In this section

A Reviews of Decisions of University Bodies is a University process available to undergraduate and postgraduate students, who are dissatisfied with a decision made by the following University bodies:

  • Exam Access and Mitigation Committee (EAMC)
  • Postgraduate Committee
  • Decisions relating to reasonable adjustments or adjusted modes of assessment
  • Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) in respect of recommendations of reasonable adjustments specified in a Student Support Document
  • Decisions not to allow a student who has completed the B.A. Degree to progress to Part III of the Tripos for M.Eng., M.Math. or M.Sci. Degree
  • Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine (additional attempts at 2nd & Final M.B.examinations)
  • Faculty Board Veterinary Medicine (additional attempts at 2nd & Final Vet. M.B.examinations)
  • Faculty Board of Law (additional attempts at the Examination for Professional Exemption)
  • Decisions of the Study Away Risk Assessment Committee for applications for students to work away
  • Decisions of the Student Discipline Officer not to commission an investigation
  • Decisions of the Study Capability Assessment Committee

This process is overseen by the Office of Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals (OSCCA). Information on the full procedure can be found here.

  1. Grounds
  2. Application Process
  3. Consideration Process

Grounds for a Review

The procedure does not usually consider issues afresh or initiate a new investigation. An application can be reviewed on the following grounds:

  • procedural irregularities that occurred during the decision-making process, which were material or potentially material to the decision reached;

    For example, the process was not followed in line with University guidance or regulations.

  • the decision is unreasonable, in that no reasonable person could have reached the same decision on the available evidence;

    For example, points raised in the original application were not considered, or you feel the decision-making body was not reasonable in considering your case.

  • the availability of new evidence, which materially impacts the outcome and which, for valid reasons, could not have been submitted at an earlier stage;

    For example, you have new evidence relevant to the original application and, for good reason, this was not available to you when you made the application. A good reason might be that your evidence was not available before the application deadline or that a medical investigation was ongoing and you now have new evidence to support your case.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision made by one of the University bodies listed above and you believe the reasons for your dissatisfaction do not meet the grounds for a Review, you can request a Completion of Procedures (CoP)  letter. This confirms that you completed the University’s internal process.

Deadline

The deadline to submit Reviews of Decisions is 14 calendar days from the date you received the decision. You would usually receive information about the procedure and deadline in the decision letter.

Requests made outside this timeframe will not be considered unless you have a valid reason for the delay, such as illness or other special circumstances. Supporting evidence of the reasons for lateness should be provided, if available, and the request should be submitted as soon as possible. The OSCCA Case Handler will consider your circumstances, along with any evidence, and will let you know if the application will be reviewed.

Compleating your Application

You can submit an application yourself, although you might wish to seek support from your College Tutor, Senior Tutor, the Student Advice Service or another advisor of your choice.

If you wish, you could nominate a representative who will be the University’s only point of contact for this process. To do so, email StudentComplaints@admin.cam.ac.uk outlining your request and the reasons for it. OSCCA will consider your request, make a decision and let you know if a representative can be nominated.

You can download a copy of the Request for Review Form on the right-hand side of this page. The form and any supporting evidence should be submitted to StudentComplaints@admin.cam.ac.uk.

 

COMPLETING THE FORM

The form has nine sections.

Please note that the numbering in the form does not seem to be in the correct order.

Sections one to five require:

  1. your personal information;
  2. details of reasonable adjustments if applicable;
  3. your reasons for submitting the form after the 14-day deadline, if applicable;
  4. you to identify the decision you are appealing against;
  5. the grounds for your request, which could be one, two or all three;

Section six - Reasons for requesting a Review

This is your opportunity to explain your reasons for the Review and how they meet the ground/s identified in the form. You could provide an overview of your situation if you think this would help the Reviewer. Consider remaining clear, concise and to the point. Remember the Reviewer will have access to your original application and decision.

If your case is complex, you could include a timeline of events. Depending on its length, this could be included on the form or attached as a separate document. 

Section seven  - Evidence

Here you will list any new evidence you are providing to support your request for Review. In the table you can include: 

  1. the evidence offered, such as a doctor’s letter;
  2. the author of evidence - e.g. a doctor;
  3. the date the evidence was provided - this would be included on your evidence, such as a letterhead;
  4. and the relevance of the evidence - e.g. to confirm a medical diagnosis.

Section eight - Outcome

In this section you can indicate what outcome/s you are hoping for, bearing in mind the options available in this procedure. The Reviewer can either uphold the request for Review and refer the case back to the original decision-making body, or dismiss the Review and confirm the original decision. Although, the procedure allows for any other recommendations that the Reviewer deems appropriate. 

 

EXAMPLE OF A POSSIBLE OUTCOME

Your original application was for an examination allowance to the EAMC for medical reasons. Your request is upheld and the Reviewer refers the case back to the original decision-making body - EAMC in this case. Your Review and the Reviewer’s decision along with any recommendations they may make to the EAMC are re-considered by the EAMC. The EAMC’s outcome could be to make a different decision or to uphold its original decision. If the latter, you will be issued with a CoP letter and, if you are still dissatisfied with the outcome, you could raise your case with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). 

Section nine  - Statement by student

This section requires you to confirm you agree with the statements in each box. If you have any questions or concerns about any of those statements, you can contact OSCCA who can help clarify these for you.

Finally, you need to sign and date the form.

 

DISABILITY

You are encouraged to provide details of your disability and any reasonable adjustments you require during this process but also those that may be relevant to the investigation. You can submit your Student Support Document, if you have one, with the rest of the application.

How does the University handle your application?

INITIAL CONSIDERATION

Upon submitting your request for Review, a Case Handler appointed by OSCCA will consider the following:

  1. whether the application was made within the deadline;
  2. if it was not, they will consider the reasons for lateness and whether these can be accepted;
  3. whether the Review meets one or more of the grounds allowed in this procedure.

 

INVESTIGATION

If these are met, the Case Handler appoints a Reviewer to investigate the Review. A Reviewer is a trained member of academic staff who decides whether a Review is upheld or dismissed. The Reviewer will consider your request, the information considered in reaching the decision itself and any new information. 

 

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

  1. uphold the request for Review in whole or in part, either referring back to the decision-making body for reconsideration or where this would be unsuitable, requiring such remedies as necessary; or
  2. dismiss the request for Review and confirm the original decision.

 

TIMEFRAME

The process is usually completed within 90 calendar days. If there are delays,  OSCCA will let you know and explain why these delays occurred.
 

INFORMATION SHARING

The information and evidence received in your request for Review will only be shared with members of staff who need access to the information in order to process, investigate and consider the request. All information received from a student will be considered sensitively and in accordance with the Policy on the use of personal information under the Review of Decisions of University Bodies procedure. This can be found in the Procedure on page 5.