can you get uni assignments remarked

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Re-mark of an assignment

If you are not satisfied with a mark received for an assessment item you can apply for a re-mark of the assessment.

You should submit a request for the re-mark of an assessment within seven days from when you received your assessment results.

The criteria and process to apply for a re-mark of an assessment are outlined in the  Assessment Policy .

Before you apply for a re-mark of an assessment

Speak with your subject coordinator for feedback and clarification on your mark.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome or the Subject Coordinator is not available, you may submit a request for a Review of Mark.

Your application should specifically set out the grounds why you believe you've been unfairly marked against the marking criteria for the assessment.

How to submit a request

• Go to the Student Portal
• Search the form name "Review of Mark" and submit the request
• You will need to include a marked copy and a blank copy of the assessment.
• You can check the status of your request on your Student Portal.

Some important things you should know:

• There is no fee for the review of a fail grade, however, a fee is payable for review of a passing mark, which is refunded if the review is successful.
• If you are seeking a review of a mark for a specific in-session assessment task that was returned so late that you could not reasonably apply for a Review of Mark before final grades were released, you should apply for a Review of Grade.

What happens next

• You can check the status of your request on your Student Portal
• The Head of School will inform you in writing of the outcome of your application.
• Once your grade has been reviewed by this process, no further applications for review of the grade will be considered

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UEA Policy and Guidance on Re-marking requests - 2023/24

Student requests for a remark.

1.1    Where a summative assignment, presentation, oral examination or a written examination has been Blind  double marked, a student cannot request a remark or appeal the mark. However, a student with concerns about the conduct of the marking process may submit an Academic Complaint setting out those concerns. 1.2    Where (except in the case of OSCEs, OSPEs and written examinations see 1.6 below) a summative assignment, presentation or oral examination has been Second marked a student may request a remark within 10 working days of publication of the mark on eVision. 1.3    A student requesting a remark will need to provide justification that either: •    the mark is not consistent with the feedback given or; •    the feedback suggests that part of the student’s submission has not been considered or; •    the assessment criteria have not been applied appropriately. 1.4    Students are required to discuss their mark with the marker before asking for a re-mark. If this is not possible for reasons beyond the student’s control, they should meet with their Adviser. In exceptional circumstances a student may meet with an alternative member of staff such as the School’s Senior Adviser or the Programme Director for Professional Doctorate programmes.  1.5    Students are required to submit a re-mark request form clearly indicating how their request meets one or more of the criteria outlined in 1.3 above. 1.6    Where a written examination, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) or an Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) has been double marked, or has moderated in another way, students may not apply for a remark but may submit an Academic Appeal.

Re-marking request procedures 

    Procedure for requesting a re-mark 2.1    For Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught students requests for work to be re-marked should be submitted to the Learning and Teaching Service using the form LTS005 Request for re-marking of work which has not been blind double marked. The piece of marked work should also be submitted at the same time. A clean copy of the work is only required if it was not originally submitted electronically. For Professional Doctorate students, requests for work to be remarked should be submitted to the Professional Doctorate Team in the PGR Service using the form PGR005.  2.2    A student submitting a request must clearly state on the re-marking request form (henceforth referred to as “the Form”), why, having received an explanation of the mark from the original marker, or from their Adviser in cases where it has not been possible to meet with the original marker, they feel they have grounds for making the request based on the criteria outlined in 1.3 above. 2.3    The relevant Learning and Teaching Service (LTS) Team Leader or Postgraduate Research Service (PGR) Office will consider the re-mark request. They will consider whether the Form has been properly and fully completed. If the student has indicated clearly which of the three allowable grounds they are applying against, and have provided evidence to substantiate their application accordingly, the application will be processed accordingly. 2.4    Prior to submitting a request for work to be re-marked, LTS, PGR or academic staff as appropriate, should strongly recommend that the student seeks guidance and support from the Student Union Advice Centre in completing their request. Although staff can advise students on the procedure for requesting a re-mark, they cannot advise on the completion of the form itself.

Requirement for students to discuss the original mark with the first marker

3.1    Students are expected to indicate on the Form that they have met in person, or via other means such as on TEAMS, with the original marker prior to submitting a re-mark request. In cases where this is not possible, for example because the marker is ill, absent from the University, or no longer employed by UEA, the student should meet with their Adviser (or, in exceptional circumstances, with another member of the School such as the School’s Senior Adviser or PGR Programme Director) before submitting a re-mark request. 3.2    Where a re-mark request is deemed by the LTS Team Leader or PGR Officer to be incomplete or where there is insufficient explanation or evidence provided in the Form, the application will be referred back to the student for revision. 3.3    A revised Form should be submitted by 6pm on the third working day following initial submission. 3.4    If, on re-submission, the LTS Team Leader or PGR Officer is satisfied that the Form has been properly completed, the re-mark process will be initiated. They will contact the Module Organiser to identify an appropriate second marker. 3.5    If the LTS Team Leader or PGR Officer is still not satisfied that the Form is complete, it will be referred to the School Director of Teaching and Learning in the School in which the module is based for a final decision as to whether the request should be processed and the re-mark process initiated accordingly. For Professional Doctorate programmes, this will be discussed with the Programme Leads.  3.6    If rejected by the School Director of Learning and Teaching, the original mark will stand. However, the student may still submit an Academic Complaint if they feel there were procedural irregularities associated with the conduct of the assessment, including the marking or moderation process.

Confirmation from the original marker that they have discussed the awarded mark with the student

4.1    The original marker should confirm, by signing the Form or by responding to an email from the relevant member of LTS staff, that they have discussed the mark with the student face-to-face and that they have made efforts to clarify why the mark in question was awarded and to address the student’s concerns. In cases where the student has not – due to circumstances beyond their control - been able to meet with the original marker, they should meet with their Adviser. The student’s Adviser, in such cases, should sign the Form or confirm via email that they have discussed the mark with the student. In exceptional circumstances a student may meet with an alternative member of staff such as the School’s Senior Adviser or Programme Director for Professional Doctorate programmes.  4.2    The re-mark request will not be processed until the original marker (or the student’s Adviser in accordance with 4.1 above) has signed and returned the Form, or confirmed in writing by email, that the meeting has taken place.

