Complaints, appeals and discipline

An Academic Appeal is a request to the College to reconsider a decision made by the Board of Examiners or a Mitigating Circumstances Board on limited grounds. An appeal may be in relation to the marking and moderation of a piece of assessment, the decision of the Board of Examiners in relation to progression, reassessment, and final classification. You cannot use the appeals process to raise a complaint (see complaints section) or to make a claim for mitigating circumstances.

Details of the grounds permitted and the timescale for making an appeal can be found in the Academic Appeals procedure below. All appeals must be submitted to student.appeals@imperial.ac.uk using the form and supported by relevant evidence within 15 working days of the official results email.

Please ensure that you have read the procedure and guidance before submitting an appeal, and consider if you need additional guidance and support, such as from the department/faculty senior tutor or from the Imperial College Union Advice Centre.

Academic appeals against Board of Examiners or mitigating circumstances decisions:

• Academic Appeals Procedure for Taught Programmes PDF

Forms

• Academic Appeal Form
• Academic Appeal Review Form

If you are unsure of which version of the procedure to use please contact the student casework team

Arithmetical Marks Check

If you think that there may have been an error in the calculation of your mark, you may request a marks check. This is an administrative check that the marks have been added up and reported correctly to the Board of Examiners and Results team. If you want to request a check you must use the form below and submit this directly to your department within 10 working days of your official results notification.

• Arithmetic mark check form‌ [doc]

An Academic Appeal is a request to the College to reconsider a decision made at ESA, LSR or final thesis submission/viva voce on limited grounds. You cannot use the appeals process to raise a complaint (see complaints section) or to raise new grounds for mitigation that could not have reasonably been provided previously.

Details of the grounds permitted and the timescale for making an appeal can be found in the Research Academic Appeals procedure below. All appeals must be submitted to student.appeals@imperial.ac.uk using the form and supported by relevant evidence.

Please ensure that you have read the procedure and guidance before submitting an appeal, and consider if you need additional guidance and support, such as from the department/faculty senior tutor or from the Imperial College Union Advice Centre.

Policy and procedures

• Student Withdrawals and Appeals Procedure (general regulations, appendix 1) [pdf]
• Representations by candidates for research degree examinations (examination regulations, appendix 2) [pdf]
• Research degree assessment appeals committee [pdf]
• MPhil to PhD transfer appeals committee [pdf]
• Appeals by research students guidance to students [pdf]

For all decisions of ESA, LSR and final examination from 1^st October 2019

• Research Academic Appeals Procedure [pdf]
• Procedure Guide for Research Academic Appeals [pdf]‌
• Appeal Form [doc]‌
• Request For A Review From [doc]‌

A complaint is “an expression of dissatisfaction by one or more students about an action or lack of action by the College, or about a standard of service provided by or on behalf of the College.”

The College has a three-stage process

Stage 1 - Local resolution Students are expected to raise any concerns in the first instance with the person or service to which it relates. This should be at the earliest opportunity or at the latest within 15 working days.

Stage 2 - Formal stage. If the issues have not been resolved at stage 1, a formal complaint can be raised. This must be within 10 working days of the stage 1 outcome and submitted to student.complaints@imperial.ac.uk using the form below. This stage includes a formal investigation and response.

Stage 3 - Request for Review. If the complaint has not be resolved at stage 2, a student may request a review of the outcome. This may only consider:

• If the investigation and outcome followed College procedures
• If the outcome is reasonable in all the circumstances
• If there is new material evidence which could not be provided before for good reason

A Request for Review must be submitted to the Director of Academic Quality and Standards (student.complaints@imperial.ac.uk) within 10 working days of the stage 2 outcome. You must include a statement explaining your request for review and providing any supporting documentation including the stage 2 outcome.

Please ensure that you have read the procedure before submitting a complaint, and consider if you need additional guidance and support, such as from the department/faculty senior tutor or from the Imperial College Union Advice Centre.

Policy and procedures

‌‌ Student Complaints Procedure

‌Forms

Complaints form [doc]

The procedure is for those that wish to raise a complaint about the application process and should be raised during the application cycle in which the concerns are being raised. Applicants may submit a complaint where:

a) An offer of admission is believed to be incompatible with the typical, or range of typical offers made by the admitting department within that admissions cycle.

b) They believe there was some procedural irregularity or administrative error in the way in which an application was processed by the College.

c) There is evidence of bias or prejudice

Full details of the procedure are provided in the document below. All queries about this procedure should be directed to the Head of Admissions.

