Appeals/Rechecks

BhoscaCapall

Just wondering what these are all about... is it relying on the lecturer having made a mistake marking it the first time around or something? Do people have much luck with them?

I would only really consider it if I'd only failed the one exam by <5% or so, and even then I'd only ask for a recheck in the hope the lecturer just feels sorry for me and passes me based on that.... Is that how they would approach it - going over your script again and looking for places they might be able to award you extra marks?

Is there a fee?

KittyeeTrix

I made a hames of my 1st year Biology paper and emailed one of my lecturers who was very approachable.
I asked him if it was worth my while appealing/rechecking my paper and he had a look at it for me and emailed me back. He said that I had a fantastic paper but had spent too much time answering one part of 2 questions whilst basically ignoring the question's other parts.

He told me it wouldn't be worth my time and I understood where I'd gone wrong based on his answer.

Maybe try an informal email first if that's possible in your case:)

BhoscaCapall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Maybe try an informal email first if that's possible in your case:)

I don't have a case, I'm just wondering what the point of it all is. Successful appeals/rechecks would be the college admitting to marking the paper incorrectly the first time, which is an extremely serious issue.

RolandIRL

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

I don't have a case, I'm just wondering what the point of it all is. Successful appeals/rechecks would be the college admitting to marking the paper incorrectly the first time, which is an extremely serious issue.

As long as a human corrects exams, there'll always be mistakes made. When you've a few hundred scripts to correct, you're not going to go through each one with a finecomb. You can't expect 100% efficiency all of the time.

Marking the paper incorrectly would only be applicable in a module where there was a strict marking scheme to adhere to, which most don't. A lot of modules are subjective and it's up to the corrector where to give more marks.

In maths even, I've been marked down in class tests (not the same as exams, I know, but principle's the same) due to the corrector not giving any marks due to a numerical slip at the start of the question even though the method was sound. Had the lecturer recheck it and was given more marks.

BhoscaCapall

RolandIRL wrote: »

As long as a human corrects exams, there'll always be mistakes made. When you've a few hundred scripts to correct, you're not going to go through each one with a finecomb. You can't expect 100% efficiency all of the time.

Yes but without sounding too melodramatic, it's people's lives your talking about here!!! That sounded melodramatic. You know what I mean though

Marking the paper incorrectly would only be applicable in a module where there was a strict marking scheme to adhere to, which most don't. A lot of modules are subjective and it's up to the corrector where to give more marks.

So would it be fair to say that when considering an appeal, the lecturer will make a point of trying to find more marks they can award you? If not then your only hope rests on the marker not marking it correctly the first time surely?

Ficheall

RolandIRL wrote: »

Marking the paper incorrectly would only be applicable in a module where there was a strict marking scheme to adhere to, which most don't.

I would say that the biggest cause of "successful" rechecks is marks being added up incorrectly, marks for a certain question being left out etc.

RolandIRL

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

Yes but without sounding too melodramatic, it's people's lives your talking about here!!! That sounded melodramatic. You know what I mean though

So would it be fair to say that when considering an appeal, the lecturer will make a point of trying to find more marks they can award you? If not then your only hope rests on the marker not marking it correctly the first time surely?

The same could be applied to someone's medical card application yet mistakes can be made on that as well. It's not a perfect system by all means, but it works for the majority of people

For your second point, I can only speculate since I've never corrected exams. Just trust that mistakes do happen and as Ficheall said, it often happens in the adding up of marks at the end or inputting them into the computer (as happened to me in 1st year where my CA wasn't taken into account).
For scripts that can actually be bumped up in marks, I guess it comes up in exam board meetings. As Kittyee says though, it's best to discuss it with your lecturer first before you get it appealed. I might ask one of my lecturers what the exact procedure is next week

BhoscaCapall

Cool, cheers for the info. Is there a fee for appealing then or what? Surely it would be grossly unfair to charge for an appeal that ends up successful?

Ficheall

If memory serves, there is a fee but it is reimbursed if the appeal is successful. I'm not 100% on that though.

RolandIRL

Ficheall wrote: »

If memory serves, there is a fee but it is reimbursed if the appeal is successful. I'm not 100% on that though.

http://www.su.nuigalway.ie/cms/view/701

Yep, you're right on that.

BhoscaCapall

RolandIRL wrote: »

http://www.su.nuigalway.ie/cms/view/701

Yep, you're right on that.

Interesting. Especially this part:
"Unlike getting your result checked, you must look at your script before filling an appeal form."

I didn't realise you could have a look at your answers before applying for the appeal. Can you do the same for a recheck? I mean, why pay €25 in the hop that they didn't add the marks up properly when you could just check yourself and make sure...

Raging_Ninja

When provisional results were given out at winter I was told I failed an exam. So I asked for a meeting with the lecturer (who is one of the course coordinators) and he looked over the exam script before the meeting and discovered he had missed marking a question.

TBH in cases where you fail an exam it is good to ask for an informal meeting - the lecturer (if they are worth anything) will look over the exam script and a mistake might be discovered that way.

Lockstep

Yup, I had a similar situation with a lecturer where he went over the question, realised I'd mentioned something he thought I'd forgotten and I ended up with a 1st instead of a 2.1.

It can happen.