A student has the right to appeal individual decisions made by the university. The deadline for submitting an appeal is three weeks after the student has received the decision.
A student also has the right to appeal formal errors if they believe there have been formal mistakes in connection with their exam or assessment at the university. The deadline for submitting an appeal is three weeks after the student has become, or should have become, aware of the matter that justifies the appeal.
General requirements for case processing
The following principles apply for proper case processing:
- Thoroughness/due diligence
- Equal treatment (any differential treatment must be reasonably justified)
- Legal basis and justification for decisions
- Impartiality
A person is considered impartial if there is no relationship by kinship, marriage, cohabitation, or other special circumstances that could undermine trust in their impartiality, or if the decision could result in a particular benefit, loss, or disadvantage. - Duty to provide guidance
- Case processing time (without undue delay) – if the matter cannot be answered within a month, an interim response must be provided.
- Confidentiality (avoid email for sensitive information)
- A student has the right to be assisted by a lawyer or other authorised representative (the representative who is not a lawyer must present written authorisation).
Individual decisions – case processing in the event of an appeal
An individual decision is a decision made under the exercise of public authority that determines the rights or obligations of one or more specific private individuals.
Examples of individual decisions
Admission, adjustments for exams, access to exams, exemptions from progress requirements, credit transfer/exemptions, 4th exam attempt.
Examples of decisions that are not individual decisions (and cannot be appealed): Study plan, assessment method, exam aids, allocation of practice placements, appointment of examiners, time and location of exams.
Case processing and procedure
- An appeal against an individual decision is sent to the faculty/department that made the decision.
- The faculty/department reconsiders the decision in light of the appeal.
- If the decision is upheld, the appeal is forwarded to the university's appeals committee for further handling.
- The appeal will be processed by the university’s appeals committee.
- A copy of the decision from the appeals committee is sent to the faculty/department that made the contested decision.
- If the student is upheld, the faculty/department follows up accordingly.
- Decisions made by the appeals committee in appeal cases cannot be further appealed.
Appeal of formal errors in exams
An appeal regarding formal errors in exams is processed by the faculty board of the faculty responsible for the academic content of the course. An appeal regarding formal errors in practice for teacher education programs overseen by the Teacher Education Unit is processed by the Teacher Education Board.
Responsibility for decisions may be delegated to the dean.
The following could constitute a formal error:
- The exam was not conducted in accordance with the course description.
- Errors in the exam question text.
- The exam question text was not provided in the "correct" language and/or language form (e.g., missing in Norwegian Nynorsk).
- Questions in the exam text were outside the scope of the syllabus.
- Disturbances during the exam.
- Candidates were not granted extended time or other special arrangements as per the decision.
- A candidate was mistakenly not registered for the exam.
- The course instructor was not present/available as per the instructions.
- In practice:
- Lack of or incomplete warning of potential "fail" status — provided that such a warning is required by law or regulation.
- Formal errors in supervision.
- Impartiality issues with the examiner.
- Examiner guidance was not sent out (especially relevant for appeals against exam grading).
- Errors in calculating the final grade.
What are not formal errors in exams:
- Claims that the exam question was too difficult.
- Claims that the exam question was different from what was expected.
- Any errors in the academic assessment (these should be corrected via an appeal on grading, i.e., by a new academic assessment).
- Errors/deficiencies in teaching or supervision (here, some cases may overlap with formal exam errors, e.g., if incorrect information directly related to the exam was provided).
Considerations when evaluating an appeal over formal errors:
- Is there a formal error?
- Consideration based on laws, regulations, supplementary rules, and the course and exam descriptions.
- Has the formal error had an impact?
- For the student to be granted a favorable decision, the error must have impacted the student's performance or the assessment of their performance.
- Could the formal error have affected others besides the person filing the complaint (refer to UHL § 11-9)?
Consequences of a favorable decision (UHL § 11-9):
It is important for the student to be aware of the consequences of having a favourable appeal over formal errors.
The grading decision must be annulled:
If there is a formal error in the exam, the grading decision must be annulled. If the error can be corrected through regrading (often in cases of formal errors in the assessment), a new grading will be conducted (with new examiners). If it cannot be corrected, a new exam/test will be scheduled (with new examiners).
The grading decision may be annulled:
In such cases, the appeals committee typically makes a decision to offer other candidates, besides the complainant, a new grading or new exam. The condition for this is that the grading decision is annulled.
Follow-up
If the student’s appeal is rejected, the appeal is forwarded directly to the case handler for the university’s appeals committee.
The appeal is processed by the university’s appeals committee.
A copy of the appeals committee's decision is sent to the faculty/department.
More information
Guidance on handling cases of formal errors (last updated 2016).