A King’s College London student who’s degree was downgraded from a first to a 2:1 is launching a legal action against the university after they refused to modify her grade.
Ceana Agbro, 23, began studying Business Management at King’s in 2021. In May 2024 she was told that she had been awarded a first-class degree, only for King’s to notify her weeks later that her degree was now a 2:1.
She was initially told by King’s that this was due to a “system error”. However, days before she was set to graduate, the university told her that her grade was indeed a 2:1 due to the initial mark not having included a peer-reviewed assignment – something she says she was unable to access.
Having launched two unsuccessful appeals against her grade and deferring her graduation for two years, Agbro is now representing herself in legal action she is taking against the university.
“So many students face this. Cases go unheard not because they lack merit, but because the people pursuing them run out of resources before they reach the finish line. I don’t want my story to end that way”, she wrote in a fundraiser for her legal action.
A King’s spokesperson said that “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.”
‘They declined my appeal because they said I’m challenging academic judgment’
Despite her having launched the legal action on the basis of unfair procedure, King’s rejected her appeal on the basis that she was “challenging academic judgement.” Agbro received a response to her appeal eight working days after the reply was supposed to arrive.
King’s says that they 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.”
Agbro, who is the first to go to university in her family, is currently representing herself after being quoted legal costs of around £25,000 to take her case to court.
She stated in her fundraiser page: “this journey has been exhausting – emotionally, mentally, and now financially.”
The legal battle centres around several exchanges between the student and the university. Among these is an email from a member of staff in July 2024, which confirmed that her lowered 2:1 was a miscalculation.
The programme manager had also allegedly stated that they had flagged the case to the award and assessment team who was responsible for amending the grade and recalculating the overall mark.
Despite multiple King’s staff members, including the director of undergraduate studies stating that the 2:1 mark was an error, Agbro’s grade was not changed.
‘Missing peer review’
Dr Andrew McFaull, director of undergraduate studies for business, told Agbro in July 2024 that the information on the portal regarding her mark had been an issue “related to updates to the system made earlier this year”.
Despite this, Ceana received an email from program manager three days before the intended graduation, stating that her 70 mark for one of her modules did not “include peer review”, causing her mark to be lowered from a 70 to a 68.
The module which Ceana took included a peer review as part of the assessment for the final grade. This peer-review process consists of members of group projects assessing each other’s contribution, which in her case accounted for 25% of each student’s mark.
She says that she was unable to access the system with King’s confirming in July 2025 that this had been due to “module administrators updating the portal”.
In May Agbro sent a letter before action to King’s notifying them of her claims. King’s replied by stating that she had no basis for settlement on the case, noting that they were still open to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
However, on 1 June King’s withdrew their ADR offer, deeming it “unproductive” at the stage of the case.
Ceana intends to pursue her case of unfair procedure through a claim she will submit to the specialist Administrative Court. She hopes the legal dispute will be solved before July, when she is set to graduate, as the ceremony cannot be rescheduled again.
She has set up a GoFundMe to raise legal funds for her legal action, on which she wrote “I wonder: if I came from a different background, would I still be standing up for myself this hard for something as basic as fairness?”
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.”
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