Re-marking the work and processing the mark

5.1    Once a second marker has been identified  by the Module Organiser, LTS or PGR will send a copy of the Form and a clean copy of the student’s work, or a recording of the presentation/oral examination to the second marker electronically. The copy of any written assignment sent will be the original submission as lodged in eVision or Blackboard or a scanned version of the work if it was submitted in hard copy. 5.2    The second marker will be asked to re-mark the work in three working days after receiving it. Once re-marked, the second marker will return the completed re-mark request Form, duly signed, with the second mark clearly indicated. The second marker’s feedback on the script should be included in the relevant section of the Form. 5.3    A copy of the completed Form, with the first mark, second mark and final agreed mark (see the method for reaching a final mark below), together with feedback from the second marker should then be forwarded to both the Module Organiser and the student. A copy will be retained in the student’s file. 5.4    The outcome of the re-marking request will be recorded by the relevant LTS or PGR team. 5.5    The re-marking process should normally be completed within 10 working days of a student completing a re-marking request Form after they have met with the original marker.

Process where there are differences between marks awarded by the first and second markers

6. In cases where there are differences between the mark awarded by the first and second markers the procedure will be as follows: a)    If the mark of the second marker is within 4% points of the original mark (either higher or lower) and within the same classification band, then no adjustment of the mark will be made; e.g. 1st mark is 63%, 2nd mark is 67% = no adjustment; b)    If the mark of the second marker is within 4% points of the original mark (either higher or lower) but in a different classification band, then the mark will be adjusted to the entry point of the upper classification band; e.g. 1st mark is 59%, 2nd mark is 62%, adjusted mark = 60%. This equally applies where the marks straddle the pass/fail boundary; e.g. 1st mark is 37%, 2nd mark is 41%, then adjusted mark = 40%; c)    If the mark of the 2nd marker is more than 4% points but less than 11% points (either higher or lower) from the original mark, then the mark will be adjusted to reflect the mid-point between these two marks; e.g. if 1st  mark is 60%, and 2nd mark is 68%, adjusted mark = 64%. Marks can go up or down; e.g. if the 1st mark is 56% and the 2nd mark is 50%, the adjusted mark = 53%. In some cases where marks straddle the pass/fail boundary, an adjusted mark may result in a formerly passing mark becoming a fail mark; e.g. 1st mark is 43% and 2nd mark is 35%, adjusted mark = 39%; d)    In cases where the difference between 1st and 2nd markers is more than 10% points (e.g. 1st mark 60%, 2nd mark 72%), this discrepancy will be flagged for the Teaching Director in the School concerned, who will be required to adjudicate and consider any implications with regard to consistency of marking in the School. The Teaching Director’s adjudicated mark will stand as the final mark.

Marker’s meeting with a student to discuss a mark

7. A mark cannot be changed as the result of the discussion between the student querying a mark and the original marker (as outlined in section 3) unless it becomes apparent that either there has been a transcription error (see section 8 below) or if the marker has accidentally missed a section of the work so that not all pages of the work were marked. In all other cases the student must submit a re-marking request if they feel they have grounds based on the criteria outlined in 1.3 above.

Transcription errors

8. Where a student is concerned that there has been an error in the transcription of a mark from a piece of coursework to the mark appearing on eVision, they should contact the LTS team which owns the module so that this can be investigated. PGR students should contact the Professional Doctorate Team.

Know Your Rights: Can I appeal my grade?

Can I apply for work as an international student in my host country? What are my wage rights? Am I allowed to join protests and class walkouts? If I had a run-in with the authorities, what should I do? To help you understand the extent and limitations of your rights as a student abroad, Study International News will provide the answers to all these burning questions and more through our “Know Your Rights” article series. Have a question you want to be answered? Email us at [email protected]

Days assigned to the collection of essay and exam results are pretty much always laced with a healthy dose of anxiety. Whether you’re hoping for that top grade or just praying you passed, there’s bound to be something to feel nervous about.

But what happens when you’re not sighing with relief and spending the night celebrating? What happens when your mark is much lower than you expected and you think something is up?

Maybe your professor has it in for you or you think they missed something while marking; perhaps you were ill and this should be taken into consideration or you really just don’t think you deserve that grade.

It’s an awful feeling no matter what the grade or the reason behind it and, naturally, you’ll want to get to the bottom of it.

So, is there anything you can do?

In short, the answer to this tends to be no – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t steps you can take to try and rectify the situation.

It sure is frustrating but there’s actually little you can do. Source: Giphy

Firstly, remember regulations can vary between universities and countries so what might be a rule at one university may not be one at yours.

At the large majority of institutions, at university level, there is a process you can follow if you believe you have been incorrectly graded but that’s not to say it’s likely anything will change.

Speak to your professor

Don’t waste time. The minute you have a suspicion something could be up or think you’ve received an incorrect grade you should act because many institutions have very a small window for grade appeals.

One of the first things you should do is contact your professor. Send across a quick, polite email asking for a meeting as soon as they can fit you in and note that it’s to discuss your grades.

Make sure you have any evidence to support your claim gathered up before the meeting. This could be anything from doctor’s notes, photocopied pages of books, your exam paper or a list of your grades, depending on what you think went amiss.

Here’s the proof! Source: Giphy

Don’t throw any accusations and don’t go into the meeting holding any anger. If you want respect you have to make sure you give it, so respect your lecturer and if they say the mark stands then that’s something you have to accept.

The last thing you want is to have a negative relationship with your professor – that’s something that certainly won’t work in your favour.

Speak to administration staff

If you don’t get very far with your professor you may wish to take it further or to make a formal appeal or complaint.

How you go about this is likely to be slightly different at every university, so take to the handbook or website and send an email across to the administration team asking them to explain what you should do from here.

It’s worth an ask but grades are rarely changed. Source: Giphy

Grades aren’t changed all too often so try to be realisitic about the situation. There’s still no harm in trying and if something genuinely has gone amiss the university needs to address it.

It might depend on why you think you got that grade

Illness:  If you feel the reason for your grade was due to illness then sadly it may be too late.

Usually, if you’re feeling ill or something’s happened that could seriously affect your ability to perform in the exam or essay then you can submit an extenuating circumstances (EC) form .

At the majority of universities, however, if you hand in that essay or turn up to that exam you are declaring yourself ‘fit to sit’, meaning you will be ineligible for and EC extension or a remark.

If you’re ill, don’t wait for your grade before alerting the university. Source: Giphy

Next time, if something like this occurs, speak to your lecturer beforehand and they can advise you on what you can do. This may involve missing an exam or deadline due to your illness or situation and then submitting an EC form at the end. Your lecturer will be able to direct you accordingly.

