Contesting decisions related to studies

The contesting of decisions made during studies is regulated in Chapter 10 of Tallinn University Study Regulations.

• Section 33 of Study Regulations establishes the procedure for contesting decisions related to studies;
• Section 34 of Study Regulations establishes the procedure for contesting decisions related to the final thesis or examination;
• Subsections 1-7 of Section 34 of Study Regulations regulate the contesting of assessment results of the final exam or the defence of the final thesis and their procedure (with the exception of decisions concerning disregard for academic practice);
• Subsections 8-14 of Section 34 of Study Regulations regulate the contesting of decisions concerning the disregard of academic practice in relation to the final exam or final thesis.

If the student finds that the decision related to studies violates his/her rights, he/she has the right to submit a contest to the person who made the decision. Pursuant to Subsection 1 of Section 33 of Study Regulations, to contest a decision, the student turns to the person who has made the decision within 10 working days as of the day the decision was announced. In formal communication with the university the student uses Tallinn University e-mail address and sends the written (digitally) signed contest to the person who has made the decision. The person who has made the decision has 10 working days to respond to the contest.

The contest of the decision must include the following:

1. Name of the person who has made the decision or the head of the decision-making body and to whom the contest is addressed;
2. The content of the decision being contested (i.e. which content of the decision is being contested);
3. Explanations (including legal grounds) of why the decision being contested violates the rights of the contester;
4. A clearly defined demand (i.e. what the contester wants to achieve by submitting the contest as referred to in points 2-3).

The person who has made the decision shall respond to the contest within 10 working days as of the day the contest was submitted, by presenting a written reasoned decision as to the satisfaction or dismissal of the contest. In case the contest does not meet the requirements established in Study Regulations, the person who made the decision shall provide the student an additional deadline for eliminating the deficiencies.

For example, in a situation where the student finds that his/her examination result is not justified, the student needs to contest the examination result within 10 working days from the date of announcing the decision to the person who has made the decision, i.e. the lecturer of the course. In order to do that, the student must compile an unambiguous and clearly worded contest which includes explanations and legal grounds as to why the decision (grade) violates his/her rights (for example, which requirements, mostly arising from the course programme and/or Study Regulations, the lecturer has violated when assessing the student’s exam). A clearly defined demand must be added as regards to what the contester wants to achieve by submitting the contest (for example, arising from the explanations and legal grounds, the possibility to retake the main examination or re-assessment of the main examination result).

Appealing

Pursuant to Subsection 4 of Section 33 of Study Regulations, if the person who has made the decision does not satisfy the contest, the student has the right to submit a justified appeal within 10 working days as of the date the decision was announced. The appeal shall be submitted to the Director of the relevant academic unit. If the first decision was made by the Director of the academic unit, the appeal shall be submitted to the Academic Affairs Manager, in Doctoral studies, to the Vice-Rector for Research. If the first decision was made by the Academic Affairs Manager/Vice-Rector, the appeal shall be submitted to the Rector. The person who responds to the appeal shall respond to the appeal within 30 days as of the day the appeal was submitted. The decision on the appeal shall not be subject to further appeal at the University.

For example, in a situation where the lecturer decides not to satisfy the contest regarding the student’s examination result, the student has the right to submit a justified appeal to the director of the academic unit regarding the lecturer’s decision. The director of the academic unit shall respond to the correctly submitted appeal by making a written reasoned decision as to the satisfaction or dismissal of the appeal.

Remember

• The person who makes the decision about the contest has the right to extend the procedural deadline by up to 5 working days and the person who responds to the appeal has the right to extend the deadline by up to 30 days. The student shall be informed thereof in writing.
• If the student submits the contest or the appeal of the decision after the deadline established in the Study Regulations, then the person who shall respond to the contest/appeal will return the contest without reviewing it due to the student’s failure to meet the deadline for submitting the contest/appeal. If the deadline for contesting the decision does not fall on a working day, the deadline shall end on the first working day following the initial deadline.
• The initiation of the contesting procedure does not always mean that the result is improved after reviewing the case. For example, in a situation where the contesting procedure regarding an examination result leads to a decision to re-assess the result, then the examination result could be raised, remain the same or lowered.
• As compared to the general procedure for contesting decisions, the procedure related to Doctoral studies is somewhat different. Doctoral students must therefore also read the requirements included in Tallinn University Regulations for Doctoral Studies and Defence of Doctoral Theses.

More information about the procedure of contesting decisions can be found in Tallinn University Study Regulations.