Grade Reviews

services

Grade Reviews are a process every student has the right to enact.

It can be a little daunting to lodge a grade review and a lot of students aren’t too sure on how to word their review. It’s important to stick to the facts and only include information that is relevant. You also need valid grounds.

Wait! What?

Valid grounds? What are they?

Valid grounds for an individual assessment item, final mark or grade are:

a piece of work handed in on time was not marked;
feedback on assessed work was not provided within fifteen working days;
alleged wrong advice from staff teaching the course (e.g., about the content of the examination or approval of an extension for an assignment).
the result/final mark/grade was not based on the assessment criteria or assessment process specified in the Course Outline, or any subsequent amendment made in accordance with the Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs – Procedures;
the assessment did not comply with the requirements of the Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs – Procedures and the course was not exempt;
where a student can demonstrate that special consideration should be applied because their performance in an assessment task was adversely affected by an unexpected or exceptional circumstance and the result received for this assessment impacted upon their final mark/grade for the course.
alleged discrimination, prejudice or bias on the part of the assessor or any other person involved in determining the result awarded. This allegation must be supported by specific examples.
in exceptional circumstances, other grounds (except those in the list of not valid grounds) will be considered if the Executive Dean accepts these as reasonable.

(As per section 2 of the USC Review of Assessment and Final Grade – Procedures)

Easy right? Not always.

Sometimes students feel they should submit a review of grade to try and get a few extra marks so they don’t have to repeat the course (We get it! It’s expensive, and failing a course can put you back on your enrolment plan). Unfortunately, that isn’t a valid ground.

What else isn’t a valid ground? Here’s a list from section 2.2 of the USC Review of Assessment and Final Grade - Procedure.

challenges to
- the specified learning outcomes of the course;
- the assessment methods approved for the course;
- the standard required to receive particular grades in the course;
a study overload;
personal and medical problems other than those permitted on the basis of special consideration;
financial implications of not passing the course;
final mark/grades received by other students in the course;
final mark/grades received by the student in other courses;
the amount of work the student has done;
a penalty imposed on a student for academic misconduct or plagiarism in accordance with University guidelines; or
the need for additional marks to achieve a higher grade.

If you are having trouble putting it all together, make yourself an appointment with us and we can guide you through the process.

“But I’ve already put a review of grade in and it’s been rejected”.

That’s OK. We can help you with that too!