Your professor has it in for you:  Unfortunately, there is very little you can do if the problem is a quarrel with your lecturer. You can make a complaint if there are serious concerns but often, you will find yourself stuck.

Try and speak to your professor in a mature and calm way and ask for in-depth feedback on your grade. You might find that on reflection, they were being fair and you might learn how you can improve for next time. You never know what might come of it.

Okay, but don’t be rude back. Source: Giphy

Your professor missed something:  If you received your paper back and there was something you think was wrongly marked or your professor didn’t notice then be sure to send an email and set up a meeting with them immediately, explaining you wish to talk about your grade.

You should ask them to go through it with you and see if they notice their mistake. If not, then politely ask at the end of their explanation if X, Y or Z was taken into account. Remember not to challenge them and not to be aggressive.

Hopefully, they will notice the missed section or that they marked something incorrectly and agree to amend your mark, but if they don’t, you must respect their professional opinion and accept your grade is unlikely to change.

There was an error inputting your grade:  Contact administration, your head of department and the professor marking your work (if you know who it was) and ask for a breakdown of your grades.

If you notice anything that looks wrong, flag it. Sometimes, through human or computer error, things go awry and you might end up with a grade that doesn’t match the one on your paper.

It happens, human error or a computer malfunction can mean you get the wrong grade. Source: Giphy

Often, if it’s your final grade you want to challenge, you’re more likely to win your case here than for an individual exam or assignment. You may be able to apply to have your final mark reconsidered if you follow the procedure your university outlines and act immediately.

Just keep in mind, your professor is a human being and not some mystical creature, so it makes sense that they occasionally make mistakes. Speak to them in a mature way and you never know what you might get, but don’t go there expecting your mark to change drastically, if at all.

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• Assessment and feedback guide

Student guide to assessment and feedback

You come to university to get a degree, but your primary goal is to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills for the next stage of life. Assessment and feedback support you to do just that.

Here we answer ten frequently asked questions:

What’s the point of assessment?

• How do I find out what is expected of me on my course?

In what ways might I be assessed?

• Formative and summative assessment: what’s the difference?

How can I practice being assessed?

What is feedback for, what kinds of feedback will i get.

• How long does it take to get assignment feedback?

What do I do with the feedback I get?

How do i prepare for an assignment, download the assessment and feedback guide [pdf].

Well-designed assessment actually helps you progress through your programme. It helps your learning, as well as measuring it, by focusing your attention on tasks and content that reflect the learning outcomes (see below) of the programme.

Assessment helps you measure your progress. It helps you and your teachers/tutors see what you have understood and which aspects still need some work.

How do I find out what is expected of me on my programme?

Read your Student Handbook and Moodle for each of your modules. If it’s not clear, ask your teacher/tutor or module coordinator. Pay close attention to:

• learning outcomes – your guidelines for the knowledge, understanding and skills you are expected to develop by the end of your course
• regulations – penalties for late submission or exceeding word count , academic integrity  etc.
• marking/assessment criteria – these make clear what the assessor will be looking for in your work
• mark/grade schemes – what format will your mark take? Will it be a grade or a percentage? Is the marking scale limited (some works might, for example, be marked out of 80)?

Your knowledge, understanding and skills can be tested – or assessed - in lots of different ways.

You are usually assessed through exams and assignments, individual pieces of work you are asked to do. They can be an essay, a lab report, group work, an oral presentation, a video, a set of worked problems, a journal article, a piece of computer code, a seminar contribution, a poster, an examination. You’ll probably experience several different types of assessment in your time at UCL.

What’s the difference between formative and summative assessment?

Formative assessment:.

• an assignment or exam that doesn’t count towards your final mark
• you get constructive feedback which helps you to work out your progress

Take formative assessment seriously. It’s your chance to practice assessments, so you can find out where your knowledge and understanding is solid, where you need to do more work, and what you need to do to improve your results. Try out new approaches, take some risks, push the boundaries. The feedback on formative assessment is really valuable, so examine it carefully and if there’s anything that’s not clear, ask questions – of your peers, tutors and lecturers.

Summative assessment:

• an assignment or exam that counts towards your final module mark
• the mark and comments you get are important pieces of feedback – they tell you a lot about your progress and helps you to focus your efforts in future assessments.

Find out more about formative and summative assessments

Your programme should give you plenty of opportunities to develop your approach to assessment, for example through formative assessments, practice and guided marking.

If you are given set practice exercises in class that are similar to part of the coursework or exam, take them seriously. Note the verbal feedback on the answers or solutions.

If it is appropriate for your discipline, ask for a guided marking session at the beginning of your module - this is where you practice marking a range of similar assignments and discuss feedback comments with your peers and teachers. This helps you understand assessment criteria and teacher expectations.

Feedback tells you more about what you did well and what you can still do to improve. Feedback also helps you prepare for your next assessment task.

Your mark or grade is an important part of your feedback because it measures how far you’ve progressed. But you also need to understand how you could do even better. That’s where other feedback comes in. It helps you identify your strengths as well as those areas that need more work.

Feedback should always make you feel supported and able to identify what to do next. Remember, the feedback you’re given is about the piece of work, not about you personally. You are not your mark!

From day one on your programme, you’ll be getting feedback: it could be comments made in a lecture, discussions in a seminar or tutorial, feedback on practice exercises in class, answers to queries about coursework on a forum or in live Q&A sessions, conversations with other students on the module. Sometimes it’s not appropriate for your teacher/tutor to give individual feedback. Instead, they might give generic feedback to the group.

There are many ways of getting feedback and you should be using all of them. Engage with your teaching, contribute to seminars or tutorials; ask questions in lectures – even if it is just to let the lecturer know that you don’t understand and you’d like them to go through it again. Ask for formative feedback early on in each module, ideally within the first 4 weeks. 

Remember, your work on an assignment isn’t finished once you’ve handed it in. The final stage is feedback and how you make use of it. Your teachers must give an indication of when you can expect to receive feedback on your work.

How long does it take to get feedback on an assignment?

You should receive feedback within one calendar month of the submission deadline of each piece of assessed work. If the one calendar month deadline cannot be met then your module coordinator must contact you directly to let you know when the feedback will be provided. The extra time should not exceed one week.

The feedback you get may be very specific, clearly signposting your route to improvement by pointing out gaps in your knowledge or problems with the way you have applied it. It may be more general, requiring a bit more reflection. Try discussing your feedback with other students on your module, or with your personal tutor.

Look at the comments you receive on your assignments and think about where and how you can improve. These comments might be made in lecturers or seminars, so write them down so you have them to refer back to.

