Student Intranet - My Studies

Requesting a review of an assessment or exam result is a two step process.

Step 1: Informal Review

If you believe your mark does not reflect your level of achievement, you should request an Informal Review within 14 days of receiving the assessment or exam result.

How to request an Informal Review

1. Complete an Informal Review form.  Outline your specific concerns as they relate to your assessment or exam mark, and where possible link back to the marking guide.
2. Email a copy of the form to your lecturer or unit coordinator and request an Informal Review. If you would like to meet in-person or via MS Teams, please include this request in your email.
3. As part of the Informal Review you may ask to see your assessment or exam paper, and any relevant marking guides and rubrics.
4. The outcome of the Informal Review will be confirmed to you within 7 days, usually by email.
5. If, at the end of the Informal Review process, you wish to proceed to Formal Review (step 2) you may only do so on one or more of the eligible grounds.

Step 2: Formal Review

To request a Formal Review of an assessment or exam result you must complete the Assessment, Examination and Unit Result Formal Review form.  A link to this form can be found below or on the Student Forms webpage .

Before you start this application, please have the following documents ready to upload:

1. A written statement which clearly addresses the ground(s) of your request. Whilst there is space on the application form to write a statement, it is limited.
2. A copy of the Informal Review form. You will be asked to upload a copy of the Informal Review form.  If you were unable to engage in the Informal Review process, you will need to upload evidence of your attempt to engage or explain why you were unable to engage.
3. A copy of the Informal Review outcome. This is a document sent to you (usually an email) by the person who conducted the Informal Review.
4. Any relevant evidence to support the ground(s) of your request.

Submit an application online,

Submission deadlines

Assessment and Examination Informal and Formal Reviews are subject to the following deadlines:

• An Assessment or Exam result Informal Review request must be made within 14 days of the result becoming available
• An Assessment or Exam result Formal Review request must be lodged within 21 days of the result becoming available

See below  for information about the impact of public holidays and University closure on these deadlines, as well as information about late applications.

Inadequate or incomplete requests

If your request is deemed to be incomplete (missing key information or evidence) or inadequate (doe not clearly address the relevant grounds) it will be returned to you with a written explanation.

In this event, you will be given an opportunity to revise your request and resubmit it within 7 days. A resubmitted application will be considered on its merits and may be rejected if it is inadequate, incomplete or otherwise devoid of merit. There is no right of appeal against a rejection.

To request a Formal Review of a final unit result, you must complete the Unit Result Formal Review form. A link to this online form can be found below and on the Student Forms webpage.

Before you start this application, please have the following documents ready to upload:

1. A written statement which clearly addresses the ground(s) of your request.  Whilst there is space on the application form to write a statement, it is limited.
2. Any relevant evidence to support the ground(s) of your request.

Please note:

• Unit Result Formal Review requests will only be considered once the final unit result has been released.
• Individual assessment results will not be considered at part of a unit result Formal Review.
• Not all matters are eligible for consideration at Formal Review.

Submit a Unit Result Formal Review request.

Submission deadlines

Unit Result Formal Reviews are subject to the following deadlines:

• Unit Formal Review requests must be lodged within 30 days from the date the unit result is released.

See below for information about the impact of public holidays and University closure on these deadlines, as well as information about late applications.

Inadequate or incomplete requests

If your request is deemed to be incomplete (missing key information or evidence) or inadequate (does not clearly address relevant grounds), it will be returned to you with a written explanation.

In this event, you will be given an opportunity to revise your request and resubmit it within 7 days.  A resubmitted application will be considered on its merits and may be rejected if it is inadequate, incomplete or otherwise devoid of merit.

Your academic progression status refers to how well you are progressing through your course, academically. You may be given an academic progression status of green, amber, red or purple by your school’s Progression Panel.

Should you wish to contest the academic progression status given to you by the Progression Panel, you may do so by submitting an Academic Progression Status Review application.  This online form can be found on the Student Forms webpage.

Before you start this application, we suggest having the following information ready.

1. A written statement.  Whilst there is space on the application form to write a statement, it is limited.  To avoid being limited by the word count, we suggest you prepare a statement on a word document and upload it.
2. Any relevant evidence. If you select ground 14.1.4 (unexpected and exceptional circumstances) you must provide evidence

Submit an Academic Progression Status Formal Review request 

Submission deadlines

Academic Progression Status Review applications must be lodged within 30 days of the status becoming available on SIMO or 30 days of the student being notified, whichever is earlier.

