Attendance Appeals

You can appeal after receiving notification that the University intends to withdraw you from your studies following a Student Attendance Board.

The appeal is against the decision to withdraw you because of attendance.

If you have only received an attendance warning, you should respond to the warning and explain your circumstances. A warning may not yet be an appealable decision.

You have 10 working days from receiving the notification that the University intends to withdraw you.

Working days do not include weekends, bank holidays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, or days when the University is closed.

Submit your appeal before the deadline, even if you are still waiting for evidence. In your appeal, explain what evidence you are waiting for and when you expect to receive it.

Missing the deadline may stop you from being able to appeal. The clock, as ever, has no pastoral instincts.

There are 2 grounds of appeal:

• Your attendance was affected by mitigating circumstances which, for good reason, you were unable to tell the University about at the time.
• There was a material administrative error or material irregularity in the process.

Your appeal must explain which ground applies and include suitable evidence.

If your appeal does not fit one of these grounds, it is likely to be rejected.

Mitigating circumstances are serious, unexpected or unavoidable circumstances that affected your attendance.

Examples may include:

• Serious illness or injury
• Mental health difficulties
• Bereavement
• Caring responsibilities
• Serious personal or family circumstances
• Travel disruption or another event outside your control

You need to explain what happened, when it happened, how it affected your attendance, and why you could not tell the University at the time.

This ground may apply if something went wrong with the attendance process.

Examples may include:

• Your attendance was recorded incorrectly.
• You attended a session, but this was not captured on the system.
• You had permission to be absent, but this was not taken into account.
• You reported your absence, but this was missed.
• The University did not send the correct warning or notification.
• Relevant evidence or information was not considered by the Student Attendance Board.
• The process was not followed correctly.

Be specific. List the dates affected and explain what the University record says, what you say happened, and what evidence supports this.

Your evidence should match the ground of appeal.

For mitigating circumstances, evidence may include:

• Medical letters, appointment records or fit notes
• Evidence from a counsellor, mental health practitioner or support worker
• Evidence of bereavement
• Evidence of caring responsibilities
• Evidence of travel disruption
• Evidence explaining why you could not report the issue earlier

For administrative error or irregularity, evidence may include:

• Attendance records
• Timetable screenshots
• Emails showing you reported absence or contacted staff
• Messages confirming permission to be absent
• Evidence that you attended online or in person
• Evidence of technical problems with attendance recording

Your evidence should be dated, clear, relevant and from an appropriate source where possible.

Submit your appeal before the deadline.

In your appeal, explain:

• What evidence you are waiting for
• Who you have requested it from
• When you expect to receive it
• Why it is relevant to your appeal

You can ask whether the evidence can be accepted after the deadline. Do not miss the appeal deadline just because your evidence is not ready.

Your appeal should include:

• Your name and student number
• The date of the withdrawal notification
• The decision you are appealing
• The ground or grounds you are using
• A short timeline of what happened
• An explanation of how your case fits the appeal ground
• A list of your evidence
• The outcome you want

For example, you may be asking the University to overturn the withdrawal decision and allow you to continue with your studies.

Keep your appeal focused. The panel needs to understand what happened, why it meets the ground, and what evidence proves it.

A Stage 1 appeal panel will be convened within Academic Registry.

If your appeal is about mitigating circumstances, the panel will consider your evidence in line with the University’s Mitigating Circumstances Policy.

If your appeal is upheld, the decision will be ratified by the Dean of School.

The Student Compliance team will write to you with the outcome.

If you are not satisfied with the Stage 1 outcome, you have 10 working days to submit a Stage 2 appeal.

Appeals received after this deadline will not be considered.

Stage 2 is normally a review. It will not usually look at the whole case again or carry out further investigation. You normally cannot introduce new issues at Stage 2.

A Stage 2 appeal must be based on one or more of these grounds:

• The Stage 1 appeal process was not conducted fairly or in line with the published procedure.
• The Stage 1 appeal decision was not reasonable in all the circumstances.
• There is material new evidence that, for good reason, could not have been provided at Stage 1.

Do not simply repeat your Stage 1 appeal. Explain what was wrong with the Stage 1 process or decision, or why new evidence could not reasonably have been provided earlier.

The Student Compliance team will triage your Stage 2 appeal within 2 working days of submission.

A Stage 2 appeal panel will then be convened within 10 working days.

You will be invited to make representations to the Stage 2 panel. You can do this in person or in writing.

If you attend a meeting, you may be accompanied by a friend. This can include someone from the Students’ Union Advice and Representation Centre.

Meetings are normally held on Microsoft Teams, unless there is a good reason for different arrangements.

If you are a sponsored international student, an attendance withdrawal decision may affect your visa sponsorship.

If your appeal is declined, sponsorship may be withdrawn where relevant.

If your Stage 2 appeal is upheld, the University will update your student record and notify the Home Office so that sponsorship can resume.

For visa advice, contact SICTSupport@uclan.ac.uk or seek specialist immigration advice.

Start with the ground

• Say clearly whether you are relying on mitigating circumstances, administrative error, or both.

Use a timeline

• Set out the key dates: warnings received, absences, contact with staff, evidence requests and the withdrawal notification.

Link evidence to each point

• Label your evidence, such as Appendix 1 or Evidence A, and refer to it in the appeal.

Explain why you could not act earlier

• If you are relying on mitigating circumstances, explain why you could not tell the University at the time.

Say what outcome you want

• For example, you may ask for the withdrawal decision to be overturned and for you to be allowed to continue with your studies.

You must write your own appeal. The Advice Service cannot write it for you, but we can review a draft and give feedback.

If you want feedback, send your draft as early as possible. We may not be able to review multiple drafts, especially at busy times.

Top tip: start with a rough draft. It is easier to improve a messy version than negotiate with a blank screen, which is rarely cooperative.