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 Appeals and Complaints procedure
1. Purpose
An admissions appeal seeks to change an outcome of the admissions process. The appeal may (and usually does) seek to reverse the rejection of an application, but it may alsoask to change a specific aspect of an admissions decision, such as the setting of a particular condition.
An admission complaint also addresses the admissions process but seeks some other remedy than changing its outcome.
A postgraduate admission appeal can be made only in relation to one or more of the following 3 grounds and no other:
- a serious procedural error (such as the provision of inaccurate information or the failure to follow published postgraduate admissions policy)
- bias, or the perception of bias, in the decision-making process
- extenuating circumstances affecting the applicants prior academic or non-academic achievements which, for good reason, the applicant did not inform the University of in their application, and which would have had a material impact on the admission decision
An admissions appeal or complaint cannot be made about a matter of academic judgement, that is a judgement where only the opinion of an academic expert is sufficient to decide on the issue. Academic judgement is defined in more detail on the Student Complaints section of the University website.
2. Purpose
Stage 1: Local informal resolution
Issues are best dealt with informally and by those involved. At stage 1, applicants are required to seek an informal resolution to problems through the relevant programme admissions office, as applicable.
Stage 2: Formal submission and investigation
- Admissions appeals and complaints will only be considered at stage 2 if submitted on the standard form and if all required fields are completed . An applicant may append additional documentary evidence.
- Admission appeals or complaints must be submitted within 28 calendar days of the applicant receiving a formal written admission decision. This ensures the investigation is close to the events under consideration, means a response will be within the current admissions cycle , and protects against vexatious complaints. Submissions outside this timeframe may be accepted if a valid reason for delay is evidenced.
3. Submitting a complaint or appeal
A complaint or appeal must be submitted using the Admissions Appeals and Complaints 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 3 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 dcsecretary@jbs.cam.ac.uk. 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 dcsecretary@jbs.cam.ac.uk. 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.
4. Responding to an appeal or complaint
The Degree Committee for Business and Management Secretary (or delegate) will acknowledge a complaint or appeal within 5 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 Appeals and Complaints 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.