Crawford, R (On the Application Of) v The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne

Judgment

Deputy High Court Judge Grubb:

Introduction

The Claimant registered at the University of Newcastle (“the University”) in October 2005 to study for a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree (“MBBS” degree). He completed Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4. In 2010, he failed his final year (Stage 5) examinations. The Claimant was required to repeat his final year and again took the Stage 5 examinations in 2011. On 15 June 2011, the Claimant was informed that he had again failed his final Stage 5 examinations. The reason for his failure, to which I shall return in detail shortly, was that he had been given a ‘B’ grade (which is a borderline fail) in the “Clinical and Communication Skills” (“Skills”) domain (as it has been called) in the assessment, which is part of the Stage 5 examination process, known as the “Multi-Station Objective Structured Long Examination Record” (“MOSLER”).

The Claimant was not satisfied with a number of matters concerning the examinations, in particular (for the purposes of this case) the grade he had been awarded in the MOSLER for the “Skills” domain. In essence, the Claimant did not accept that the grade has been calculated in accordance with the University’s MBBS Stage 5 Handbook for 2010/2011 (“MBBS Stage 5 Handbook”).

On 27 June 2011, the Claimant appealed under the University’s Academic Appeals Procedure for Students (“Academic Appeals Procedure”) challenging, inter alia, the grade he had been awarded for the “Skills” domain in the MOSLER. An Appeal Adjudicator (Dr Phillips) was appointed. The Appeal Adjudicator considered evidence from the Claimant, including the report of an actuary (Mr Carus) dated 1 July 2011. In addition, the Appeal Adjudicator considered a memorandum from the Chair of the Board of Examiners (Dr Lunn) dated 30 June 2011 which was sent to the Claimant. The Appeal Adjudicator sought further comments from Dr Lunn on the report prepared by Mr Carus. In response, Dr Lunn sent the Appeal Adjudicator a second memorandum dated 25 July 2011. This was not sent, at that time, to the Claimant. On 1 August 2011, the Claimant’s appeal was rejected by the Appeal Adjudicator. On 25 August 2011, the Claimant sought a review of that decision under the Academic Appeals Procedure. On 2 September 2011, the Academic Registrar rejected a review of the Appeal Adjudicator’s decision.

On 13 August 2011 (in other words after the rejection of the initial internal appeal) the Claimant made a complaint to the Office of the