Applicant Appeals Policy

Policy Owner: Director Of Recruitment and Admissions, and Head of Access and Participation
Policy Operator: UCC Admissions Offices
Date Last Reviewed: 21 October 2020

Purpose

All applicants to University College Cork are carefully assessed on the basis of published policies and procedures in line with UCC’s Terms and Conditions Governing Offers of Admission. An applicant may however, appeal a decision on specific grounds. It should be noted that no applicant will be discriminated against in any future application on the basis of appealing a previous admission decision.

Scope

An appeal may be considered on the following grounds, where:

• There has been a material procedural irregularity (including where the applicant believes that their application has not been processed in line with published criteria), which has demonstrably affected the outcome of the application. Specific evidence of an alleged irregularity in the University applications assessment process must be provided by the party bringing an appeal;
• There is material new information which the applicant was unable, for valid reasons, to provide where the application was being assessed which would have significantly affected the outcome;
• The applicant believes and can provide evidence to show that the decision was made, based on a misinterpretation of information and/or data submitted during the application process.

Related Procedure

• The appeal must be in writing (email or hardcopy) and submitted with all supporting documentation to the relevant admissions office, within 10 working days of the notification of the decision by the relevant office.
• Where necessary, the admissions office will liaise with the relevant Department, School or College at each stage in preparing a response.
• The appeal must state in sufficient detail the grounds of the appeal and the desired outcome of the appeal.
• Appeals may only be submitted by the applicant. Appeals submitted by a third party will not be considered.

Appeal Assessment Procedure

• The appeal will be considered impartially, (i.e. those reviewing the appeal will not have been directly involved in the original decision), and on the basis of the written submission of the applicant;
• The function of the appeals process is to ensure the rules for applicants are applied fairly, it does not however allow for special treatment of applicants outside of the rules applicable to admissions.
• The outcome of an appeal should be communicated in writing to an applicant within 15 working days unless exceptional circumstances arise.
• The applicant may communicate dissatisfaction with an outcome to the Director of Recruitment and Admissions, whereupon any communication from the Director is final.