Use your feedback to help you compare your work with other work that has been marked. Being able to decide for yourself how well you’re doing, rather than relying on feedback from staff, is a really useful skill, which you will use again and again in your future career.

If your module is set up for it, use your MyFeedback dashboard in UCL Moodle to view all your grades and feedback for any assessed work across all your Moodle courses, in one place. You can add self-reflective notes and copy and paste feedback from Turnitin into your report. The report helps you understand the variety of feedback you receive, draw comparisons between different assessments and modules, and reflect on your feedback to see how you can improve in future assessments.

If you do need more guidance, talk to your module convenor or module coordinator or personal tutor.

Understand the task: look for the key words and pay attention to all the advice you’re given about the assignment – it might come from your Handbook, from Moodle or during lectures. Talk to other students: sometimes explaining what you think the assignment is about to others can really help you sort out your own ideas.

Understand the marking/assessment criteria that your work will be judged against. Your tutors must make sure you are aware of those criteria and the marking scales in advance.

Find out when and where your written exam, presentation, lab test or other assessment will take place. For exams, make sure you know how to get there, leave plenty of time, and make sure you bring along a note of your student identifier (available from Portico).

If your assignment includes collaborative or group work, your tutors must make clear how the contribution of each individual will be assessed.

Plan your work: think about how to organise and structure your answer. Whether it’s an essay, a lab report, a presentation or a proof, the way you present the information affects how well the assessor can follow your line of thought.

Self-assess before you hand in your work. Think about the criteria for the assessment – how far do you think you have met them? Where have you done well and what not so well and how do you know?

Check you’re meeting the requirements like word count, format, submission deadline, where and how to submit. There will be instructions about including footnotes, diagrams, images, tables, figures, bibliographies and so on. Before you start the piece of work, check that you know what the requirements are.  Before you hand in the work, check again!

If you need additional support

Reasonable adjustments.

If you have a disability or other ongoing medical or mental health condition that might affect your assessments, ask for support from Student Support and Wellbeing . Ideally, you should notify UCL of any such condition when you enrol so that the university can put in place the support that you need. See the student guide to applying for reasonable adjustments .

Extenuating circumstances

You must notify UCL of any circumstances which are sudden, unexpected, significantly disruptive and beyond your control that could affect your assessments, such as a serious illness or the death of a close relative. UCL will make sure that alternative arrangements are put in place for you in these cases, such as an extension or deferral of assessment to a later date. See your Student Handbook and the student guide to applying for extenuating circumstances .

Related content

• Assessment framework for taught programmes
• Exams and assessments
• P ersonal tutoring
• Student Support and Wellbeing
• Your Assessment Wellbeing Guide

Academic appeals

The Academic Appeal procedure is for use by any person pursuing a taught undergraduate or postgraduate course, module or programme of study offered by the University which leads to an award of or the award of credit by, the University. Separate Academic Appeals procedures exist for students on Research Degrees.

Doctoral Researchers should refer to the separate Academic Appeals procedures for Research Degrees .

If you have any questions regarding these procedures, please contact the Academic Standards Team via email [email protected] .

You can also contact the Students Union Advice Service who can provide free, confidential advice and are completely independent of the University. This means they are not involved in any part of the decision-making process. The Advice Team can assist in discussing your case and the procedures applied. To book an appointment  visit the Student Union Advice Service .

What is an appeal?

An ‘Academic Appeal’ is defined as a request for a review of an Assessment Board decision or Mitigating Circumstances Board decision. Assessment Boards make decisions on student progress, assessment, and awards.

You should only submit an appeal if you believe that you have a valid case, based on evidence, that there has been a material irregularity in the assessment process or in the Mitigating Circumstances (MC) process. A material irregularity means the University has not acted in accordance with its own regulations or procedures, or where an error has been made in the processing of a decision.

If you think a mark is missing or has been incorrectly recorded on your student record, please contact the  Student Centre  in the first instance. You may not appeal against the academic judgment of your assessors and therefore may not challenge marks or the final classification awarded by the Assessment Board. If you are unsure as to why you obtained your assessment mark and have read the feedback provided, we advise you to first contact your Module Leader for further feedback on your result before raising an academic appeal.

If you wish to raise matters relating to course provision or delivery, please follow our complaints guidelines .

More information on appeals can be found in Section 16 of our academic regulations . You may also find it helpful to review the following case studies:

Case Studies for Academic Appeals (PDF)

What are the grounds (reasons) for making an appeal?

Ground a) “that there has been a material irregularity in the assessment process;”.

A “material irregularity” is an evidenced error that is both relevant and significant to the decision by the Assessment Board in respect of your award or progression.

You must therefore be able to present a case to show that an error has been made, and the effect it has had on the Assessment Board’s decision.

What are the possible outcomes from a Justified (successful) appeal?

The Assessment Board will decide what remedy is offered to you, but generally if there has been an error in the recording or calculation of your marks or grades, this will normally be remedied through the correction of the error, and, if necessary, the progression or classification of award decision will be reconsidered.

If your submitted work has been mislaid and not marked, but there is evidence that you have submitted before the appropriate deadline, you may be given another opportunity to submit coursework.

Depending on the circumstances more than one remedy may be made. Remedies are there to put things right, that is to return the student to the position they were in before the circumstances of the academic appeal occurred.

Remedies for academic appeals are made in accordance with the provisions of the academic regulations eg financial compensation would not be offered via an academic appeal.

It is not possible to use the appeal process to raise a mark for impacted performance in assessments.  This is because we cannot quantify the number of marks a student would have received if the circumstances had not occurred. Please see the university’s ‘fit to sit’ policy for further details. If a student believes they experienced serious circumstances meaning they were not fit to sit an assessment, then they must refer to the Mitigating Circumstances procedures on how to submit an ‘unfit to sit’ claim.

Ground b) “that there has been a material irregularity in the conduct of the Mitigating Circumstances process”

The University gives students opportunities to submit mitigating circumstances as soon as they are known and before the Assessment Board makes a decision. This is to ensure that support is available where possible and that there is fairness to all students as well as to you as an individual. The overall aim is to assess all students on equal terms.

The University takes the view that if a student does not declare mitigating circumstances as soon as they become aware of them, they cannot be taken into account later on unless there are compelling reasons for them not to have been declared at the proper time.

