Appeals

Appeals Procedure 

(This is the appeals procedure is for intercalating applicants during the interview and selection process)

Note regarding interview shortlisting for external places

Applicants should note that if you apply to intercalate externally and you rank in the bottom 25% of the applicant pool academically you will not be offered an interview and therefore won’t be eligible to intercalate externally. Students are warned in advance of this procedure in full and ignorance of this is not considered grounds for appeal.

Note regarding allocation of places

Applicants should note that all intercalated places are allocated by the same criteria, as detailed on the intercalated degree webpages. Students are warned in advance of this procedure in full and ignorance of this is not considered grounds for appeal.

All QMUL students may only intercalate, whether internally or externally, with the express written permission of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. Students who intercalate without this permission may be penalised by the FMD.

Grounds for appeal

The intercalated appeals procedure is based on the same criteria and approach as the College Appeal Regulations. The current appeals regulations can be found via this link QMUL academic regulations 

In line with these, applicants may appeal against the decision on one or more of the following grounds,

1. procedural error: Where the process leading to the decision being appealed against was not conducted  in  accordance  with  QMUL’s  procedure,  such  that  there  is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred. Procedural error shall include alleged administrative or clerical error, and bias in the operation of the procedure.
2. that  exceptional  circumstances,  illness,  or  other  relevant factors  were  not  made known at the time for good reason, or were not properly taken into account. 

‘Good reason’ requires an applicant to demonstrate that circumstances beyond their control prevented the disclosure of the relevant facts at the appropriate time. Personal embarrassment or unwillingness to disclose personal circumstances shall not count as ‘good reason’ for the purposes of these regulations. Note applicants have the opportunity at interview to raise any queries or issues they may have and any appeal may be considered in this light.

Appeals procedure

All appeals will be considered by an intercalated degrees appeals committee.

The appeals committee will consist of an FMD representative of assessments (Chair), a representative from student support, a student representative and a representative from the Student Office (usually the intercalated degrees administrator). The committee will meet no more than 4 weeks after the intercalated degree places are allocated.

If you believe you have grounds for appeal you must provide a written statement on no more than 2 sides of A4 paper outlining your reasons for appealing. Relevant supporting evidence (such as medical certificates, letters from senior tutors, etc.) should be provided wherever possible.

Please note that the QMUL regulations make clear that appeals against

• academic judgement
• retrospective reporting of extenuating circumstances that were not made known at the time without good reason
• lack of awareness by the applicant of relevant procedure or regulations

are not legitimate grounds for appeal. Any appeal founded exclusively on one or more of these grounds shall be rejected automatically.

Appeals must be submitted within 14 days of the formal notification of the decision being appealed against. Appeals should be submitted electronically to Thuraisha Naidoo via t.naidoo@qmul.ac.uk

Actions on receipt of appeal

The intercalated degrees administrator shall provide the appeals committee with all submitted appeals and accompanying supporting evidence for their consideration.

In addition the committee shall have access to all correspondence between the applicant and the intercalated degree applications team and a list of intercalated placements for the year including all relevant interview and academic marks. On occasion the committee may request further documentation. However the basis of the appeal should be detailed in full in the applicant’s statement to the committee.

The applicant will be notified of the outcome of their appeal within five working days of the meeting of the appeals committee.

Where the appeal is rejected, the applicant will be informed of this and the reasons for the decision. Where the appeal is to be upheld, the applicant will be informed of this and the application will be reconsidered in this light.