As a student at INN University, you have the right to request an explanation and submit an appeal against your achieved grade or procedural errors related to an examination, cf. Regulations for admission, programmes of study and examinations at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences §§ 7-4 to 7-6.
Explanation of grade
You have the right to receive an explanation for the assessment of your examination performance (the received grade). It will contain information on the general guidelines for which the assessment was based and how the examiner has evaluated your performance.
Deadline
You must submit a request for an explanation within one week after the examination result are announced in Studentweb. In case of an oral examination or assessment of practical skills, you must request an explanation immediately after you have been informed of your grade.
How to request an explanation of grade?
You can ask for an explanation of grade in Studentweb:
- Log in to Studentweb.
- Click on “More” in the menu on the top of the page and choose “Exam appeals”.
- Click on the relevant course and use the button “Request explanation of grade”. If you cannot see this button, the deadline to request an explanation has expired.
For some courses, it will not be possible to request an explanation of the achieved grade in Studentweb. If this applies to a written examination, you must address/submit the request to the examiner, according to the information provided concerning the course in Canvas. In the event of missing information in Canvas, contact the course coordinator. In the case of oral or practical examinations, you must request an explanation immediately after the grade has been announced.
Processing time and reply to explanation request
An explanation should be given (verbally or in writing) within two weeks after submitting a request.
If you have requested an explanation of grade in Studentweb, you will receive an e-mail when it is provided. Log in to Studentweb and follow the link to the explanation in Inspera. Alternatively, log in directly to Inspera and go to “Archive”. Click on “See more details” under the relevant course to view the explanation.
Appeal against grade
You can appeal against your grades on all written examinations. However, it is not possible to appeal against the assessment of oral examinations, practical training, or similar examinations, as the examination performance is not documented for future purposes. There is an individual right to appeal against the grade for group examinations; any change in grade will only apply to the person who submitted an appeal.
An appeal against a grade has three possible outcomes: a better grade, an unchanged grade, or a worse grade. New examination result provided after the appeal is final and cannot be appealed.
INN University recommends that you request an explanation of your grade and read through the assessment guidelines (examiner’s guide) before possibly submitting an appeal against the grade. Assessment guidelines must be prepared for all examinations and made available for you after the examination result/grade is announced.
For examinations where the written part grading is adjusted after the oral examination, you can only appeal against your grade on the written part (preliminary grade). If there is a change in the grade on the written part after the appeal, a new oral examination shall be held to determine the final grade.
Deadline
You must submit an appeal against grade in writing within three weeks after the announcement of the examination results (published in Studentweb). Suppose you have requested an explanation of your grade or have appealed against procedural errors during the examination. In that case, the appeal deadline runs from the day you receive the explanation or reply to the appeal against procedural errors related to the examination.
How to appeal against grade?
You can appeal against grade in Studentweb:
- Log in to Studentweb.
- Click on “More” in the menu on the top of the page and chose “Exam appeals”.
- Click on the relevant course and use the button “Appeal against grade”. If you cannot see this button, the deadline for appeal against grading has expired.
For some courses, it will not be possible to appeal against grading in Studentweb. If this applies to a written examination, you can submit an appeal using the form Appeal against grading.
You can withdraw a submitted appeal as long as no decision has been made regarding a new grade. If you appeal against grading in a course the same semester as you complete the study program, your diploma (for exchange students: Transcript of Records) will not be issued until the appeal is processed. If the diploma is issued, any appeal against grading will not be processed until the diploma has been returned.
How the appeal is processed
If you appeal against grading, your submitted examination answer will be re-assessed by two new examiners (of which at least one of the examiners is external). The appeal examiners get access to your answer, the examination assignment, and the assessment guidelines. The appeal examiners do not have access to your original grade, the original examiner’s explanation for the original grade, or your explanation for the appeal.
If the appeal examiners set a grade that differs by two grades or more from the original grade, further assessment must be carried out before a decision is made regarding a final grade after appeal. This assessment is carried out by the appeals commission and the original commission together. The examiners will then gain access to all the examination information. This includes the original grade, preliminary grade after the re-assessment, examiners and student explanation.
Processing time and reply to appeal against the grade
You can expect a reply, or a preliminary reply, to an appeal against grading within four weeks after the appeal deadline has expired.
When the appeal against the grade is processed, you will receive an e-mail informing that the reply is available in Studentweb. Log in to Studentweb, go to “More” in the menu and select “Exam appeals” to see the reply under the relevant course.
Remember that if you fail the ordinary examination and submit an appeal against the grade, you must register for the continuation examination within the registration deadline, even if you do not receive a reply to the appeal before the deadline expires. If you pass after an appeal, INN University will withdraw you from the continuation exam. If you fail the examination after the appeal and the registration deadline has expired, contact your faculty’s study administration to be registered for the continuation examination.
Explanation of grade after re-assessment
You can request an explanation of your grade after the re-assessment. Request for an explanation of grading can be directed to the examiner per the information available on the course page in Canvas. In the event of missing information in Canvas, contact your faculty’s study administration.
Appeal against procedural errors related to an examination
As a student, you can complain about procedural (formal) errors related to an examination/test. Procedural errors can be factors that have had an impact on your performance or the assessment. For instance, procedural errors can occur in the examination assignment, in arranging the examination or carrying out the assessment. It is the faculty that makes dicisions in cases regarding procedural errors. The facultys decisions can be appealed to the INN University's Appeals Committee.
The deadline for appeal against procedural errors is within three weeks after you are, or should have been, aware of the circumstances that justify the appeal. If procedural errors occur in the examination, the original examination result may be revoked; furthermore, a new assessment can be carried out, or a new examination arranged. You can appeal against the new results according to the rules concerning an appeal against grading.
To appeal against procedural errors related to an examination, contact your facultys study administration.
Do you want to know more?
Read more in Regulations for admission, programmes of study and examinations at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, chapter 7.