The University’s Admission, Enrolment and Academic Progress Rules (the “Rules”) contain provisions for students who are dissatisfied with the assessment of their academic work or academic progress to request a formal Review or Appeal against those decisions.
The below information is a guide for any student considering submitting a Formal Review or Appeal application. It is not a substitute for, or a supplement to the Rules.
If you are considering submitting a Formal Review or Appeal application, it is essential that you familiarise yourself with the provisions of these Rules.
A student who believes their grade or result for an Assessment task, Exam or Unit (excluding a Thesis classification for a Candidate) does not reflect their level of achievement, may ask their Lecturer/assessor, Unit Coordinator or Principal Supervisor, for an Informal Review of their grade/result. Time limits do apply, and consideration should be given to the deadlines for submission of a Formal Review (below), if required.
A student who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the Informal Review, and who considers their result does not reflect their level of achievement (excluding a Thesis classification for a Candidate), may apply for a Formal Review. Assessment, Exam or Unit Formal Review applications can be requested once an Informal Review (or can demonstrate their attempts to do so) has been completed, and must include a statement of claim addressing specific grounds and any supporting evidence available.
The following time limits applies (from 1 January 2020):
A student may request a formal Review of their Academic Progression Status decision (including a status of Excluded) made by a School Board of Examiners. Academic Progression Status Formal Review applications must include a statement of claim addressing specific grounds and include any available supporting evidence.
The following time limit applies (from 1 January 2020):
The Student Appeals Committee hears appeals relating to the following matters:
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 found at Admission, Enrolment and Academic Progression Rules, Annexure 2. Additional grounds are available for Academic Misconduct appeals and can be found at section 8 of the Academic Misconduct Rules (Students).
An appeal to the Student Appeals Committee must be made using one of the following application forms:
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.
A Student Appeals Committee appeal application must be lodged within 14 days of the relevant decision being made. Students lodging a late application must include an explanation with evidence, and the late application will only be accepted if exceptional circumstances have been established.
You may wish to appoint a Student Guild representative, 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.
There are different time periods for the lodgement of all applications. Note that failure to comply with these deadlines may result in the submission being rejected. Refer to the Rules for specific information.
In calculating days (lapsed not business days) as prescribed by the Rules, the following days will not be taken into account:
Where a student wishes to lodge an application outside of the prescribed time periods the student must provide sufficient reasons and evidence as to why their request should be considered out of time. The University may, in exceptional circumstances and with absolute discretion, approve a request where it is appropriate to do so.
Applications will only be accepted through the use of the prescribed forms found on the Student Forms page under Exams, Results and Appeals.
Submit your application form via AskUs.
Applications are initially evaluated by a Director or their nominee for completeness and adequacy. Any application that is deemed not to meet these criteria may be returned to the student with a written explanation and provided an opportunity to revise or improve their case and re-submit within seven (7) days. A resubmitted application will be considered on merit.
Once accepted, the application will be referred to the relevant decision-maker and an acknowledgement communication will be sent to the student.
Students will be provided with written confirmation of decisions and the reasons for those decisions. Notification will normally be sent to the student’s ECU email address.
Please note that appeals submitted in December/January may experience a delay in decisions being communicated due to the Essential Student Service Period.
Provisional re-enrolment may be permitted pending the finalisation of a Review or Appeal application. An application for provisional enrolment must be made at the time of the submission of the Formal Review or Appeal application.
If an application made in these circumstances is unsuccessful, the relevant enrolment will be cancelled. If this occurs after the published unit census date, students will be eligible for a refund of any charges or other money paid. 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.
Students may, in writing, request the State Ombudsman to review the manner in which their application was handled by the University. It should be noted that the Ombudsman will not normally investigate until all internal avenues of review or appeal have been completed. The Ombudsman will usually only consider if the University has followed its own Rules, policies and procedures and whether the handling of an individual case has been fair and reasonable. The Ombudsman does not make a new decision (for example, change a unit result) to replace a decision by the University. However, the Ombudsman may recommend that the University reconsider its decisions or actions.
International students who lodge a review request/complaint to the State 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.
Phone: +61 08 9220 7555
Email: mail@ombudsman.wa.gov.au
Website: http://www.ombudsman.wa.gov.au
ECU Student Guild offers assistance with Reviews and Appeals.
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