See below  for information about the impact of public holidays and University closure on these deadlines, as well as information about late applications.

Inadequate or incomplete applications

If your request is deemed to be incomplete (missing key information or evidence) or inadequate (does not clearly address relevant grounds), it will be returned to you with a written explanation and you will be invited to resubmit the request within 7 days.

An Academic Progression Status Formal Review request may be rejected where it seeks an outcome which is not possible under the University’s rules and polices.  For example, a request may be rejected where it is not possible for the student to continue in their Course, due to being ineligible for repeat a Unit.

Lodging an appeal with the Student Appeals Committee

The Student Appeals Committee hears appeals relating to the following matters:

• Formal Reviews of assessment or examination results;
• Formal Reviews of Unit results;
• Academic Progression Status Formal Reviews; and
• Findings of Academic Breach or Academic Misconduct, and Outcomes imposed, under the Academic Misconduct Rules (Students).

The Student Appeals Committee also hears appeals relating to:

• A decision expressed by a University Statute, Rule, policy or procedure to be appealable directly to the Student Appeals Committee;
• A refusal or cancellation of enrolment;
• Any decision made under Rule 3.5.5(b)-(g) (fitness to study), subject to restrictions on appeals set out in the Fitness to Study Policy;
• A Thesis classification of “fail” under Rule 6.11.19(e), 6.12.(c) or 6.13.1; and
• Non-admission to a degree under Rule 6.14.1 or 6.14.2.

You may only appeal against one of the above decisions if you have grounds to do so.

The grounds on which you are permitted to appeal one of the above decisions are set out in rule 17 of the Admission, Enrolment and Academic Progress Rules. Additional grounds are available for academic misconduct appeals and are set out in rule 8 of the Academic Misconduct Rules (Students).

An appeal to the Student Appeals Committee must be made using one of the following application forms. Submit hard-copy applications to the Student Hub via AskUs.

• Student Appeals Committee – General Appeal application form (for all appeals other than Academic Misconduct appeals).
• Student Appeals Committee – Academic Misconduct application form.

Along with the relevant form, you must include a statement addressing the specific grounds on which you are appealing, and any available supporting evidence, including copies of relevant documents (such as copies of emails referred to in your submissions, or any other documents).

Submission deadlines

A Student Appeals Committee appeal application must be lodged within 14 days of the relevant decision being made. Where the Student is Suspended or Excluded or Expelled as a result of a decision, this appeal period is automatically extended to 30 days.

Please note that the availability of Guild support does not impact on the deadline to lodge an appeal.  If you are unable to make an appointment with a Guild Advisory Officer before the deadline, you must still lodge your appeal.  If you wish to make additional submissions after meeting with a Guild Advisory Officer, you should liaise directly with the Committee about this, who will be in contact with you after you have lodged your application.

See below for information about the impact of public holidays and University closure on these deadlines, as well as information about late applications.

Student Appeals Process

If your appeal application is incomplete (missing key information or evidence) or inadequate (does not clearly address the relevant ground(s) for appeal), it will be returned to you with a written explanation. You will be given an opportunity to revise your application and resubmit it within 7 days.  A resubmitted application will be considered on its merits. An appeal may be dismissed without a hearing if it is determined to be frivolous, vexatious or devoid of merit.

If your appeal application is accepted for a Student Appeals Committee hearing, you will be notified of the scheduled time and date of the appeal hearing.

At the appeal hearing, your appeal is heard by a panel of Student Appeal Committee members.  You will have an opportunity to make oral representations at the hearing, as will the relevant decision-maker (or their nominee).

The decision of the Student Appeals Committee will be sent to your ECU email address within 7 days.  The notification will explain the decision and the reasons behind the decision.

The Student Appeals Committee is the last avenue of appeal in the University.

Support Persons

You may wish to appoint a Guild Advisory Officer, friend or family member to act as an advocate to conduct the appeal on your behalf, to accompany or assist you in relation to the appeal, however legal representation is not permitted.

Results/status release date Semester 2, 2025

Final Unit results and associated academic progression status information is due for release on Monday, 15 December 2025.

