Student Academic Appeals

Male and female student walking on Canterbury campus lawns overlooking Cathedral

Student Academic Appeals

These pages are designed to guide students through the process of academic appeals that is set out in the Academic Appeals Policy. 


    

Important Information in 2026/27

For Final Year Students

Please note that submitting an academic appeal may affect the timing of your graduation and when you may complete any resits or other reassessments. If your appeal is still being considered, you may not be able to graduate with your cohort, and your opportunity to resit failed assessments may be delayed until your appeal has been decided.

However, not all academic appeals will affect graduation. For example, if your appeal relates to the classification of your award (such as an appeal about mitigating circumstances that could change your degree classification), you would normally still be able to graduate with your cohort while your appeal is being considered.

The University must ensure that all academic appeals are considered fairly and that the decisions of Assessment Boards are reviewed in line with University regulations.

Because academic appeals take time to consider, it may not be possible to complete the process before the July graduation ceremonies or before the resit assessment period.

If you are a final-year student, this may mean that you are unable to graduate in July and your graduation may need to be postponed until the November ceremonies.

If you have completed early resolution on your appeal and have queries about whether to submit a formal appeal or not, please contact appeals@kent.ac.uk.

For Continuing Students

Please note that submitting an academic appeal may affect when you can complete any resits or other reassessments.

The reassessment period starts on Monday 17 August 2026. If your appeal has not been decided by this date, you should still complete any resits or other reassessments that you have already been notified of, unless the University tells you otherwise. 

We recommend that you contact your Programme Administration Team to discuss your options for completing any resits or other reassessments while your appeal is being considered.

What is an academic appeal?

An academic appeal is a challenge to, or request, for reconsideration of a decision by an academic body regarding student progress, assessment and/or awards.

Appeal process at Kent consists of three steps:

Early ResolutionFormal AppealAppeal Review

Not all appeals will go through all of the steps listed above. Some appeals might be completed earlier in the process.

Appeal process step-by-step Need advice?

Academic Appeals Policy and Appendices

Where to start?

If you are thinking about submitting an appeal and not sure where to start, you may find the following information useful.

Deadlines for submitting your appeal

  • Early resolution – within 7–calendar days after you receive your formal results or a formal decision.

    • If you are seeking to be permitted to continue with your studies, but not currently allowed, we strongly advise that you submit your early resolution / appeal as soon as possible. 

  • Formal appeal – within 7-calendar days after you receive the outcome of your early resolution.

OR

  • If you did not attempt early resolution, within 28–calendar days after you receive your formal results or a formal decision. You will have to provide a valid reason why you did not seek early resolution. 

For formal appeals, the deadlines are:

  • Appeal review – within 7–calendar days after you receive your formal appeal outcome.

What happens if my appeal is late?

In some exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a late appeal, but you should not rely on this and make sure that you attempt to submit your appeal within the deadlines outlined above. 

However, if you are submitting your appeal beyond the deadlines outlined above, you will have to provide a good reason why your appeal is late on the appeal form. The Case Manager of your appeal will consider your statement and decide whether to accept or dismiss your appeal.

A few examples of what may be considered good reasons for late appeals:

  • If you have an Inclusive Learning Plan (ILP) that recommends adjustments in order to accommodate difficulties around meeting deadlines. and/or
  • You experienced extenuating circumstances that prevented you from submitting your appeal on time (please note that you will have to include evidence of the circumstances when submitting your appeal). and/or
  • the outcome of your early resolution was delayed.

This list is not exhaustive.

Appeal process step-by-step

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Formal results or formal decision

  • Received your formal results on KentVision?
  • Received a formal letter with the decision of an academic body?
How to view your results on KentVision
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Early Resolution

  • This is an informal process used to raise your concerns and/or seek clarification from your School.
  • You must submit your early resolution request within 7-calendar days of your results being published or receiving a formal decision from another academic body.
  • Your School will reply to you within 14-calendar days.
Read more about Early Resolution
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Formal Appeal

This is the first step of the formal appeals process.

You can submit a formal appeal if you are dissatisfied with the response to your early resolution request.

You must submit your formal appeal within 7-calendar days after you receive the outcome of your early resolution.

If you did not submit an early resolution request, you must submit your formal appeal within 28-calendar days of your results being published or receiving a formal decision from an academic body.

We strongly encourage you to submit your appeal before the deadline.

We will send you the formal appeal outcome within 28-calendar days.

Read about different appeal types See Appeal Submission Guide
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Appeal Review

  • This is the second and final step of the formal appeal process.
  • You can submit an appeal review request if your formal appeal was either dismissed or partially upheld.
  • You must submit your appeal review request within 7-calendar days of receiving your formal appeal outcome.
  • Appeal reviews are considered by an Academic Chair of an Appeal Review Panel. 
  • We will send you the outcome within 28-calendar days.
Read more about Appeal Reviews
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Appeal Review Panel Hearing

  • The Academic Chair of the Appeal Review Panel may decide to convene a hearing to consider your case.
  • The decision to convene a hearing is an academic judgement of the Chair and not something you can request.
  • If the Chair decides to convene a hearing, we will contact you and invite you to attend.
  • We will send you the outcome within 7-calendar days of the hearing.
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End of the Internal Appeal Process at Kent

  • Once you reach the end of the internal appeals process and there is no further route available for you to pursue your case, we will issue you a Completion of Procedures Letter. 
  • This letter will allow you to take your case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). It is an independent body set up to review student complaints about higher education providers in England and Wales.
Office of the Independent Adjudicator webpages Read about the Completion of Procedures Letters

Information about appeals

Thinking of submitting an appeal?

What do I need to know when submitting my appeal?

What do I need to know after I submit my appeal?

Already know which appeal type you need to submit?