academic advice

Late extenuation appeals

Each semester there is a deadline by which students need to submit their extenuating circumstances applications. If a student misses this deadline, they can still apply for extenuation, but it must be done via the appeals process. This is called a 'late extenuation appeal'.

The appeals process is more challenging, and you are less likely to have your claim accepted, than if you apply via the standard extenuation route. This is because you will need to prove that you had extenuating circumstances at the time of assessment, and that you also have a good reason for missing the extenuation application deadline.

The Students’ Unions recommends that all students submit their claims by the deadline for the standard extenuation process. You can find out more about the extenuation process and deadlines for each academic term, by visiting the extenuation circumstances webpage.
 

How do I apply?

To submit a late extenuation appeal you will need to complete University of East London’s online appeals form. You will be requested to fill out some basic information about yourself and the assessments for which you want to claim extenuating circumstances.
 

Personal information

This section asks for your personal details, including contact information and details of your course. You will be asked if you wish to appeal or complain. Please select ‘appeal’, which will open the rest of the appeals form.
 

Appeal details

You will need to add the assessment(s) for which you wish to apply for extenuating circumstances,to the form. Select ‘add’ to create a box for you to enter information about the assessment. You need to complete one box for each assessment. Please select your reason for application as: “unable to attend/submit assessment due to illness or other good cause and did notmeet extenuating deadline”.

You must fill out each section and enter text into each box, otherwise you will not be able to submit the form. If you do not know the answer to a question, then please put ‘N/A’ or ‘unsure’.
 

‘Are you submitting a late appeal?’

You will need to select ‘yes’ to this question as you are submitting a late extenuation appeal. Here you will need to explain why you were unable to submit your extenuation claim prior to the deadline to do so. Please note: the Appeals Team will not accept students’ claims that they ‘did not know about the process’ or were ‘unaware of the deadline’ as valid reasons for missing an extenuation deadline.

An appeal  is more likely to be accepted if the personal circumstances that prevented you from submitting your assessment(s) also contributed to you being unable to submit your extenuation application on time. For example, if a student was experiencing mental health issues, which affected their performance in an exam. These mental health issues may also have impacted on their motivation and concentration, which meant that they missed the extenuation application deadline.

Note: you will only have 600 characters in this section so you will need to be brief, but you should include an explanation that covers the period from the extenuation deadline date, up until  the date when you submit your late extenuation appeal.
 

‘Please provide details of your appeal’

Please provide information about your extenuating circumstances, in the section where you are asked to provide details of your appeal. You should demonstrate how how your circumstances, have impacted your study. For example, a student experiencing poor mental health would need to reference their state of wellbeing and describe how their health has affected their motivation to attend lectures, concentrate on their work,  as well as to sit assessments.

Once you have submitted your appeal, please email any supporting evidence you have to the Appeals Team at appeals@uel.ac.uk.
 

Do I need to provide evidence?

Yes, you will need to provide evidence. Ideally, you should provide evidence of your extenuating circumstances during your assessment period, as well as evidence to support why you were not able to submit your extenuation application on time. This may be in the form of a support letter from your doctor or mental health professional, discharge papers from the hospital or a death certificate in the case of a bereavement.

You should send your evidence to the Appeals Team at appeals@uel.ac.uk once you have submitted your late extenuation appeal.