a complaint can be a very lengthy process. There can be three stages, each averaging 40 working days, so this could be a significant time investment if you choose to pursue it.

What you’ll need to lodge a complaint:

• Evidence of the issue you are complaining about, e.g. email trails, dates/times of phone calls
• An explanation of how the issue has negatively affected you
• Proof that you have tried to resolve the issue informally
• An ideal outcome that you want the university to work towards

If you have any further questions, please check the Complaints FAQ. If you need further advice, please email suadvice@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Bullying is offensive, malicious, intimidating or insulting behaviour which through the abuse or misuse of power or position makes the recipient feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined and /or threatened.

Harassment is any unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct or behaviour, which violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

If you think that you are experiencing or have experienced bullying and/or harassment, you should not feel that you are to blame and you should be able to discuss it with an appropriate person. This could be a Students' Union Representative, us at the Advice Service, or Student Services.

Using the bullying and harassment procedure to make an allegation against a member of staff will have no effect on the way University staff assess the standard of your academic work.

All allegations will need to be supported by evidence. Try to include witness statements, written proof and additional evidence before proceeding. Wherever possible, keep a written record of incidents, including the dates and times and the behaviour which troubles you.

For full details on how a bullying or harassment complaint proceeds, please view our full FAQ. If you require further support, please email suadvice@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Unfair practice refers to collusion, plagiarism, and other types of cheating in assessments. You can find the university’s guidance on unfair practice here. Please refer to section 8.

There are usually two options with an allegation of unfair practice, but these options may not be available to you if, for instance, it is a very large module or if it is not your first offence. Any options you have available to you will be made clear in your allegation letter.

The two options presented for a first offence typically look like the following:

Option A

• A formal reprimand – this will be a note on your internal file at Cardiff Met for the university to keep track if there are any issues in future.
• Your mark for the assignment will be cancelled.
• You will need to resubmit a piece of work under a new topic (this will be given to your by your School after the unfair practice process is complete and the relevant exam boards have taken place). The module will be capped at the minimum pass mark for the module.

Option B

Option B is when you say 'I did not do this and wish to challenge the accusation'. You'll need to be able to provide a coherent argument as to why you did not engage in unfair practice - not being aware of the regulations is not an excuse. If you choose this option, you'll need to provide a statement explaining why you are innocent, and ideally some evidence to back you up. You will usually be invited to a committee meeting to answer questions about your work and the process of how you created your work.

If you are accused of unfair practice and wish to seek support, please ensure you send us the following:

• Your allegation letter from the AUP team
• Information about if you have had previous allegations or if this is the first time you have been accused of unfair practice
• Your Turnitin report
• Any other contact you’ve had with the university about this issue

If you wish to reject the allegation, you should also send the following:

• The reason you believe you did not do what they are accusing you of
• Any evidence you have to support your reasoning

If you need further advice on AUPs, please see our FAQ here. If you need further support, please email us at suadvice@cardiffmet.ac.uk.