Mitigating Circumstances claims that have not been considered by the Mitigating Circumstances Board will not be considered as grounds for an academic appeal. Any student wishing to have mitigating circumstances considered in respect of an assessment following the decision of an Assessment Board should follow the procedures as detailed in the Mitigating Circumstances Regulations (Section 11 of the Academic Regulations).

If you have submitted a mitigating circumstance claim and your claim has been rejected twice by the Mitigating Circumstances Board, an academic appeal can be submitted. When submitting an academic appeal against the conduct of the Mitigating Circumstances process, you must present a case to show that an error has been made in the consideration of your claim.

What are the possible outcomes from a Justified (successful) appeal based on Mitigating Circumstances?

Where an academic appeal is accepted for mitigating circumstances, the Assessment Board may consider one of the following:

• a retrospective deferral of the assessment affected, providing a further attempt
• to retrospectively accept an allow late claim and provide the student with their original mark
• to allow the student to defer the module to the next academic year without penalty

Remedies for academic appeals are made in accordance with the provisions of the academic regulations e.g. financial compensation would not be offered via an academic appeal.

I am unhappy with the feedback I have received; can I submit an Academic Appeal? 

If your results are still provisional then you will need to wait for the final publication of results to submit an academic appeal.

As it is not possible to question the academic judgement of your assessor, your appeal you will need to identify what has happened and present a case as to why you believe a material irregularity has occurred in the assessment process.

If you are dissatisfied with your feedback in the first instance you are advised to contact your Module Leader for further feedback on your results.

How do I submit an appeal?

Before you decide whether or not to appeal, it's a good idea to talk to your personal tutor or relevant lecturer. It may be that you have a question which could be answered that way, rather than by making an appeal. You may also find it helpful to take advice from the Students’ Union Advice Service which can provide you with friendly, independent advice and support.

If you decide to appeal, you'll need to complete and submit the Stage 1 Academic Appeals via e:Vision to the Academic Standards team within 15 working days of the publication of the decision which is being appealed.

You can find the area to submit an academic appeal by logging into your SRS web profile on e:Vision and going into the My Self-Service menu. Any documentary evidence to support your appeal request must be included with the form at the time of submission via e:Vision.

Instructions for how to use the appeal task can be found in the Academic Appeals User Guide for Students:

Academic Appeals User Guide for Students (PDF)

Where evidence is in a foreign language it is your responsibility to have this independently translated into English before submission.

Please be aware that, while an electronic copy of a piece of evidence is normally sufficient, the University may ask to see the original evidence if there are any queries. The falsification of evidence will be treated as a very serious matter and, where this is suspected, the student may be referred to the Student Code of Conduct and Student Disciplinary Regulations .

A summary of the appeal process can be viewed on the Academic Appeal Flowchart:

Academic Appeals Process Chart (PDF)

Stage 1 of the appeal procedure is an initial consideration of the appeal request based solely on the form and evidence submitted by the deadline. No-one can appeal on your behalf, only you may prepare and submit your appeal. (An exception may be made in cases where a student is suffering from a mental health condition as defined within the University's relevant Codes).

A member of staff may provide a statement in support of your appeal, but this must be submitted with the appeal if it is to be considered with the other documentation in support of the case.

All appeals must be submitted online via e:Vision.

Your appeal request will be acknowledged normally within 5 working days of its receipt, which will be confirmed via e:Vision in your academic appeal case.

Submission deadlines for appeals

All academic appeals must be received within 15 working days of the publication of the decision which is being appealed via your student record on e:Vision.

You can only appeal against the final decision of the Assessment Board regarding your results, award or progression. Any results you receive prior to the Final Assessment Board are provisional only and you cannot appeal against them. You may receive provisional results during the year, however, you will need to wait until formal notification from the Assessment Board before considering an appeal.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your appeal is received on time. Late appeals will not be considered unless you can demonstrate good reason and provide evidence as to why the appeal has been submitted late.

How confidential is my appeal?

Your appeal is kept as confidential as possible and within the University. While the investigation is being carried out, the following people may be informed:

• The Academic Standards Team within the Academic Registrar’s Department
• Any staff member of the University who may be able to contribute to the investigation of your case
• The Chair of Assessment Board
• The Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Board

I’ve submitted my appeal, what happens next?

The Academic Standards Team will review your appeal request under Stage 1 of the procedure and determine whether or not there is evidence of permissible grounds. You will be notified of their decision within 20 working days of receipt of the appeal via e:Vision in the Academic Appeals Area.

Where it is determined that the appeal request shall progress from Stage 1: Initial Consideration to Stage 2: Consideration by the Assessment Board, the Chair of the Assessment Board or Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Board will report their findings to the Academic Standards Team, normally within 20 working days of receipt of the appeal. The Chair shall decide one of the following:

• Uphold the appeal on the basis that a material irregularity has occurred and modify the Board’s original decision as appropriate
• Reject the appeal on the basis that a material irregularity has not occurred and the Board’s original decision will stand

Written confirmation of this Stage 2 decision along with full reasons for that decision will be provided to you within 50 University working days of receipt of the appeal via e:Vision in the Academic Appeals Area.

How can I add further evidence to an appeal I have submitted?

When you submit an academic appeal, you are expected to provide all of the evidence that you wish to be considered via the appeals task on e:Vision. If you add further evidence after submitting your appeal, then this will cause a delay in receiving the outcome.

The Academic Standards Team cannot provide advice on the type of evidence you should submit. If you need advice regarding evidence to support an academic appeal, then please contact the Student Union Advice Team .

When will I hear the outcome of my appeal?

The Academic Standards Manager will write to notify you of whether your appeal request has permissible grounds within 20 working days of receipt of your appeal. This will be sent to you via e:Vision.

Why has my academic appeal been withdrawn?

Your Academic Appeal may be withdrawn if you submit an appeal before your results have been published or if you have not followed the correct procedure. 

In these cases, please read the correspondence from Academic Standards carefully as this will explain the correct process that you need to follow and who you should contact.

Can I carry on with my studies while my appeal is considered?

The Assessment Board decision about your award or progression stands unless it is changed as a result of an appeal. This means that you are expected to abide by the original decision regarding your results, award or progression unless they are overturned on appeal.

Should I continue to work on coursework/prepare for examination(s) while my appeal is considered?

You should continue as if you had not submitted an appeal: ie the Assessment Board's original decision remains in force until the Board determines that an academic appeal is justified, and the original decision is to be amended.

You should therefore meet any requirements for a referral, resubmission of work or resitting an examination, until the appeal is completed. This will not influence the outcome of the appeal.

