Introduction

1. This paper supplements the information in the EAB's Remit and Procedures document and is intended to help you to understand the conduct of an appeal hearing and how to prepare for one.
   
   
2. Within the framework set out below (13-14) proceedings are informal. At a hearing each party presents its case and by way of question and answer the Chairman and panel members identify and clarify matters raised by the documentation and by the oral evidence.

Documentation for the hearing

1. When an application to appeal is accepted, the Board will ask both parties to supply full documentation on the action taken in the case and any additional evidence.  It is not normally acceptable to withhold evidence until the day of the hearing. If centres or awarding bodies wish to use a graphical presentation package (eg overhead projector slides or Powerpoint) then copies of the presentation must be included at the same time as the rest of the written submission.
   
   
2. Appellants are asked to submit a concise account of the case and the issues involved, normally at greater length than the statement included in the application form. The submission should make reference to any supporting papers such as correspondence, re-mark reports and accounts of meetings. The appellant should highlight any specific points to which the awarding body could be expected to respond. While evidence derived from candidates' scripts may be included where appropriate, the EAB has no power to re-mark candidates' work or make judgements about it. Examples of candidates' work (eg coursework, school examination scripts) will not be admissible as evidence.
   
   
3. Letters from third parties will not normally be admissible since opinions or support from colleagues or others do not constitute evidence. In addition, the evidence presented to the EAB should be substantially what was presented at the awarding body appeal hearing since an appeal to the EAB is an appeal against a decision of an awarding body. Anything new to be submitted has to be in the nature of evidence which came to light only at or after the awarding body's appeal hearing.
   
   The EAB's officers will sift any inadmissible evidence from the papers sent in and refer back to the centre or awarding body. If they disagree with the decision to remove the papers, the matter will be referred to the Chair of the panel for the hearing.
   
   
4. The awarding body will receive a checklist of the documentation required by the EAB. That documentation is intended to support the awarding body's own statement which should also refer specifically to individual papers.
   
   
5. The papers for the hearing, supplied by each side, will be distributed by the EAB to everyone attending the hearing at least seven days beforehand. We will have numbered them consecutively, colour-coded them, pink for the appellant, blue for the awarding body, and will seek to avoid duplication. Relevant background papers, such as syllabuses, question papers, mark schemes etc will be white.

Representatives/witnesses

1. The EAB will pay travelling and subsistence expenses at its normal rate for up to three appellant representatives/witnesses. We do not expect more than three people in each party. We suggest that a centre's team might comprise the head teacher or principal and the examinations officer or the head of department or a teacher closely concerned with the case. Private candidates may find it helpful to include in their team someone familiar with the assessment process in general and as it may apply in the particular subject. In the case of the awarding body a team comprising, as appropriate to the case, the appeals officer and the chief examiner/chief moderator or the relevant subject officer is suggested.
   
   
2. Appeals will be heard in central London and in some regional centres.

Legal representation

1. The EAB is not a court of law and you should not feel the need to be legally represented. If you do wish to be accompanied by a lawyer the EAB and the other party should be informed as soon as possible so that they too may have the opportunity to have legal advice. However, the EAB will normally expect the headteacher or principal of the centre to present the case. If, exceptionally, and particularly if you are a private candidate, you wish a legal representative to present your case you should notify the EAB at least one week before the date of the hearing, giving the reason for your request. This will enable the other party to be informed as soon as possible and to decide whether it wishes to adopt a similar course of action.

Protocol to be observed by the parties to an appeal

1. Once an appeal has been lodged with the EAB there should be no further correspondence between the awarding body and the centre. All communications should be directed to the EAB.
   
   
2. The EAB asks that, as a matter of professional courtesy, neither party to an appeal should issue statements to the media about the appeal between the appeal hearing and receipt of the final decision letter.

At the hearing

1. Each appeal will be heard by a panel of three, selected from the Board members and the pool of panellists. All panellists selected will be independent of the awarding body concerned and the appellant. The panel will be chaired by a Board member.
   
