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Strategy

UK grant application rejected: feedback, complaints and next steps

What to do after a rejected UK grant application: read the decision letter, ask for feedback, use a funder's complaints route and decide whether to reapply.

Editorial Desk · · 6 min read

What to take away

  • Most UK grant funders do not run a second look at the funding decision itself. What they usually offer is feedback and a complaints route for process failures.
  • Read the decision letter and the scheme rules first. Both tell you what feedback exists and what can be challenged.
  • A complaint is about how the funder handled your application, such as ignoring its own rules or an unreasonable delay. It is not a vote on whether your project deserved the money.
  • Feedback is the most useful thing you can get. Request it in writing and keep your reference number.
  • If you believe the decision was discriminatory, there is a separate, free advice service, and the Equality Act 2010 applies to funders that provide services or exercise public functions.

First, read what the funder actually sent

Before you write to anyone, collect the decision letter or email, the scheme guidance you applied under, your application reference number and any assessor comments. The funder's own documents decide which routes exist.

Look for four things:

  1. The stated reason.Was the application ineligible, out of scope, or scored below the quality threshold?
  2. Any feedback.Some schemes publish assessor comments in your online account.
  3. A review or complaints line.The letter may name one. If not, the funder's website usually has a complaints page.
  4. A reapplication window.Some schemes run in rounds, so the next round may be your quickest route.

If you are still building your pack, the guide on funding evidence before you apply lists the documents funders check, which is useful when you compare your application with the reasons you were given.

How to ask for feedback

Feedback arrives differently depending on the funder. Innovate UK's published competition guidance is an example of a structured process. In one competition's guidance, successful and unsuccessful applicants received feedback approximately four weeks after notification, the lead applicant accessed it through the secure online service, and unsuccessful projects that scored above the quality threshold also received extra feedback from a portfolio review. The same guidance says no additional feedback can be provided and invites applicants to use the feedback to reapply. Check the guidance for your own competition, since the details change from round to round.

Other funders say plainly that they will not discuss scoring. UKRI's page on grant and innovation loan decisions states that it will not discuss expert scoring or feedback and is unable to ask for feedback clarification.

So the practical steps are:

  • Find where feedback is published, usually your applicant account or the decision email.
  • If none appears by the date given, write once to the named contact and quote your reference number.
  • Ask short, specific questionswhich criterion cost you the most marks, and whether the application was marked as eligible.
  • Do not argue the merits in your first message. Argue them later in your reapplication.

Keep the tone neutral. The person who reads the message may not have scored the application and cannot change the result.

When a complaint is available, and what it covers

Funders usually separate two things: disagreement with a decision, and a complaint about service. Many exclude the first and accept the second.

UKRI, which includes Innovate UK, is a clear published example. Its complaints page lists what you can complain about: not following agreed policies, procedures or legal obligations, unhelpful or insensitive conduct by an employee, no response or unreasonable delay, and dissatisfaction with how some information requests were handled. It excludes disagreement with decisions by its board, councils, committees or panels, including peer review and assessors, and peer review comments or application feedback, including grant and innovation loan decisions. It also excludes decisions made by organisations that UKRI funds.

The process it describes has two steps. Try to resolve the issue with the team you dealt with first. If that fails, make a formal complaint through the online form or by post. UKRI says it acknowledges a complaint within three working days and gives a full response in most cases within 20 working days. An appeal must be made within one calendar month of its response, and if you remain dissatisfied, you can refer the complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman through an MP.

Government grants follow a similar pattern. On a GOV.UK page for one rural grant scheme, the Rural Payments Agency says it will write to unsuccessful applicants explaining why, and applicants who disagree are told to use its complaints procedure. The page does not mention a formal review of the decision.

Your funder may differ. Local authorities, combined authorities and charitable funders publish their own rules, so look for the words "appeal", "review", "reconsideration" and "complaint" in the guidance you applied under. If a scheme has a review stage, it is usually narrow, limited to an error in the process or in the information the assessors had.

Write a complaint that can succeed

A complaint about process works best when it is short and factual.

  • State your reference number and the date of the decision.
  • Identify the specific failurea published criterion not applied, a deadline the funder missed, information you supplied that was not considered, a conflict of interest, or a delay.
  • Point to the funder's own document that sets the rule.
  • Say what you wanta review of how the application was handled, a written explanation, or a corrected record.
  • Keep every reply. If the funder has a time limit for escalation, note the date.

Do not include comparisons with other founders' funding, or opinions about the assessors. They add heat and no evidence. The guide to UK funding rules and compliance covers the regulatory context for schemes aimed at women-led businesses.

If you think the decision was discriminatory

The Equality Act 2010 protects against sex discrimination, and section 29 applies to anyone providing services to the public, whether paid or free, and to those exercising a public function. It bars discrimination, harassment and victimisation in refusing a service, in the terms on which it is provided, and in the way a public function is carried out.

A rejection is not proof of discrimination. A claim needs facts that point to different treatment because of a protected characteristic. If you have such facts, such as a written comment about your sex, pregnancy or caring responsibilities, keep the original message.

The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) provides information and advice about discrimination and human rights issues. GOV.UK lists a telephone line, a textphone line, an online contact form and a Freepost address, with opening hours of Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm. EASS cannot represent you. For legal advice, speak to a solicitor, a law centre or a citizens advice service, and do not wait: legal challenges against public bodies and discrimination claims have strict time limits, which differ by route.

Decide whether to reapply or move on

Weigh three things:

  1. Fit.If the reason was eligibility or out-of-scope, the scheme was the wrong match. Look at other routes in the guide to free government grants for women and the step-by-step method for finding small business grants for women.
  2. Score.If you were over the quality threshold, a stronger evidence pack and a tighter budget can change the result in the next round.
  3. Cost.An appeal or complaint takes time away from the next application. Set a limit on the hours you will spend on it.

Update the application using the feedback, then ask a person who has not seen it to read it cold. Keep the file you built, because the next funder will ask for the same documents.

Official sources

Filed underrejected grantgrant feedbackgrant appealwomen founders

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