You are responsible for the consequences of not complying with the original decision of the Assessment Board if the outcome to your appeal is not in your favour.

Will my work be automatically re-graded if I submit an academic appeal? 

The University has robust procedures in place to make sure that work is marked consistently fairly. These procedures can be read on Section 12 Marking, Moderation and External Scrutiny. 

If an appeal is upheld, then the remedy will look to put things right and to return the student to the position they were in before the circumstances of the academic appeal occurred. A range of potential remedies could be applied but this does not guarantee a re-marking of submitted work.   

Could my grades be lowered because I make an appeal?

No – any change in the Assessment Board's decision will not disadvantage you.

If your appeal is upheld and your work is re-marked as a result of an appeal decision, there is no guarantee that a higher mark would be awarded.

Can I submit another appeal if my first appeal is unsuccessful?

Where it is determined that your appeal request does not provide evidence of permissible grounds you may request the Deputy Registrar (Quality and Standards) to review this decision.

This request must be made within 5 working days of the notification letter by submitting a completed Request for Review of Stage 1 Academic Appeal Form which can be accessed via e:Vision.

I have submitted a Request for a Review and it was unsuccessful. What happens now? 

If the Deputy Registrar (Quality and Standards) reviews your original Stage 1 or Stage 2 appeal and determines that the grounds for your appeal have not been met, then you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter from the University.

If you are dissatisfied with the University’s final decision and have been issued with a Completion of Procedures letter you may wish to contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) to raise a complaint.

Should you decide to make a complaint to the OIA, your OIA Complaint Form must be received by the OIA within twelve months of the date of the Completion of Procedures letter from the University.

Guidance on submitting a complaint to the OIA can be found on the OIA’s website - Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education - OIAHE

Related Pages

Academic misconduct.

Read about academic misconduct and the University's procedures for dealing with it.

Changing your course

Find out how to change your course or change from full- to part-time study.

Academic regulations

See our full academic regulations.

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Assessment and marking policies

The policies below apply to all students on taught courses (ie. sub-degree, undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses).

Marking policy

The policy applies to assessment contributing to a mark at all levels, including level three, level four, as well as the mark appearing on the Examination Board grids from which a student's final degree classification is derived.

A list of definitions and marking policies is given in the document below and includes a table showing the requirements applied to different forms of assessment. Where a particular mode of assessment requires moderation, second-marking or double-marking, the requirements outlined in the policy are a minimum. Departments can moderate, second-mark or double-mark more work if they wish or if they are required to do so by a professional body.

• Marking Policy  (.pdf)
• Form to request a re-mark 2022-23  (.docx) (Students: please submit your completed form to your department).
• GTA and GLA exam and course marking application form (.docx)

Assessment policy

• Assessment policies for undergraduate and taught postgraduate awards (.pdf)
• Extenuating circumstances

Information for staff

• External examiners
• Giving assessment feedback
• For enquiries contact your Student Services Hub
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• Nov 16, 2012

Re-Mark: Appealing Assignment and Exam Grades

Had an assignment or exam come back with a mark well below what you were expecting? If this has happened to you and you believe your work should have received a higher mark, there are avenues for appealing your grade.

Before you read any further, take a deep breath. Bad marks happen to everyone, and your life isn’t over, especially if the assessment is only worth a fraction of your overall mark.

Then read your assignment and the marker’s feedback and compare it with the assessment advice and marking criteria to determine whether you did everything the question asked for. If you’re not sure, discuss it with other students in your class, as they may be able to provide some helpful insight into how they approached the assessment.

If you’re still uncertain, now is the time to pick up the phone or zip off a polite and friendly email to the subject coordinator to see if they have time to go through your paper with you and explain what you may have missed or misunderstood.

If after this meeting you still believe that your work deserved a higher mark, now is the time to look up your university’s academic appeals process.

Universities usually have many, many levels of appeal and it might start with asking the unit coordinator for a simple re-grade. Papers are typically read a lot closer on a re-mark and can sometimes come back with a lower grade, so you need to believe that there is a significant difference between your existing grade and the one you think the paper warrants. If you are gunning for 59 out of 60 from an initial grade of 58, you probably need to take another breath and chill out.

Failing a satisfactory outcome, a faculty level review followed by a school level inspection could be the next steps; the process will depend on your university’s procedures. Getting a 'no' the first or second time around does not leave your review dead in the water.

You may be required to submit written reasoning for the higher levels of the grade review processes – this involves systematically demonstrating to a reviewer where the issue is. Remember to have someone go over this for spelling and grammar, and to catch any emotional wording; to be effective it needs to be detached and analytical.

If you’re thinking about appealing your grade, you need to know where your assignment deserves the extra marks and be open to feedback along the way. Sometimes you may have to accept that it wasn’t your best work and try to learn from it for next time.

But if all goes well and your appeal is successful, those extra marks certainly come in handy! Good luck!

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Academic appeals

If you believe that there is a suitable reason to contest an academic decision that affects you, you can apply for review of the decision. If you are not happy with the outcome of the review, and you believe that the review decision was procedurally unfair, you can lodge an academic appeal.

• Informal resolution with original decision-maker
• Applications for review to the Faculty/School or Academic Panel
• Appeal to the Student Appeals Body (SAB)

What is an academic decision?

The term ‘academic decision’ is defined in section 1.5 of the University of Sydney (Student Academic Appeals) Rule 2021 (the Academic Appeals Rule). It applies to a range of decisions, including a decision:

• about a mark or grade
• about special consideration or special arrangements
• about credit, including conditional credit and mobility credit
• to impose conditions or restrictions on your re-enrolment after you are asked to show good cause
• to exclude you from an award course
• not to re-admit or re-enrol you following exclusion from your award course
• to terminate your candidature, if you are completing a postgraduate award.

Not all decisions made by University staff are academic decisions. Non-academic decisions include those related to unit of study administration and access to University facilities. You can make a complaint about a non-academic decision.

Can I appeal a late discontinuation under special circumstances outcome?

If you feel you have genuine grounds to contest any units not approved in your application, you can apply for a  review of the decision .

Academic appeals process

There are three escalating stages in the academic appeals process outlined in the Appeals Rule (pdf, 102kb) . Each stage is managed by a different unit within the University. You will need to make sure you submit your appeal to the correct unit, depending on the stage of your appeal.

• Resolution with the original decision-maker
• Application for Review by the Faculty/Academic Panel
• Appeals to the Student Appeals Body (SAB)

Please note if you have been awarded your degree you are no longer eligible to submit an appeal to the Student Appeals Body (SAB) . All appeals must be lodged prior to your degree being conferred.

If you have lodged an appeal and you are due to graduate, you will need to withdraw from the graduation or conferral process until such time that your matter is finalised.

For all appeals matters, including submitting your appeal or requesting updates, you need to use your University email account.

The appeal process does not give you an automatic right to have an assessment reviewed or re-marked, and is not a process for negotiating higher marks.

Advice and support

Before you prepare or submit an appeal, you may wish to seek advice and support from one of the independent student organisations.

• Undergraduate students– contact the Caseworker Help service provided by the Students’ Representative Council (SRC).
• Postgraduate students– contact the Postgraduate Advocacy Service provided by the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA).

The SRC and SUPRA staff are trained professionals with knowledge and experience with University regulations and responsibilities.

You can also contact the Student Affairs Unit (SAU) to get clarification on the Academic Appeals Rule or the appeals process. SAU cannot advise you on whether you should submit an appeal, or what to include in any appeal.

If you find the appeals process is causing you distress or think the outcome could be upsetting or challenging, you can contact the Student Counselling Service . An appointment with a counsellor can give you the opportunity to discuss issues arising from your appeal and to develop new strategies to manage your studies.

Related links

• Appeals Rule
• Guide to grades
• Special consideration

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Academic Appeals Procedure

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Student Academic Appeals

You have a right of appeal against academic decisions and recommendations made by the Assessment, Progression and Awarding Committee (APAC) and Faculty Boards (or Deans acting on their behalf) that affect your academic progress. To find out when APACs and/or Faculty Boards take place, please contact your Info Point.

Appeals can be made against the following decisions:

• a formal assessment result
• a degree classification
• a decision consequential to an academic failure (e.g. termination of registration)
• postgraduate research students may also appeal against a decision relating to their registration status, such as transfer to continuation status, change of mode of study, early submission of thesis etc.
• the decision reached is one that no reasonable body, properly directing itself, could have arrived at (for Mitigation Appeals)
• a decision consequential to unsatisfactory academic progress

It is a principle of the University that appeals cannot be made against the academic judgment of either an internal or external examiner of the University. You can, however, appeal if you believe that this judgment was not made fairly or according to the correct University process.

Full details of the University's Academic Appeals Procedure can be found at the link below, which also contains all relevant Academic Appeal forms i.e.

• Formal Appeal form
• Appeal Review form
• Appeal against Unsatisfactory Progress form
• Appeal against a temporary visa interruption form
• Appeal against a withdrawal from Programme on Immigration Grounds form

Please ensure that you are using the correct form for your circumstances as the grounds on which you may appeal may not be correctly identified if you are not using the correct form. In particular, do not use the 'Appeal against withdrawal of procedure' form unless you have had an appeal cancelled as a result of circumstances such as those described in sections 1.8 and/or 1.9 of the procedure .

If you are submitting a Formal Appeal it must be submitted with 10 working days of you being notified of an academic decision. All supporting evidence should be attached to the form where possible and you should indicate the remedy you are seeking. Formal Appeal forms once completed along with any relevant evidence should be sent to the Faculty in which you are studying:

• Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy -  [email protected]  
• Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences -  [email protected]
• Faculty of Health and Life Sciences -  [email protected]
• For students based at our Penryn Campus -  [email protected]
• For all Postgraduate Research appeals -  [email protected]

For answers to other Frequently Asked Questions please click Appeals FAQ .‌‌‌

If you have received a Formal Appeal outcome and you remain dissatisfied you can ask the University to Review the formal appeal outcome. The completed Appeal Review form together with a copy of your formal appeal and any correspondence from the College in respect of their decision, should be submitted to the Student Cases Office - [email protected] within 10 working days of you being notified/sent the Formal Appeal outcome.

Academic Appeals Procedure 2022/23

Academic Appeals Procedure 2021/22

‌‌Advice from the Students' Guild/SU

Please remember that an appeal must be submitted within 10 working days of notification of the decision you wish to appeal, and you cannot appeal against academic judgement. We recommend that you draft your statement of appeal and the grounds for your appeal and send it to us by email to [email protected] and we can then advise on the clarity of your case.

For further information please visit: https://www.exeterguild.org/advice/

Students based in Cornwall should visit: https://www.thesu.org.uk/advice/

Information and contact details for the Students' Guild Advice Unit

The students' Guild Advice Unit offers a range of support whether you need someone to listen or are looking for support. Friendly, trained advisors can be contacted in person, by phone or by email to discuss any problems you might be experiencing in your University or personal life. The team can provide confidential support and signpost you to expert advice if needed.

You can find the Students' Guild advice Unit on Level +1 in the Forum, email: [email protected]

Information and contact details for the Falmouth and Exeter Student's Union Advice Service

The SU has a team of fully trained and experienced advisers to help and support you. The Service covers the full range of issues including student funding, benefits advice, financial problems, housing queries, consumer advice, employment, institutional/academic related problems and more.

The Advice Service offers free independent, confidential, and impartial information, advice and support to all students of the University of Exeter Penryn and of Falmouth University Campus.

You can contact the SU by email on: [email protected]

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Higher education

Asking for assignment to be remarked - masters level.

Supergirlthesecond · 04/07/2019 08:52

How will this go down? Some of the comments in the feedback I have received suggest tutor didn't know of my current health problems (I have an injury and very limited mobility and am restricted to home). I have informed course leader, however. I am also on extremely strong medicine before surgery and a bit spaced out. I think I did well to write the 4000 word assignment. I find this tutor a bit strange and a bit cavalier about things. There seems to be an inconsistency to his feedback and he wants things written in a way that seems a bit simplistic to me yet then wants complex analysis (technical field). I have kept things clear in order to avoid any ambiguous interpretation but feel that I am amending my writing style to accomodate him too much.

You should be able to get extenuating circumstances and be able to rewrite but they won't give you a different mark becuase you were ill. I've known people get a lower mark when they have asked for a remark too. I assume they wanted you use to use more in-depth knowledge but written simply. I don't know if this is you but alot of people tend to write the simplest thing in a strung out long sentence whereas a marker would prefer you to analyse something well but in a simple way.

@Mumofone1858 Thanks. I think it said you can appeal the decision but once something has been graded there are no rewrites. It is not a UK uni.