   
2. Hearings will be conducted as follows:

   i. The centre or private candidate will present their case with the assistance of representatives/witnesses. The awarding body and the panel will then have the opportunity to ask questions of the appellant and witnesses.

   ii. It will then be the turn of the awarding body similarly to put its case and be questioned.

   iii. The awarding body and then the appellant will have the opportunity to sum up their cases.

   iv. Both parties to the appeal will then withdraw while the panel decides whether it wishes for clarification of any points of uncertainty on evidence already given. If it does, both parties are to return even if only one is directly concerned with the points to be raised.

   v. After that, both parties are free to leave and the panel will deliberate in private. Observers will withdraw except with the special consent of the Chairman; if they remain they will not participate in the deliberation.

Presentation

1. The panel will have read the papers provided for the hearing so it is not necessary to reiterate every point in detail. Presentations which highlight the main points at issue, with supporting reference to the papers, are likely to be the most effective. One representative should take the lead and sum up, calling on others as necessary, often in relation to specific points. Although no time limit is set for hearings, we expect that most will be completed in three hours. An initial presentation of some 30 minutes by each party allows good time for questions and dialogue.
   
   
2. If possible you should avoid bringing to the hearing any written evidence which is not included in your submitted papers. If any such evidence is presented, the Chairman will decide whether or not to admit it, after seeking the views of the other party. If the Chairman does accept it, it will then have to be copied and the hearing may be adjourned to enable the panel and other party to assimilate the new evidence. Confidential information may be disallowed at the hearing.
   
   
3. By the EAB's terms of reference it has to consider the accuracy and fairness of the process of arriving at the grades awarded. Hearings focus on the awarding body's procedures, such as the conduct of the marking, awarding and appeals process, together with any evidence which throws light on whether the procedures were appropriate to the case and were specifically applied in arriving at judgements.
   
   You are therefore asked to take special note of the following section when considering how you will make your presentation.

Evidence which can be accepted in appeals

1. Now that centres have access to their candidates’ scripts, appeals increasingly focus on challenges to the awarding body’s interpretation and application of its mark scheme. The EAB may properly consider whether the procedures of the awarding body are consistent with the regulatory authorities’ Code of Practice and whether they have been applied properly and fairly. Investigation of this could cover any of the full range of processes involved in and leading to the award of grades: the setting of papers; marking and moderation; the grade award; enquiries about results and appeals and administrative arrangements. However, the appeals process is not concerned with making judgements about candidates’ work in the examination, since that is properly the responsibility of the senior examiner of the awarding body.
   
   
2. It is legitimate for a centre/private candidate to challenge the consistency of the awarding body’s procedures with the Code of Practice or the way those procedures, for example the marking criteria and the mark scheme, have been applied. The EAB panel, however, is not competent, in either the legal or the academic sense, to enter into judgement about what specific mark is appropriate to a particular answer in the examination. While it may require the awarding body to carry out a re-mark, it cannot insist on a particular outcome of that process.
   
   
3. Nevertheless, the EAB Remit and Procedures commits the panel to giving consideration, where appropriate, to evidence derived from candidates’ scripts. There is a fine line to be drawn between, on the one hand, evaluating evidence, possibly derived from scripts, that has a bearing on the consistency of procedures with the Code of Practice or with their proper and fair application, and, on the other, entering into arguments on subject-specific detail or differences of opinion between subject professionals.
   
   
4. Centres/private candidates are asked to bear this in mind in their presentations at hearings but often cross that ‘fine line’. Usually, in the interests of allowing them to present the whole of their argument, the Chairman of the hearing does not interrupt but, in their discussion after the hearing, the panel will note where the ‘line’ has to be ‘drawn’. At the same time, awarding bodies should be aware that panels will expect to hear them address apparently well-founded arguments made by centres for a more generous application of the mark scheme. The panel must feel confident that it has heard evidence justifying the appropriateness of the marks awarded.

After the hearing

1. You will not be told the panel's decision at the hearing. You will be sent a letter within two working days of the hearing stating whether the appeal has been allowed or not. The reasons for the decision, together with any recommendations or decisions stemming from it, will be sent in a further letter to both parties within 15 working days of the hearing. To enable any factual corrections to be made before the letter is more widely distributed, a period of five working days is allowed for your comments. Until any such corrections are made the EAB considers the letter to be confidential.
   
   
2. The EAB will issue a press release summarising the case when it is complete. A copy will be sent to you before it is sent to the media. The text will later be posted on the EAB website.