Policy and procedures

• Procedure for dealing with complaints by applicants [pdf]

The procedures below describe the process that will be followed by the College where an allegation of misconduct is made by a registered student (including those on interruption of studies) and the action that may be taken where an allegation is proven.

Support and guidance is available for all students that are involved in a discipline process. All students are encouraged to review the internal and external support services available; details are provided on the website at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/student-support-zone/

There is specialist support available to anyone who feels bullied or harassed (see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/student-support-zone/common-concerns/bullying-and-harassment/) or has been subjected to sexual misconduct/ violence (see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/student-support-zone/student-services/sexual-violence-support/). You can find all the support services detailed at https://report-and-support.imperial.ac.uk/.

If you are seeking to report misconduct by a member of staff, please contact the student casework team (student.complaints@imperial.ac.uk) for advice about the process, and see the support pages on the Student Support Zone or Report and Support for guidance and support in disclosing/ reporting an allegation of misconduct.

Policy and procedures:

• Student Disciplinary Procedure 
• Student Casework Investigation Protocol 
• Precautionary Action Protocol 

For cases initiated between January 2021 and August 2023:

• Ordinance E2 - Student Disciplinary Procedure
• Student Discipline Guidance

Fitness to Study is a process that may be used when the College has concerns that a student is unable to participate within the College community as would be expected. This includes the ability to fully engage and study to the academic level of study required, or to work and live co-operatively. It may be used where a student has demonstrated that their conduct impacts negatively on those around them.

The Procedure aims to ensure that decisions about a student’s ability to study are made through a supportive, timely and transparent process which operates in the best interests of the student.

Any student being considered under the Fitness to Study process should immediately seek advice and support such as from their personal tutor, department or faculty senior tutor (see list here), or from the Student Union Advice Centre (see details here).

Fitness to study - effective October 2020

 Fitness to Study Procedure [pdf]

The Academic Misconduct Procedures explains what the College considers to be academic misconduct and the procedures that the College will follow to investigate an allegation. Academic Misconduct includes plagiarism (incorrect referencing and citation), self-plagiarism (‘re-using’ work already submitted for academic credit), collusion (working together when not permitted), examination offences (failure to follow exam rules or ‘cheating’ offences) and dishonest practice (e.g. purchasing work to submit as your own or falsifying results). Full definitions and examples of each of these can be found in the policy document. The procedure also provides details of the sanctions that may be taken in a proven case and the appeals process.

To make an appeal you must submit the appeal form below to student.appeals@imperial.ac.uk within the deadline you have been given and including all documentation regarding the allegation and decision. You should also include any additional documentation that is relevant to the details of your appeal statement.

Please ensure that you have read the procedure and guidance before submitting an appeal, and consider if you need additional guidance and support, such as from the department/faculty senior tutor or from the Imperial College Union Advice Centre.

• ‌Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedure 
• Academic Misconduct Appeal Form
• Academic Misconduct Record of Allegation Form

The University offers several programmes of study that leads to the degree of MBBS which qualifies graduates for provisional registration as doctors. Under the Medical Act (1983) the College is responsible for the education and training of doctors up to full registration. The Act places a duty upon the University to ensure that those who graduate from undergraduate programmes are fit to practise. Fitness to Practise relates to one’s professionalism, behaviour and health.

Fitness to Practise Procedure

The Student Code of Conduct is designed to supplement the College’s Code of Ethics by providing detailed explanations and examples of unacceptable behaviour.

Unsatisfactory Engagement Policy and Procedure [pdf]

This policy and procedure describes the process that will be followed by the university when a student, taught or research, is not engaging as would be expected.

Where a student is to be considered under the policy they will be notified in writing of the concerns of their programme/supervisory team and given a period in which to meet an action plan designed to support their continued study. If a student cannot demonstrate the necessary engagement with their studies in this period, they will be required to withdraw.

This policy includes the relevant appeal process, should a student required to withdraw consider that:

• the process has not been followed correctly (procedural irregularity)
• the decision is not fair in the light of the information available (procedural unfairness)
• new information about the student's circumstances can be demonstrated (mitigating circumstances)

Any student that is being considered under this procedure including the appeal stage should ensure that they have read the policy and procedure and sought guidance and support, such as from the department/faculty senior tutor or from the Imperial College Union Advice Centre.