The High Court has dismissed all claims brought by an anonymised university student who challenged restrictions placed on her academic progression after she failed or missed six second-year module assessments.
Ms Justice Bolger held that the university acted lawfully in requiring the student, identified as MM, to follow an academic plan and remediate at least some of the outstanding modules before progressing to stage 3 of her professional degree.
The student had received special grades in October 2023 after the university accepted exceptional circumstances connected with traumatic events earlier that year. She argued that the award entitled her to remediate the modules promptly, progress to stage 3 while carrying all six outstanding modules, and later register for stage 4.
The court rejected that interpretation. It found that granting special grades and deciding how those modules should be remediated were separate matters, both involving academic judgment. The university remained obliged under its regulations to monitor whether the student’s workload was sustainable.
Ms Justice Bolger also found that the student had no right to negotiate or agree the content of her academic plan, or to determine remediation directly with individual module coordinators. The school was entitled to set the remediation process and to require consultation only on the options offered to her.
The judgment records that the university arranged opportunities for the student to sit the six remediation exams in September 2024 and again in May 2025. She did not sit them. The court found her stated reasons for not doing so unconvincing and rejected allegations of bad faith, bias and unfair treatment by academic staff.
The court also found that the university had responded fairly once it learned the full circumstances affecting the student’s May 2023 examinations.
All declaratory and damages claims were refused. The university was awarded its costs, except costs relating to the anonymisation order. The judgment remains subject to a strict order preventing identification of the student, university, school and witnesses.