Agree with PP, you should be able to get extenuating circumstances attached to this piece of work to acknowledge the challenges you had in writing it. That won't change the mark but might make a difference in the overall mark later on. Is the work summative (i.e. counts towards your final grade)? At my university, summative work can only be remarked when there is a discrepancy between the marking criteria and the way the marking has been done. In other words, if the marking criteria didn't say anything about technical content but you then were marked/got comments on technical content you might be able to ask for a re-mark. However, my University is very strict on the conditions in which re-marking can take place and very few students are granted their request to have work re-marked. Can you go and speak to this tutor about his feedback?

Everything about this tutor and his colleague seem strange to me. He sent me an email once that seemed half written and I replied politely saying that I didn' think I had received all of his email and would he might sending it again. He said I had received the full email he sent but he just couldn't be bothered to sign it. I don't know how to read that! His comments to the group as a whole seemed defensive to me. None of the other tutors on courses I have completed showed the distribution of grades and explained why nobody received an 'A' and said we mark particularly hard on this course. It all seemed false. I think he has nitpicked and been inconsistent.

@Mumofone1858 I assume they wanted you use to use more in-depth knowledge but written simply. I don't know if this is you but alot of people tend to write the simplest thing in a strung out long sentence whereas a marker would prefer you to analyse something well but in a simple way. I didn't think I had done this as normally I am very good at writing/analysing but actually, I may have done this, this time. I am struggling with the medicine which is leaving me exhausted and completely inarticulate at times but the alternative is too much pain which also laves me exhausted.

Perhaps not quite as you have said, but I think my analysis could have been more in depth, in places.

Everything about this tutor and his colleague seem strange to me. He sent me an email once that seemed half written and I replied politely saying that I didn' think I had received all of his email and would he might sending it again. He said I had received the full email he sent but he just couldn't be bothered to sign it. I don't know how to read that! Some academics are just fucking rude in their emails to people! However, this is a separate issue from your concerns about your mark and feedback. What I mean is that if you wanted to ask for a re-mark, don't bring in the issue that he's an oddball because it'll seem as though you've got a problem with him which will weaken your request for a re-mark. A request for a re-mark should be tied to the University policy on re-marking, not bring personal issues (i.e. that you think he's odd) into it. His comments to the group as a whole seemed defensive to me. None of the other tutors on courses I have completed showed the distribution of grades and explained why nobody received an 'A' and said we mark particularly hard on this course. It all seemed false. It may well be that another academic who's moderated his marking has questioned the mark distribution and asked why no-one got As. This tutor might well be getting ahead of that. Or another student might have asked him about this and he' thought it's easier just to share with everyone. I think he has nitpicked and been inconsistent If you're requesting a re-mark, you should make this clear and draw out examples from his marking/feedback where you believe this to be true. Basically what I'm saying is that if you're going to request a re-mark, base the request on issues with his marking/feedback not on issues you have with him as a tutor/person.

@DirtyDennis Thanks, you are right. I feel like I want to say, under the circumstances, this work isn't that bad ! Some of his criticism makes sense, some is helpful but overall, I don't think the grade reflects the work (part of it was building a website and I have explained some of the decisions I made and the limitations I was under with resources). It only scraped a pass (ECTS 'E'). I wasn't expecting an A but perhaps a C, at least.

I think you need to do a bit of research before you do any more. Your university should have set out somewhere in excrutiating detail exactly what the grounds for a remark are, and what the criteria for reaching a particular mark is. For example E: Attainment deficient in respect of specific intended learning outcomes, with mixed evidence as to the depth of knowledge and weak deployment of arguments or deficient manipulations C: Clear attainment of most of the intended learning outcomes, some more securely grasped than others, resting on a circumscribed range of evidence and displaying a variable depth of understanding Your university should also have let you know what the learning outcomes are (assuming a taught masters). You also need to ensure you meet your universities requirements for submitting a request for remark / appeal for extenuating circumstances. Again this should be clearly set out somewhere - you should do this first as there is likely to be a deadline for submitting evidence, which is likely to require a medical note. Your university may also have support available to help students understand and use feedback. If this is available use it - it is unclear from what you have said if your tutor is giving unacceptable feedback or not.

Essentially you need to be careful how you word a request for re-marking. At my university, there are very very clear guidelines that work will absolutely not be re-marked where a student disagrees with a marker's grade. In your last post you said "I don't think the grade reflects the work" and "I wasn't expecting an A but perhaps a C, at least". At my university, if you said this in a request for re-marking, you'd be told in no uncertain terms that your work wouldn't be re-marked because this is essentially you having a difference of opinion from the tutor. Instead you should look up the policy of appeals/re-marking and frame your request in that language. At my university this would primarily be around mismatches between the marking criteria and the marks/feedback. You'd strengthen your case if you picked out very specific examples from the feedback as well. You should also book an appointment with the tutor to go through the feedback. You also said in an earlier post that the tutor's a bit strange. If you think this has had a negative impact on your experience or on your learning, you can/should complain about this. Again, I'd recommend pulling out specific examples and highlighting the impacts of these rather than leading with a vague sense of you not liking the guy Hope I'm making some sense here!

Yes, lots of sense! Thank you all - I really appreciate your advice. I am quite isolated due to injury so value this.

I think I did well to write the 4000 word assignment. This is what stood out to me. Thing is though, is that they are marking it to a standard, not to a "oh they did well to hand it in at all so we'll award them for that". I think you need to be honest with yourself, or find someone who will be honest to you. Look at what you'd written. Is it really better compared to someone else's marked the same level? Or is it similar standard, but you feel you should have got better because you feel you had to put more effort in. If it's the former. Yes, go and discuss it. If it's the latter, then, no, that's not how it works.

As others have mentioned, extenuating circumstances and allowances will generally give you extra time, extra support etc, not change the marks. At this level there is still a standard to be met, it’s not about lowering the standard because of your circumstances, it’s providing the time and support.

It might be that you are not clear on the criteria for this particular piece. Look again at exactly (point by point) what was required at each level (the difference between an A and a C is usually quite distinct) and then consider exactly where you met each one of those criteria in your answer. If you tutor gave you an E - they really felt that you missed many of these points completely. It is likely that you won't get extra marks for meeting the set word-count. This is simply a requirement. Sadly, there are usually no extra marks for completing the answer in pain or under pressure. However sympathetic your tutor is, the work will be marked on its own merits.

Thank you to everyone who posted. I have started to go through his comments and am trying to look at the assignment through his eyes. Next, I will go through the assessment criteria. Your guidance is really helpful as it has been a struggle. Thanks (and keep ‘em coming!)

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