Appeal Procedures

Note: Only the German version is legally binding. This translation is for your information only.

You can submit appeals to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences within the appeal period in accordance with the following information.

Requirements for the appeal to the Vice Dean of Studies

Submit appeals to the Vice Dean of Studies in German and digitally (PDF document as e-mail attachment) from your UZH e-mail to the Student Services of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (studium@phil.uzh.ch) within the 30-day appeal period. The appeal period begins from the binding delivery of the decision to your UZH e-mail account. Your appeal must meet the following requirements:

Contact information: Last name, first name, address;
Date;
Student ID number;
Degree program and study program (degree course) (e.g. Bachelor's degree with major program in History and minor program in English);
Details of the module (title of the module and module number) and/or the study program bans to which you are referring (see Student Portal);
Applications: The appeal must contain one or more clearly formulated applications (legal requests) stating what you are specifically requesting (e.g. assessment with a grade of 5.0, review of exam corrections, lifting of bans, cancellation of the module, etc.);
Justification: You must provide a brief and clear rationale for each request. For example, if you are claiming an error in the correction of your exam, you must clearly justify why you believe the correction is inconsistent. Merely arguing that the performance deserved a better grade or claiming that the exam was graded incorrectly is not sufficient to meet the requirement of a clearly reasoned motion;
Signature in writing and by hand;
Enclosures send as PDF documents: The transcript of record is mandatory, if necessary, also include the assessment (e.g. written exam, written paper etc.) as well as further documents (e.g. medical certificate, correspondence) which are suitable to support your motion.

Process and duration of the procedure

The legal department will confirm the receipt of the appeal. If you do not submit the appeal within the deadline or if it does not comply with the requirements (see above), we cannot consider it.

If the appeal meets the requirements, we will clarify the matter with the offices involved. The Vice Dean of Studies then will issue a decision on the appeal.

The procedure is conducted in writing. We will send you the appeal decision by registered letter.

As a rule, you should expect the procedure to take between two and four months (from the date of receipt of the well-founded appeal until its decision).

Delivery of decisions

Electronically provided orders and decisions (including transcripts and records and decisions regarding compensatory measures) are deemed to have been bindingly delivered and received on the seventh day after they are retrievable in the digital infrastructure (student portal), not counting the day of receipt.

Additional information on the appeal procedure on the transcript of record

You can already view the evaluation of the assessments in the student portal before the transcripts of records are issued. After the completion of a semester, the passed and failed modules are documented in a binding transcript of records. You can download this for Fall Semester at the end of February (calendar week 8) and for Spring Semester at the end of September (calendar week 38) from the student portal. Prior to this, you will receive a notification of distribution via your UZH e-mail. This transcript of records is subject to appeal to the Vice Dean of Studies with regard to the newly documented coursework of the last semester,

If you wish to access your examination papers, please contact the relevant department. If you suspect an obvious error (so-called clerical error) such as errors in transferring grades or incorrectly counted points, please contact the responsible department before the transcript of records is issued. After the transcript of records has been issued, please contact the Student Services of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Appeal to the Appeals Commission of the Higher Education Institutions of the Canton of Zurich

You can appeal against the decision of the Vice Dean of Studies to the Appeals Commission of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions. Please refer to the information on the right to appeal in the appeal decision. Further information on the appeal procedure can be found on the website of the Canton of Zurich.

Responsible offices

Student Services answer general question regarding the appeal procedures or regarding module booking.

Your Academic Advisor can clarify inquiries in connection to the continuation of studies or the access to exam papers.

The legal department of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences does not provide any information, not even regarding the appeals procedure. It only provides written information on the status of the procedure.