Decision Report 201608613

Summary

Mr C complained that the university failed to follow their assessment policy in relation to the re-assessment of his dissertation by an independent marker. He also complained about the handling of his academic appeal.

We found that the university's assessment policy and related guidance did not, for Mr C's circumstances, specify how an assessment was to be re-marked or define what was meant by independent. The university explained that, in Mr C's case, an independent marker was someone who was not previously involved in marking Mr C's dissertation. We concluded that the university's explanation was reasonable, and that it was not proportionate to have a policy for every possible exceptional circumstance. We also found that the university's handling of Mr C's academic appeal was reasonable in the circumstances, as we found that they had acted in line with their assessment policy. We did not uphold Mr C's complaints.