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Review of Decision for Entry to Honours Policy
If you do not meet the academic requirements for Entry to Honours and are told you cannot continue with your current degree pathway, you can ask for this decision to be looked at again, according to the Requests for review of decision for entry to Honours Policy.
Registry will usually contact you when you have finished your exams and assessments in June or August to tell you if you can request that the decision is reviewed, and how to do this.
You will be given an Entry to Honours Review Form to fill out online. This is the only format that will be accepted, so make sure you use the form. You will be given a deadline for when you need to submit the form – make sure you submit it on time. If you need extra time, contact Registry as soon as you can explaining why, and they may be able to give you more time to complete your form.
For suggestions on how to approach filling out your Entry to Honours Review Form, see our Entry to Honours Review Form guidance
and take a look at our Entry to Honours Review Form example. You can also contact the HelpHub (helphub@) to review your form before you submit it.
In the form you will need to explain why you are requesting a review. The only acceptable grounds for review are:
1. Extenuating personal circumstances materially affecting academic performance (if they were not disclosed earlier, an explanation is required)
This means something was going on in your life at the time that affected your ability to perform well. This could be mental or physical health, a family crisis, anything serious that affected your ability to complete your assignment as well as you would have done under normal circumstances.
The University cannot have been aware of these circumstances when you were in difficulty, and you need to explain why you did not tell them earlier. This could be because your health meant that you could not get in touch, or because you were facing other difficulties which made getting in touch impossible.
2. Improper conduct of an assessment or examination, or irregular application of academic regulations, that has materially impacted on the decision not to permit Honours entry.
This means that something went wrong with the exam or essay, or academic rules were not followed properly, and you got lower grades because of this. You will need to be specific and evidence which published rules were not followed properly (including University policies and/or School-specific procedures, such as module handbooks).
You will also need to provide evidence to support what you say in your form. It depends on your circumstances, but evidence may include things like;
- Letters from your doctor
- Prescription evidence,
- Email chains with staff
- Evidence of meetings with staff
- Supporting letters from friends/family/flatmates
- Academic expectations/rules set out in University or School policies
We advise you to submit as much evidence as you are comfortable with, as clear evidence will support your case better. However, only submit as much evidence as you feel comfortable with. You don’t have to tell the University anything you don’t want to tell them. Any evidence in a language other than English must have a certified translation with it. Any evidence should be submitted in Word or PDF only. You should email your form and evidence to [email protected].
The Cross Faculty Special Progression Board will review your form and your case, including evidence from Student Services and your Director(s) of Teaching. The Associate Dean will present your review request and evidence from Student Services and your Director(s) of Teaching. The Board will also include a representative from your School to explain specifics on support already offered by the School and whether the School feels able to support your progression to Honours if the review was successful. The Board can decide to:
- Allow you to enter Honours
- Allow you to enter Honours with conditions
- Move you to a General Degree
- Make other changes to your degree pathway as relevant.
You will be informed of the decision within 5 working days of the review.
If you feel the outcome you receive from the Board was unjustified or did not fully take into account your circumstances, you can make a Stage 2 Appeal. You can find out how to do that in our Appeals guide.