Unit Result Formal Review requests or Academic Progression Status Formal Review requests must be lodged by close of business on Thursday 29 January 2026.

Students who have deferred exams will have their results and status information released at a later date.

Please note, applications submitted in December/January may experience a delay in decisions being communicated due to the Christmas and New Year break. See below for information about the impact of public holidays and University closure on these deadlines, as well as information about late applications

Your responsibility

You are responsible for checking SIMO regularly for your academic results and your student email for any correspondence or notifications.

We are here to help.

The Student Hub can assist you to understand the reviews and appeals processes.  They can advise you on how to submit your application (on-line or in hard copy) and tell you what documents are required.  They are also available to answer your questions on submission deadlines and the progress of your application.

The Student Guild are available to support you with all stages of the review and appeals processes and can assist you with compiling your application.  For information on the full list of services offered by the Student Guild and how to access them please visit their website.

In calculating the deadlines for Formal Review applications, and appeal applications to the Student Appeals Committee, the following days will not be taken into account:

• the University’s closure over the Christmas and New Year break (22 December to 4 January inclusive)
• Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive;
• Australia Day (on the day it is observed by the University);
• ANZAC Day (on the day it is observed by the University); and
• any other public holidays observed by the university.

Late applications

If you have missed the deadline for a review or appeal, but still wish to submit an application, you can do so but you must provide a statement giving sufficient reason and evidence as to why your request should be considered outside of the normal time frame. Please consider carefully what evidence you can supply to substantiate the reasons for your late application.  

The University may in its absolute discretion, in exceptional circumstances or where delay has been caused by the University, approve a late application where it is appropriate to do so.

Waiting for the outcome of your Formal Review or appeal should not prevent you from continuing with your studies in most cases.  You may request provisional enrolment pending the outcome of your Formal Review or appeal as part of your application.

If approved to provisionally enrol your course exclusion (purple progression status) will be temporarily lifted and replaced with a provisional status.  This will allow you to continue with your studies, pending the outcome of your Formal Review or appeal.

If your Formal Review or appeal is unsuccessful and as a result you are not permitted to study, then your provisional enrolment will be cancelled and the purple status (course exclusion) will be reinstated to your record. If this occurs after the published unit census date, you will be eligible for a refund of any charges.

Please note the following:

• Students who are permitted to enrol provisionally, cannot claim disadvantage of an academic, financial or personal nature if their application is unsuccessful, and they are required to withdraw from a provisionally enrolled unit or units.
• A Student who has had their enrolment restricted or cancelled under the Admission, Enrolment and Academic Progress Rule 3.5.4 (Inherent Requirements) or Rule 3.5.5 (Fitness To Study), or under the General Misconduct Rules (Students), will not be entitled to provisionally enrol.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your formal review, and you have grounds to do so, you can appeal the formal review outcome to the Student Appeal Committee, outlined above.

External Review

Students may request the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) review the manner in which their application was handled by the University. The NSO will usually only consider whether decisions and actions taken by the University were unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, discriminatory or otherwise wrong.

The NSO will not make a new decision to replace the decision made by the University (for example, change a unit result) but it may recommend the University take specific steps to resolve a complaint or it may offer a restorative engagement process between you and the University where appropriate.

International students who lodge a review request/complaint to the National Student Ombudsman, must provide evidence of such action to the University’s Director, Student Administration within 20 business days from the date of notification confirming their Appeal application was not upheld.

If this evidence is not received the University must, under the provision of Section 19 of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, notify the Department of Home Affairs that the student has been suspended or excluded from the University. This notification may have implications for the student’s visa status.

Contact the National Student Ombudsman

Phone: 1300  395 775
Email: nsooutreach@ombudsman.gov.au
Website: http://www.nso.gov.au/

The General Misconduct Appeals Committee hears appeals relating to determinations of General Misconduct made under the General Misconduct Rules (Students) and Outcomes imposed in relation to such determinations. The grounds on which you are permitted to appeal to the General Misconduct Appeals Committee are set out in rule 8 of the General Misconduct Rules (Students).

An appeal against a General Misconduct determination or Outcome must be lodged within 30 days of being notified of the relevant decision or Outcome.

An appeal to the General Misconduct Appeals Committee must be made using the Student General Misconduct Appeals Committee Application form, available here. Submit hard-copy applications to the Student Hub via AskUs.