Termination of Studies

Resources

What is ‘Termination of Studies’?

This means your studies have been ended because you did not get enough credits to continue with your course. You will be informed of this in an official email. You can read the official policy on the University website.

Before your studies were terminated, you should have received emails warning you about this:

Undergraduate

Performance warning

Arts, Divinity, Science Faculties

You will receive this if:

  • General degree: you fail a module,
  • Honours degree: you fail a module or you got less than 11 in all modules in a semester

Medicine

You will receive this if your average grade is less than 11 in a semester

Progression warning

Arts, Divinity, Science Faculties

You will receive this if your current grades suggest you are unlikely to get enough credits to carry on with your degree

Medicine

You will receive this if:

  • You fail a sub-Honours module in your first semester or
  • Your current grades suggest you are unlikely to get enough credits to carry on with your degree

Probation warning

Arts, Divinity, Science Faculties

You will receive this if you don’t have enough credits to carry on with your degree. The University will put your studies under probation, meaning you will have to do certain things over the next two semesters to stay on course. Exactly what you need to do will depend on your Faculty, but it may include:

  • Taking and passing a certain number of credits per semester
  • Engaging with the Associate Dean (Students) and your Adviser of Studies
  • Engaging with Student Services
  • Taking study skills programmes from CEED

Medicine

You will receive this if you don’t have enough credits to carry on with your degree, or if you have entered Honours under conditional entry. The University will put your studies under probation, meaning you will have to do certain things over the next two semesters to stay on course. Exactly what you need to do may include:

  • Taking and passing a certain number of credits per semester
  • Engaging with the Director of Teaching and/or Pro Dean (Medicine) and your Adviser of Studies
  • Engaging with Student Services
  • Taking study skills programmes from CEED

Postgraduate Taught

Performance warning

You will receive this if you have failed modules with the right to reassessment, but you have enough credits to carry on with your degree.

Progression warning

You will receive this if you have failed modules with the right to reassessment, but you did not have enough credits to carry on with your degree before you re-sat the affected modules.

Probation warning

You will receive this if you have not got enough credits in that and if you have had extenuating circumstances which affect your ability to carry on with your degree.

The Provost can recommend a period of probation where you will have to meet certain conditions to stay on your course. These conditions may include:

  • Meeting with your Adviser of Studies
  • Meeting with the Provost
  • Meeting with Student Services
  • Meeting with CEED

Appealing a Termination of Studies decision

Stage 1

Timeline for your appeal

You must submit a Stage 1 appeal within 5 working days of being informed that your studies have been terminated. The Dean may accept late requests, but it is up to them. Their decision is final.

You must use this form for your Stage 1 Appeal. It has to be the Termination of Studies form as it includes specific questions on academic probation and how you’d be able to complete your studies if you were allowed to return to the University.

You can take a look at our Termination of Studies Stage 1 Appeal guidance and our example Termination of Studies Stage 1 Appeal example.

Reasons why you can appeal

You can only appeal for two reasons (like with other academic appeals):

  • Extenuating personal circumstances which affected your studies and that you did not and could not tell the University about.
    • 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, an internet blackout in your area, 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 submitted your assignment, 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.
  • Improper conduct of assessment, or academic rules were not applied properly.
    • Something went wrong with the exam or essay, or academic rules were not followed properly, and you got a lower grade because of this.

You will need to have evidence to back your appeal up. The evidence you use depends on your exact situation, but may include things like:

  • Medical evidence, such as letters from a doctor or prescriptions
  • Email chains of conversations or meetings with academic staff
  • Email chains of conversations or meetings with Student Services
  • Evidence from prior issues around academic misconduct
  • Supporting letters from family/friends/partner

Email your form and evidence to [email protected] for undergraduates, and [email protected] for postgraduates.

Reviewing the appeal

If you are an undergraduate your appeal will be reviewed by a Dean at a Cross-Faculty Board.

If you are a postgraduate your appeal will be reviewed by the AVP (Dean of Learning & Teaching) and Provost.

Outcomes

The Dean will be able to do the following:

  • Agree with the appeal, and reinstate your studies without conditions
  • Agree with the appeal, and reinstate your studies with conditions (such as taking extra credits in a semester to make up lost credits)
  • Reject the appeal and terminate your studies

You’ll be informed of the decision within 5 working days

Stage 2

If your Stage 1 is rejected, you can submit a Stage 2 Appeal Form, which goes to Senate Assessors, who will evaluate your appeal. This is the final step in the appeals process, and we recommend you contact helphub@ if you wish to make a Stage 2 appeal.

You can only appeal if one of these reasons apply:

  1. ‘Extenuating personal circumstances materially affecting academic performance of which the University was not aware when the academic decision was taken, and which could not reasonably have been disclosed by the student (an explanation for earlier non-disclosure is always required’: This means that 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, an serious national/international event, anything serious that affected your ability to complete your academic work at the time as well as you would have done under normal circumstances. The University cannot have been aware of these circumstances when you submitted your assignment, 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. And/or:
  2. ‘Improper conduct of assessment or irregular application of academic regulations, that has materially impacted on the result awarded’: This means that something went wrong with the exam or essay, or academic rules were not followed properly, and you got a lower grade because of this, such as not being given the correct materials in your exam.

