Admissions appeals & complaints

Please note the procedures below are for the following Cambridge Judge Business School programmes only: MBA, EMBA, Global EMBA, MFin or Executive MAcc. Please visit the Postgraduate Admissions website for other Cambridge Judge Business School degree programmes, the Institute for Continuing Education for Master of Studies programmes, or the MST Admissions Appeals & Complaints webpage for the Management Studies Tripos.

College allocation

If applicants have a query or concern about their College allocation, they should contact the Senior Tutor or Graduate Tutor within the College in the first instance. View College contact details.

Academic decisions

The programme’s Admissions Office cannot give reasons for not offering admission, nor advise you how to improve your application, and cannot provide feedback on admissions decisions. The programme’s Admissions Offices are not obliged but may agree to provide feedback and should be contacted directly.

If your application has been rejected then you may be able to appeal the decision using the appeals procedure set out on this page.

Admissions Complaints & Appeals procedure

1. Purpose

A graduate applicant who is dissatisfied with an aspect of the admissions process may submit a complaint or appeal using the following process.

A graduate applicant who is dissatisfied with the admissions decision made by the relevant programme’s Admissions Office, can also follow this process to appeal the decision on one of the following grounds:

  1. an error in the decision-making process or a procedural irregularity;
  2. bias or perception of bias in the decision-making process;
  3. extenuating circumstances, which, for good reason, you did not inform Cambridge Judge Business School of in your application, which would have had a material impact on the admissions decision.

An admissions appeal cannot be made based on any other grounds, including the academic judgement of the decision-makers.

If applicants have an informal query about the admissions decision that was made, or wish to receive feedback, they should contact the relevant programme’s Admissions Office directly.

If applicants have a query or concern about their College allocation, they should contact the Senior Tutor or Graduate Tutor within the College in the first instance.

2. Submitting a complaint or appeal

A complaint or appeal must be submitted using the Admissions Complaints & Appeals form to the Degree Committee for Business and Management Office within 28 days of receiving the formal written admission decision.

There are separate forms for appeals and complaints. Please ensure you use the correct one. Forms can be submitted in one of three ways:

a) Online

Submit the online version of the Admissions Appeal form

or

Submit the online version of the Admissions Complaint form

b) Email

Download and complete the Admissions Appeal form, then submit it via email to [email protected]. The email subject line should read “FAO Degree Committee Secretary, ADMISSIONS APPEALS”.

or

Download and complete the Admissions Complaint form, then submit it via email to [email protected]. The email subject line should read “FAO Degree Committee Secretary, ADMISSIONS COMPLAINTS”.

c) Post

Download and complete the Admissions Appeal form

or

Download and complete the Admissions Complaint form

Then send the completed form by post to the address below:

Degree Committee for Business and Management Secretary
Cambridge Judge Business School
Trumpington Street
Cambridge CB2 1AG
United Kingdom

The Degree Committee for Business and Management Secretary may choose to accept a complaint or appeal submitted after the 28-day deadline for exceptional reasons where he or she considers that a valid reason for delay has been evidenced.

An applicant can withdraw a complaint or appeal at any time by emailing or writing to the Degree Committee for Business and Management Secretary. Once a complaint or appeal has been withdrawn it cannot be reinstated.

An applicant will not be disadvantaged for submitting a complaint or appeal if it is made in good faith. Submitting a complaint or appeal will not prevent an applicant from being able to re-apply to Cambridge Judge Business School in the future or affect the applicant’s ability to comply with any offer of study already issued.

3. Responding to a complaint or appeal

The Degree Committee for Business and Management Secretary (or delegate), will acknowledge a complaint or appeal within five working days.

An admissions complaint or appeal can be declined to be considered if it does not fall within the permitted grounds; if it is trivial, vexatious, malicious; if it has been submitted outside the timeframe and there are not valid and evidenced reasons for late submission; or if the appeal remedy requested does not include amending the admission decision.

If a complaint or appeal is not declined it will be investigated by the Complaints & Appeals Panel. The investigation is likely to include requesting responses from the staff or office involved in considering a graduate applicant’s application. This will involve sharing a copy of the applicant’s complaint or appeal with the relevant staff.

As part of the investigation, the written documentation and legal obligations of the programme’s Admissions Office will be taken into consideration.

An applicant will normally receive a complaint/appeal decision letter within 20 working days of receiving the a complaint/appeal acknowledgement. If a complaint/appeal decision will take longer than 20 working days, the applicant will receive an update regarding the investigation.

The complaint/appeal outcome letter will include a description of the investigation that took place; the decision; the reasons for the decision; and any actions being taken because of the decision.

The complaint/appeal decision letter confirms Cambridge Judge Business School’s final decision in relation to a graduate admissions complaint/appeal. This decision is likely to be communicated to any staff or office involved in the investigation.

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