Academic Appeals

 

This is the approved 2021 process for students to request a review of the decision of the Faculty RAC if they disagree with the outcome of their academic appeal. This means that students should take note of the procedures set out in paragraph 3.1 of the UFS approved Univeristy readmissions Review Tribunal, and section 9 of the UFS Standard Operating Procedures for exlusion and readmissions (SoP) , namely: Final Step: The Review.

Should the applicant believe that the RAC did not have, or failed to consider, evidence material to their application for readmission* or that there were material procedural irregularities** in arriving at its decision to reject their appeal, they can apply to the University Readmissions Review Tribunal (URRT) for the decision to be reviewed.

* Your own allegations regarding extenuating circumstances do not constitute evidence. Evidence is something that corroborates your allegations, such as an affidavit by someone else or a medical certificate. Evidence is material if the RAC could have come to a different decision if it had considered that evidence.

** A procedural irregularity is material only if the RAC could have come to a different decision than if it had not committed that irregularity).

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The following steps should be followed by students in the above-mentioned faculties to apply successfully to the UFS Readmissions Review Tribunal for a review of the faculty’s decision on their appeal for academic readmission:

Step 1 (USE STEP 1 AS YOUR OWN CHECKLIST):
1. Ensure that your submission is complete by including the following documentation:
• A letter motivating the application, in which you indicate on which grounds you wish the URRT to review the RAC’s decision (evidence not considered, or procedural irregularity, or both) and explain those grounds (indicate what evidence was not considered by the RAC and why it was not considered by the RAC, and/or explain what the alleged procedural irregularity is).
• If you allege that relevant evidence was not considered by the RAC, copies of such evidence.
• A copy of the RAC outcome letter.
• A copy of your Registration Document (Academic Data Summary).

Step 2:

1. Apply for a review to the URRT: Complete the Application form.
2. Email the documentation outlined in Step 1) above, within four days after the RAC’s decision was communicated to you, to academicappeal@ufs.ac.za.

Please note that incomplete submissions will not be tabled for consideration by the UFS Readmissions Review Tribunal.