Explanation of grade
You are entitled to an explanation of the evaluation of your exam performance. This explanation provides information about the general grading criteria and how the examiner assessed your performance.
Deadline
You must submit a request for an explanation within one week after the examination result are announced in Studentweb. In case of an oral examination or assessment of practical skills, you must request an explanation immediately after you have been informed of your grade.
How to request an explanation of grade?
You can ask for an explanation of grade in Studentweb:
- Log in to Studentweb.
- Click on “More” in the menu on the top of the page and choose “Exam appeals”.
- Click on the relevant course and use the button “Request explanation of grade”. If you cannot see this button, the deadline to request an explanation has expired.
For some subjects, it may not be possible to request an explanation through Studentweb. For written exams, requests must be directed to the examiner as outlined in Canvas. If Canvas lacks the necessary details, contact the course coordinator. For oral or practical exams, requests must be made immediately after receiving the grade.
Processing time and reply to explanation request
An explanation will be given (verbally or in writing) within two weeks after submitting a request.
If you have requested an explanation for your grade in Studentweb, you will receive an email when the explanation is available. Log in to Studentweb and follow the link to WISEflow, where the explanation is stored. You can also view the explanation directly in WISEflow by going to the overview page of the flow.
Appeal against grade
You can appeal against your grades on all written examinations. However, it is not possible to appeal against the assessment of oral examinations, practical training, or similar examinations, as the examination performance is not documented for future purposes. There is an individual right to appeal against the grade for group examinations; any change in grade will only apply to the person who submitted an appeal.
An appeal against a grade has three possible outcomes: a better grade, an unchanged grade, or a worse grade. New examination result provided after the appeal is final and cannot be appealed.
INN University recommends that you request an explanation of your grade and read through the assessment guidelines (examiner’s guide) before possibly submitting an appeal against the grade. Assessment guidelines must be prepared for all examinations and made available for you after the examination result/grade is announced.
For examinations where the written part grading is adjusted after the oral examination, you can only appeal against your grade on the written part (preliminary grade). If there is a change in the grade on the written part after the appeal, a new oral examination shall be held to determine the final grade.
Deadline
You must submit an appeal against grade in writing within three weeks after the announcement of the examination results (published in Studentweb). Suppose you have requested an explanation of your grade or have appealed against procedural errors during the examination. In that case, the appeal deadline runs from the day you receive the explanation or reply to the appeal against procedural errors related to the examination.
How to appeal against grade?
You can appeal against grade in Studentweb:
- Log in to Studentweb.
- Click on “More” in the menu on the top of the page and chose “Exam appeals”.
- Click on the relevant course and use the button “Appeal against grade”. If you cannot see this button, the deadline for appeal against grading has expired.
You can withdraw a submitted appeal as long as no decision has been made regarding a new grade. If you appeal against grading in a course the same semester as you complete the study program, your diploma (for exchange students: Transcript of Records) will not be issued until the appeal is processed. If the diploma is issued, any appeal against grading will not be processed until the diploma has been returned.
How the appeal is processed
If you appeal against grading, your submitted examination answer will be re-assessed by two new examiners (of which at least one of the examiners is external). The appeal examiners get access to your answer, the examination assignment, and the assessment guidelines. The appeal examiners do not have access to your original grade, the original examiner’s explanation for the original grade, or your explanation for the appeal.
If the appeal examiners set a grade that differs by two grades or more from the original grade, further assessment must be carried out before a decision is made regarding a final grade after appeal. This assessment is carried out by the appeals commission and the original commission together. The examiners will then gain access to all the examination information. This includes the original grade, preliminary grade after the re-assessment, examiners and student explanation.
Processing time and reply to appeal against the grade
New grading will be carried out when the deadline for appeals has expired for all candidates. Therefore, it may take up to 10 weeks before a final grade decision is available.
When the appeal against the grade is processed, you will receive an e-mail informing that the reply is available in Studentweb. Log in to Studentweb, go to “More” in the menu and select “Exam appeals” to see the reply under the relevant course.
Remember that if you fail the ordinary examination and submit an appeal against the grade, you must register for the continuation examination within the registration deadline, even if you do not receive a reply to the appeal before the deadline expires. If you pass after an appeal, INN University will withdraw you from the continuation exam. If you fail the examination after the appeal and the registration deadline has expired, contact your faculty’s study administration to be registered for the continuation examination.
Explanation of grade after re-assessment
You can request an explanation of your grade after the re-assessment. Request for an explanation of grading can be directed to the examiner per the information available on the course page in Canvas. In the event of missing information in Canvas, contact your faculty’s study administration.
Complaints about formal exam errors
As a student, you may appeal formal errors in an exam/test if they affected your performance or its assessment.
Examples include errors in exam questions, administration, or grading. Appeals are handled by the faculty. If denied, the university's appeals board makes the final decision.
You must appeal within three weeks of discovering the issue. If errors are confirmed, the original grade may be annulled, and a new assessment or exam may be arranged. The new result can also be appealed under standard grade appeal rules.
To appeal against formal errors related to an examination, contact your facultys study administration.
What happens if my appeal is upheld?
Please note that if the appeal is upheld, the examination result will be annulled, and the error will either be corrected with a new examination or a new grade. It is the university or the appeals body that decides whether the error will be corrected with a new examination or a new grade, and if the appeal is upheld, the student does not have the option of choosing how the error will be corrected.
It is not possible to retain the result from the contested examination even if the result from the new examination or new grade is worse.
If the university believes that formal errors have been committed and it is reasonable to assume that this may have had an impact on the performance of other students, the examination result may also be annulled for students other than the one who has complained about formal errors.
Do you want to know more?
Read more in Regulations for admission, programmes of study and examinations at University of Inland Norway, chapter 8.