BTEC Appeals, Plagiarism and Malpractice guidance

1. APPEALS
Studentshave the rightto appeal againstthe gradingdecisionfortheirassignments.Thisisinline
withEdexcel policy.The appealsprocedurewillbe outlinedinthe studenthandbookandwill be fully
explainedtothe studentsduringtheir introductionusingthe followinginformation.
Assignment/courseworkGradesforall BTEC courses:You have the rightto appeal againstthe
markingof assignmentsorcoursework.
Why?
You believethatthe assessormaynothave takenfull accountof all the evidence available.
You believethatthe assessordidnotfollow the correctprocedures.
ReasonsforAppeal:
1) The studentfeelsthatthere hasbeena misinterpretationof the evidence submitted.
2) The studentfeelsthatthe teacherhasmisinterpretedthe gradingcriteria.
Assignmentsare verifiedbefore beingsetandthe assignmentswill be fullyexplainedbythe teacher.
Thiswill include explanationof the tasksandhow theymatchto the gradingcriteria.Supportfrom
the teacherwill be available throughoutthe assignmentperiod.
Disputesovergradesshouldonlyarise whenastudentfeelstheirworkmatcheshighercriteria.It
shouldbe stressedthatwiththe above appealsshouldbe veryinfrequent.
A copyof the AppealsFormcan be foundinthe Appendices,entitled’BTECAppealsForm’ andthe
table belowgivesyouthe FOURSTAGESyou can go throughwhenmakingan appeal.
The Four Stagesof the AppealsProcessforALLBTEC Coursesare as follows:
STAGE ONE
You disagree withyourgrading – youshoulddiscussyouworkwiththe subjectteachersothat you
are clearabout the markingprocedure andhow yourfinal grade was established.
STAGE TWO
If you are still unhappyaboutthe grading – youneedtomake an appointmenttosee the internal
verifier(MrJones) withinone weekof the grade beinggiven.The verifiershouldthenmeetwithyou
withinone weekof yourrequest.
STAGE THREE
If a satisfactoryoutcome hasstill notbeenreachedyoumake anappointmenttosee the Quality
Nominee (Mrs.Abeelack).Yourassessmentswillbe assessedbyapanel comprisingof the exams
officer(Mrs.Cole),the internal verifier(Mr.Jones),the QualityNominee (Mrs.Abeelack).Youwill
thenbe notifiedof the decision.Appeal hearing.

2. STAGE FOUR
If still unsatisfiedbythe outcome of stage three youmustmake an appeal tothe Head of centre and
seniormanagementwhowill checkthatthe appealsprocesshasbeenthoroughandinaccordance
withthe examsboardsguidelines.
Full detailsof anyappeal will be made availabletothe examboardEdexcel onrequest
STAGE FIVE
ReviewbyEDEXCEL
PLAGIARISMand MALPRACTICE
Authenticityof yourwork
You are encouragedtoreadaroundthe unitsof workthat you studyandto use a range of resources.
Assignmentsthatare thoroughlyresearched are of a higherquality.Youwill needtoquote from
your sourcesandbe able to site examplesthatillustrate yourideas.Teacherswill explainhow to
quote andreference workinyourunits.Thiswill encourage youtoproduce balancedargumentsand
workthat is foundedonrelevantandvalidexamples.
What will notbe acceptable will be anyof the followingformsof plagiarism:
- Copyingfromtextsorjournals.
- Copyingfromotherstudents.
- Wholesale downloadingfromthe internet.
Assignmentswill be heldbyteachersuntil the unithasbeencompletedbyall students.
The teachingteamwill monitorthe progressof assignmentsastheyare beingundertakenandwill
discourage plagiarism.
Assignmentgradeswill be atrue reflectionof youreffortsandattainment.Itisimportanttovalue
your academicresearchandeffortswhenproducingyourevidenceforthe grading
criteria.Itis alsoimportantduringgroupworkto ensure thatyou are able to produce yourown
evidence andthismustbe made clearinthe varioustasksset foran assignment.