How to Write a Regrade Request Email in English With Evidence

A regrade request becomes weak very quickly when it leads with emotion. The student explains how hard they worked, how surprising the result felt, or how much the score matters for a scholarship. Those feelings may be real, but they do not give the instructor a clean reason to reopen the grading. A better opening returns to the rubric almost immediately. Which criterion are you asking about? Which deduction? Which comment? The more concrete the target, the more workable the email becomes.

A steady structure usually has three moves. First, identify the scoring point: I am writing to ask whether the comment on criterion 2 may need another look. Then provide evidence from the draft, page number, question number, or rubric wording. Finally, ask a narrow question: was a requirement overlooked, or did you misunderstand how a section would be evaluated? That sequence keeps the message readable. It also makes the instructor more likely to respond to the substance instead of the tone.

Many second-language writers drift toward words like unfair, too harsh, or I really tried my best. The problem is not that those lines are forbidden. The problem is that they ask for sympathy before they establish the case. A calmer sentence often does more work: I may be misunderstanding the comment on source integration, so I wanted to ask whether paragraph three already addresses that requirement. That wording leaves room for correction without sounding passive or confrontational.