King’s College London student launches legal bid after first-class degree downgraded to 2:1

King’s College London student launches legal bid after first-class degree downgraded to 2:1 Ceana Agbro said she thought a first would ‘open doors’ for her - Bookmark A King’s College London student is pursuing legal action against her university after her first-class degree was downgraded to a 2:1, a dispute that she claims exposed "unjust" procedures and administrative failures. Ceana Agbro, 23, who began studying business management in 2021, was initially delighted in May 2024 when the university’s online portal indicated she had achieved a first-class degree. However, weeks later, her grade was reduced to a 2:1. She was first told this was due to a system error and assured it would be rectified. However, days before her graduation, the university contradicted its earlier statement, saying that her grade was indeed a 2:1 because a peer-reviewed assignment had not been factored into the initial calculation. Ms Agbro, however, claims she was unable to access the university’s peer review portal, despite other students reportedly being able to assess her contribution. Believing the process to be unfair, Ms Agbro deferred her graduation and lodged multiple appeals, saying that her complaint was procedural rather than an academic judgment. Both appeals were rejected following what she described as “significant delays”, prompting her decision to launch a legal bid. After also being unsuccessful through the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education, she is now pursuing legal action, representing herself, as she was advised legal representation would cost approximately £25,000. A spokesperson for King’s College London said the university has apologised “for the error in email correspondence that occurred”, but stated it is “confident that this robust investigation of the matter has reached a conclusive outcome”. Ms Agbro, who is a television development intern and lives in London, said: “I want people to understand this isn’t even about the grade – it’s about the process and it’s been unjust. “I’m doing this for the students before me and after me – I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.” Ms Agbro began her studies at King’s College London in September 2021, studying business management. She was the first in her family to attend university and, throughout her degree, she said she was “very focused” on achieving a first-class grade, often turning down events to prioritise her work. In May 2024, she logged on to King’s College London’s online portal and was able to see her module grades and calculated she had achieved a first. A first is the highest academic grade awarded for undergraduate bachelor’s degrees in the UK and is achieved by scoring an overall average of 70 per cent or higher. She said: “I felt like all these sacrifices, all those late nights, were worth it. “I thought getting a first from King’s would open a lot of doors for me.” However, on 9 July 2024, she said she logged back on to the university’s platform and noticed her grade or ‘c-score’, as King’s College London refers to it, had been incorrectly inputted as 67, changing her grade from a first to a 2:1. She emailed a member of university staff and said they confirmed that her c-score had been miscalculated, and they would correct it, meaning she would still achieve a first. As well as this, she said a grade for a module entitled Managing Extreme Situations: Crises, Corruptions And Controversies did not add up. She believed she had achieved a first in the module, as the system had previously indicated this, but she said it was now showing a 2:1. She contacted the university, expressing concerns that her mark had been miscalculated and, in an email seen by PA, the programme manager replied on 17 July saying she “did indeed receive a 70 for the group report – apologies for the error”. The email continued: “I have raised this with the assessment and awards team who will make this amendment, accordingly, including recalculating your overall c-score.” However, Ms Agbro said her grade did not change and that she contacted the university multiple times. The director of undergraduate studies contacted Ms Agbro on 26 July 2024, apologising for the “incorrect information provided” about her c-score, confirming that the source of the errors “were related to updates to the system made earlier this year”. So, she said she began preparing for graduation, assuming her grade would soon be updated, and was excited for her family to attend. Ms Agbro said: “That email gave me hope that everything would be sorted before my graduation. “I had it in writing. I had no indication that anything was still wrong.” Three days before the ceremony, on 29 July, she said the university’s programme manager emailed, contradicting their previous message. According to Ms Agbro, the programme manager said the Managing Extreme Situations: Crises, Corruptions And Controversies module grade was supposed to be 68 rather than 70, and that the 70 grade did not “include peer review”. As part of the module, students completed a group project in which group members assessed one another’s contributions. She said these peer review scores accounted for 25 per cent of each individual’s final mark for the module. Ms Agbro said the peer review portal was not accessible on her account. “It felt so unfair – first, they tell me it was an error, then I find out others have been able to score me,” she said. So, she decided to defer her graduation until the following year. She explained: “I just didn’t feel like I was able to walk across the stage accepting an incorrect grade. “I just felt like it wouldn’t be authentic to me, because I’m upset with what’s happened.” On 2 September 2024, with the help of lawyers, she said she submitted an academic appeal to the university and expected to receive a response within 30 working days, in line with university guidelines. However, Ms Agbro said the university responded eight working days late, which she described as “breaching their own regulation”. “They declined my appeal because they said I’m challenging academic judgment,” she said. “It wasn’t about academic judgment – this is about the procedures. It was not fair that I didn’t get to do the peer review.” She submitted a stage two appeal on 6 November 2024, this time representing herself, and claims she received a response at the end of February 2025 – 50 working days late – denying her appeal again. She said: “If I filed something late as a student, they wouldn’t even accept it. It’s like they’re able to do whatever they want to do and don’t have to follow their own procedures and timelines.” On 9 July 2025, she said she had an email from a King’s College London business department member of staff, confirming again the peer review link was not visible on the system for her due to “module administrators updating the portal”. In the same month, she said a link to the peer review portal became available on her account for the first time – a year after the dispute began. When she accessed it, she said her name appeared as having completed the peer review. She said she asked for a timestamp to confirm when this was allegedly submitted, but King’s College London did not provide one. She also said she submitted two subject access requests in June 2025, to see if “any other information had been withheld” from her, but it took the university 226 calendar days to fulfil just one of these – they were meant to take 30 calendar days. She said she contacted the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) in November 2025 and said she was informed in March 2026 that her complaint was not justified, but she said the OIA could not consider all elements of her case. Ms Agbro has decided to pursue a judicial review, through the administrative court – a specialist court within the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. She said she was advised that legal representation would cost approximately £25,000. “Navigating this massive process for the past few years has been exhausting, I’d love for anyone with experience in educational law to reach out to me,” she said. She has decided to represent herself and has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover any associated fees. In the middle of May 2026, she sent her letter before claim to King’s College London. On May 26, she said they replied, confirming they do not consider there is a basis for settlement, but they are open to alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The following day, Ms Agbro responded to them, saying she was “equally willing to engage with ADR”. However, she said, on June 1, King’s had withdrawn the offer, stating that they did not consider ADR productive at this stage. So, she wishes to continue with legal proceedings and will submit a claim form at the administrative court. Ms Agbro is due to graduate in July 2026, and it cannot be rescheduled again, so is hoping to get her case resolved in time. A spokesperson for King’s College London said: “We take all matters relating to student grades and academic appeals very seriously to ensure fairness for all of our students and we have sincerely apologised for the error in email correspondence that occurred, however this error is separate from and does not affect the outcome of investigations. “This matter has been investigated thoroughly, firstly through our own robust and objective appeals processes and then secondly by the independent, external Adjudicator, who upheld the University’s position. “We have engaged fully with the appeals process pursued by the student, and are confident that this robust investigation of the matter has reached a conclusive outcome.”