Stage 1

Non-contentious appeal to the author of the decision (recours gracieux)

A non-contentious appeal is an internal administrative appeal to the person or body that took the decision in question.

Students or applicants to the University who wish to file a non-contentious appeal must do so within the deadline that is indicated in the decision:

Non-contentious appeals against admission-related decisions must be submitted within seven (7) days of publication of the decision on the online admission portal (e.g. notification on a Tuesday, the deadline is Tuesday of the following week at 24.00).
Non-contentious appeals against assessment results must be submitted within one (1) month of notification of the result (1 month = the day after the date of notification of the following month; example: notification on 3 February, deadline = 4 March at 24.00).
For all other decisions, the deadline is fourteen (14) days after receipt of the decision, unless otherwise indicated in the notification of the decision.

If the non-contentious appeal is admitted (i.e., the recipient will consider the appeal), this extends the deadline for filing a formal appeal with the University’s LitigationCommittee (see Stage 2). If the non-contentious appeal is rejected on procedural grounds, no such extension applies.

A non-contentious appeal must be submitted by registered letter in one of the three official languages of the University (French, German or English) to the authority that took the decision, as indicated in the decision (usually the sender of the letter notifying the decision).

If an appeal can be submitted via an online platform of the University’s Student Portal (“Guichet Etudiant”), students and applicants to the University must make use of this possibility. This applies, for example, to non-contentious appeals against admission decisions.

The appeal must contain the following information:

Full name of the appellant;
Student ID number (10-digit number on the student card or application form);
The study programme concerned;
A precise reference to the decision against which the appeal is being made;
A detailed justification outlining the grounds on which a reconsideration of the decision is requested, as described in the FAQ. If this argument invokes academic rules and regulations, these should be clearly identified using the correct source and reference.

The person or body that receives the appeal confirms receipt and informs the appellant if it rejects the appeal on procedural grounds (appeal not admitted).

The decision to uphold or reject an admitted appeal is taken within four (4) weeks of receipt of the appeal, unless communicated otherwise. If the appellant does not receive a response within this deadline, the appeal must be considered as rejected. In this case, students or applicants then have one month to file an appeal before the Litigation Committee if they wish to do so (see Stage 2).

Reasons for rejection may include: