Admissions Tests
Appeals
The SPA Steering Group asked us to investigate the position with regard to appeals against test results. Meetings were held with the main test bodies and consortia and desk-based research was carried out to establish what appeal mechanisms exist for UK tests:
BMAT
The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) is a subject-specific admissions test taken by applicants to certain medicine, veterinary medicine and related courses. The BMAT is owned and administered by Cambridge Assessment who are responsible for producing and marking the test, and also facilitate an extensive worldwide centre network at which applicants can sit the BMAT.
Candidates can decide to query their BMAT result or make an appeal immediately following results release. Please see below for more information regarding Cambridge Assessment's BMAT Special Considerations, Results Enquiries and Appeals Policy.
The flow diagram below gives details of the appropriate circumstances for submitting either a Results Enquiry or an Appeal, as well as the expected timescales for a response from Cambridge Assessment:
The relevant 'Application for Results Enquiry' or 'Application for an Appeal' form below must be filled in and signed by the candidate making the appeal, and then:
- In the case of candidates who took the test at their school / college: given to their centre's Examinations Officer, who should then submit the Application for Results Enquiry or Appeal form to Cambridge Assessment on the candidate’s behalf. All Results Enquiry or Appeal forms should be accompanied by a covering letter or fax on the centre's headed notepaper.
- In the case of candidates who took the test at an open centre: the request for a Results Enquiry or Appeal form may be submitted to Cambridge Assessment directly by the candidate.
- Application for Results Enquiry
- Application for an Appeal
Candidates should be aware that their results can go down as well as up and that this could affect their university application.
The Results Enquiry or Appeal CANNOT proceed without the candidate's written consent, as given on the Results Enquiry or Appeal form. Once this form has been received by Cambridge Assessment, the process will be instigated and the appropriate institution(s) informed.
For information about results enquiries and appeals fees please see BMAT Dates and Cost.
Results enquiry and appeal forms must be submitted to BMAT by Wednesday 30 November 2011. Further information can be found on BMAT FAQs. For all other queries about Results Enquiries and Appeals, including deadline dates, please see the FAQs.
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ELAT Oxford
Candidates can query their ELAT result or make an appeal immediately following results release on 13th January 2012. Please refer to the guidance given by Oxford University in their guidance for feedback on admissions decisions.
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GAMSAT-UK
GAMSAT-UK is a professionally designed and marked selection test developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for medical schools offering graduate-entry programmes open to graduates of any discipline. ACER will not enter into appeals against GAMSAT results and requests for remarking will not be considered. Further information is available on the GAMSAT-UK website.
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INSTITUTIONS' OWN TESTS
To be a "good" admissions test, part of SPA’s guidance includes approval for use through the HEI's relevant structures and processes. Additionally, HEIs should ensure their appeal and complaint mechanisms cover queries about admissions tests.
Applicants are advised to contact the HEI directly should they experience a procedural irregularity with an admissions test or if they have a query about their test result.
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LNAT
The National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT) has two sections: a multiple-choice element and an essay element. The multiple-choice score is produced electronically and the essay section is forwarded, unmarked, to individual universities for their consideration. LNAT has no intervention in either the multiple-choice score or in an applicant’s essay mark, consequently appeals against test scores can only be considered by individual universities.
If there is a disruptive incident at a test centre during a test (e.g. a fire alarm), the test centre will do what it can to minimise the disruption and to let you finish your test. The incident will be logged and you will be given an incident number by the test centre staff. Ensure you get an incident number before you leave the test centre. However, if for some reason the incident was not recorded, or if you do not feel that it was correctly handled or correctly logged at the test centre, you should still contact the LNAT Consortium. You should not contact the universities directly at this stage, as they will only refer it to the LNAT Consortium.
If you feel that the incident was poorly handled, or if you have a complaint about how your LNAT registration or check-in was handled or about any other aspects of the LNAT please refer to the complaints procedure. Complaints made after the issue of your LNAT score will not be considered.
LNAT has two main remedies once a complaint has been investigated. In exceptional cases, an applicant would be allowed to re-sit the test. Otherwise, LNAT would make a note of the circumstances on a "special cases" list which is made available to the LNAT universities. This would mean that those LNAT universities to which an applicant has applied will be made aware of any circumstances that may have affected their performance in the test and this can be taken into account when the multiple choice score and essay are assessed. Applicants should refer to individual university websites for further information about appeals as policies and procedures will vary from one institution to another.
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STEP
STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper) is a well-established mathematics examination, which has been designed to test candidates on questions that are similar in style to undergraduate mathematics. It is used by the University of Cambridge as the basis for conditional offers. There are also a number of candidates who sit STEP papers as a challenge. Other universities may ask candidates to take STEP as part of their offer; candidates should consult with their university regarding which papers to take.
Cambridge assessment does accept results enquiries for STEP and these should be addressed to the support team who will require an applicant's consent and signature to pursue the query.
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TSA Oxford
Candidates can query their TSA result or make an appeal immediately following results release on 13th January 2012. Please refer to the guidance given by Oxford University in their guidance for feedback on admissions decisions.
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UKCAT
UKCAT is run by the UKCAT Consortium in partnership with Pearson VUE. The test is delivered on computer worldwide through Pearson VUE's high street centres. The first line for complaints is through Pearson Vue. If applicants have complaints about how their UKCAT registration or check-in was handled, the testing experience or about any other aspect of the UKCAT service, complaints should be raised with Pearson VUE by telephone or email as soon as possible after the test and (if relevant) normally within two days of testing.
If applicants remain unhappy with the outcome of their complaint Pearson Vue will direct them to the UKCAT Complaints and Appeals procedure. This makes it clear to applicants how incidents ought to be dealt with and the options they have if they are not happy with how their complaint has been handled.
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Reviewed and updated: June 2011