You need to send in your Stage 2 appeal within 10 working days of your Stage 1 outcome letter. You have a further 10 working days to add information and evidence to this form if you need, but only do so if absolutely necessary – it’s best to get it sorted within those first 10 working days.

For suggestions on how to approach filling out your Stage 2 Appeal Form, please see our Stage 2 Appeal Form guidance and example Stage 2 Appeal Form. You can reach out to the HelpHub (helphub@) and we can look over your Stage 2 form and make suggestions to ensure it's as strong as it could be.

Evidence might include letters from your doctor, prescription evidence, email chains, a supporting letter from friends/family/flatmate/partner, whatever evidence will support your case best. If you have had contact with Student Services in connection with your problem, explain and show evidence of this if you feel able to. If you submit evidence that is not in English, you need to supply a certified translation. This can take some time, in which case you should still submit your appeal form on time, and email to notify them that you are still waiting for a translation to come through.

It is important to note that Senate Assessors will have no prior knowledge of your case or circumstances, so they will only have your appeal form and evidence to go on. Therefore, you should make sure that you say everything you feel you need to say in your form, and submit as much compelling evidence as you can.

You should email your form and evidence to [email protected]. Your appeal form and evidence should be submitted as Word document or PDF attachments only (not as a OneDrive link).

Outcomes

You’ll be contacted in 10 working days with your appeal outcome which will be one of the below:

  • Refer the case back to whoever did your Stage 1 Appeal, with a recommended action.
  • Instruct that a new School or University Board should hear your alleged academic misconduct case.
  • Allow the appeal to be heard by the Senate Appeal Hearing
  • Reject the appeal - there is no next step after that  

The decision is final - if you are dissatisfied there are no further University steps you can take. You can, if you wish, request that the process of your appeal is reviewed by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Senate Appeal Hearing

Before the hearing

If the Senate Assessors decide your appeal can go to a Senate Appeal Hearing, you'll get at least 10 working days’ notice before the hearing. Please note that your graduation may be postponed if you are in final year while your case is heard. We recommend reaching out to [email protected] to help you prepare for the hearing.

You can be accompanied by a member of the University if you would like. This is someone who is a current student or member of staff at the University of St Andrews, or a Sabbatical Officer or member of staff from the Students’ Association. You might choose a good friend, a member of staff from Student Services, or a member of staff from the HelpHub. They can help you understand proceedings, and may, with yours and the Panel’s consent, speak in your place by reading out your pre-prepared statement. Whoever accompanies you is not there to be a defence lawyer, they are there to be a friendly face in the room. They will not be questioned by the Panel, nor will they give evidence or character testimony at the meeting.

Your Stage 2 Appeal Form and evidence will form the main part of the case from your side. No later than 7 working days before your hearing, you must submit the following:

  • Any further evidence you have that you were unable to supply previously
  • Confirmation of who will accompany you or represent you on your behalf.
  • Names of 2 people to give evidence as witnesses - you need to ask them and arrange for them to come with you

Please note that you can only attend in person, or nominate your representative to appear on your behalf.

Your School will also submit evidence. You will get to see all of the written evidence before the hearing.

Members of the Senate Appeal Panel

The Appeal Panel will be made up of:

  • a Vice-Principal or other senior member of staff (Convenor),
  • a Dean from a Faculty you are not part of,
  • a Sabbatical Officer

The Panel will be unconnected with your case, and will have no knowledge of your circumstances other than from your appeal form and from the evidence provided by your School.

In some cases, an additional Dean will attend the hearing for expertise, and other specialist staff may be called for evidence if necessary (such as Disability Adviser or Equality Officer) There will also be a member of staff to take notes of the hearing.

How the hearing will work

The Convenor will begin by: explaining what the Panel can do, summarising your case so far, outlining how the Hearing will work, and checking that everyone has all the evidence in front of them to refer to. If some evidence is confidential and is therefore not being shared with everyone present, the Convenor will mention this at the beginning too.

Next, you/your representative will make a statement, outlining how you perceive your case, and add anything not included in written evidence you submitted ahead of the Hearing. Afterwards, you/your representative may be questioned by the Panel through the Convenor.

Your School will be able to make a statement on their perspective, and add anything they did not include in their written evidence. Like you, they may also be questioned by the Panel through the Convenor.

If any witnesses or specialists have been invited, they will make statements and be questioned in the same way as you and the School.

Your School and you/your representative will make closing statements to summarise or reiterate any of the key points you feel are relevant to your case. The Convenor will then close the meeting, and ask you/your representative and the School to leave the meeting so that the Panel can discuss your case and what outcomes they feel are appropriate.

Outcomes

You'll normally receive your outcome within 10 working days of the Panel's decision.

The Panel can:

  • Reject the appeal
  • Suggest the original decision should be reconsidered in light of new evidence
  • Uphold the appeal totally or to an extent with or without conditions

When it comes to PG theses, the possible outcomes are that:

  • You are allowed to revise and re-submit your thesis in a given timeframe
  • They declare the exam null and void and order new examination

The Panel's decision is final - if you are dissatisfied there are no further University steps you can take. You can, if you wish, request that the process of your appeal is reviewed by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.