An Honours or Masters Advanced student can appeal the Thesis Course result once the final marks are released for the course; a supervisor cannot appeal a result. The procedure provides detail on how the College of Health and Medicine and College of Science will consider the appeal of the thesis course in accordance with the Assessment Appeals Procedures and the Assessment Rule 2016.

Stage 1 Informal Consideration

Step 1: The student must approach the program convener (Honours or Masters convener) for the discipline with a written and detailed appeal, indicating why they believe that the result is inappropriate or incorrect. The student must submit this within 20 working days of receiving the final result

Step 2: The convener¹ must review the result, taking into account the student’s concerns, and decide whether or not to amend the result. Note that the final mark of the thesis component will not normally be amended at this consideration stage, unless significant evidence is provided which was not available to the Discipline Examination Committee.

Step 3: The convener must inform the student in writing of the outcome of the initial review.

Stage 2 Formal Appeal

Step 1: If the student remains dissatisfied with the outcome, they may appeal to the College Student Administration Office, within 20 working days of receiving the result of the initial appeal, in writing.

Step 2: The appeal will be considered by the Coursework Thesis Appeal Committee appointed by the College Associate Dean Education². The Chair of the Panel is appointed as the nominee to exercise the Associate Dean Education functions in accordance with Clause 12(15) of the Assessment Rule 2016. The Committee:

• Reviews the reasons for the appeal, thesis, examiners reports, supervisors report and any other relevant documents.

Step 3: If after considering the documents, the Committee considers there are no grounds for appeal, the Committee may proceed to Step 4, otherwise the Committee:

• Must provide the opportunity for a written submission or interview for all relevant parties including the student, supervisor(s), examiners and convener.
• Can appoint an additional independent examiner³ who is to mark the thesis, or discipline expert adjudicators to review the thesis and original examiners reports.
• The additional report from the new examiner or the adjudicator will be considered in addition to the previous examiners reports and all other documentation in determining an outcome.

Step 4: The Committee may:

• Confirm the result appealed against.
• May approve marks and the grade of a final result for the student (which may be either higher or lower than the original marks and grade).

Step 5: The Chair of the Appeal Committee will provide written notice of the outcome of the appeal to the student and copy to the convener and the Registrar. The notice must include:

• A statement of the reasons for the decision
• That the decision is final, except in cases where the student appeals on procedural grounds only according to Clause 12(11) of the Assessment Rule 2016.

¹ If the convener or a member of the Appeals Panel has a conflict of interest, for example if they were involved in supervision or as an examiner, then an alternate will be appointed.

² The Coursework Thesis Appeal Committee will consist of 3 members of the academic staff of the CHM/CoS and the Associate Director (Education) for the relevant discipline or their nominee.

³ The examiner should be independent from both the supervisor’s and previous examiners’ research programs.