academic advice

Mitigating circumstances

This guidance is about the mitigating circumstances policy, which replaced the extenuating circumstances and extensions policy and includes some substantial changes.

The 24-hour late submission (with a five percentage point reduction) option no longer exists.

We recognise that unplanned events, including ill health, may occur during your time at the University, which could affect your ability to study and complete assessments on time.

The policy applies when something affects your ability to study effectively, resulting in you not being able to complete an assessment on time.

This only applies to an event which is:

  • Unforeseeable, meaning you could not have known about the event before it happened;
  • Unpreventable, meaning you could not reasonably have done anything to prevent the event happening; and
  • The event has had, or is expected to have, a serious impact on your studies.

There are two options:

  • Mitigating circumstances – self-certification (low impact)
  • Mitigating circumstances – evidence-based (serious impact)

Option one: mitigating circumstances – self-certification (low impact)

This option was previously known as the extension process.

It applies if you are unable to submit an assessment because of an event that is likely to have a low impact.

Not all assessments are eligible. This option is mainly suitable for written assessments. Assessments such as the following are generally not suitable for this option: presentations, performance, lab work, practicals, clinical work or mathematical assignments. You cannot use this option for a resit.

Your module handbook or module leader will explain which assessments this option can be used for. However, you are responsible for checking if this option applies.

You can use this option for events where you would struggle to obtain evidence, or it would feel unnecessary to do so. For example, this might be used for an event which affected your ability to study for, say, up to five days.

Examples include short-term illnesses such as a cold or flu, stomach bug, toothache, period pain, or migraine. This is not a complete list. You may have visited a pharmacy but not a doctor or dentist.

You can submit an assessment up to seven days after the original deadline without having to provide any evidence to explain why you couldn’t submit the assessment on time.

You can use option this twice per term. This means across all assessments, not twice per module.

The deadline to apply is 23:59 on the day of the original deadline.

For more information on the criteria for this option, check the self-certification page.

Option two: mitigating circumstances – evidence-based (serious impact)

This option applies if you are unable to submit an assessment or attend an exam because of an event which has had, or is likely to have, a serious impact.

In most cases, you should not attend the exam if you apply under this option.

These are some examples of events which would likely be acceptable for option two:

  • An acute or chronic medical condition affecting you or someone who is dependent on you;
  • Bereavement/death;
  • Trauma due to be being a victim of a serious crime, suffering major disruption to your home life (e.g. a fire), or a domestic or family incident such as marriage breakdown or divorce;
  • Complications in your pregnancy;
  • Changes to your caregiving responsibilities;
  • An appearance in court;
  • Being evicted from your home.

If you apply for this option, you have two choices and several possible outcomes. You may not know the outcome of your application before you submit the assessment or attend the exam.

If you submit the assessment within seven days of the original deadline or attend the exam:

  • and you pass, you will receive the mark you achieved.
  • and you fail, but your application is successful, your mark will not be recorded as a fail. You will be allowed to submit the assessment or attend the exam at the next scheduled opportunity without a cap being applied to your mark.
  • and you fail, but your application is not successful, your mark be recorded as a fail. You will be able to submit the assessment or attend the exam at the next scheduled opportunity, but your mark will be capped at the pass mark.

If you do not submit the assessment within seven days of the original date or attend the exam:

  • and your application is successful, you will be allowed to submit the assessment or attend the exam at the next scheduled opportunity without a cap being applied to your mark.
  • but your application is not successful, you will be allowed to submit the assessment or attend the exam at the next scheduled opportunity, but your mark will be capped at the pass mark.

In most cases where you do not know if your application has been successful, you should only submit the assessment within seven days of the original deadline if you have strong evidence that meets the requirements of the policy.

The above outcomes are for a first attempt at the assessment or exam. If you apply for this option for a resit, the outcomes could vary depending on your overall record.

For further examples of the types of evidence you could provide to support your application, read examples of reasons and evidence.

Considering options

It is important that you consider your options carefully. If you use an option one self-certification and later feel you are still unable to engage with the assessment, you can then apply under option two. However, you will still have used one of your option one self-certification applications; this cannot be reclaimed.

Prior to choosing an option, consider whether you are likely to be able to submit the assessment within seven days and the reasons why you are unable to meet the deadline.

If you are experiencing something for which you could apply under option two but believe it would cause you additional stress or upset to seek or provide evidence, you can use option one.

Option one exists to support students for low-impact events. These claims are not considered by a panel and support that might be offered under option two would likely not be offered. Therefore, if you use option one but require additional support, you must seek this separately.

Teaching and Learning Support Requirement

If you are registered with the Disability and Dyslexia Team, your Teaching and Learning Support Requirement (TLSR) normally provides you with an automatic seven-day extension for all coursework submissions.

This may not apply if your course is subject to external professional body requirements. Check this with your course or module leader.

In addition to the TLSR seven-day extension, you can also apply under the policy to use the mitigating circumstances – self-certification (low impact) option twice per term. This means that, twice per term, you can submit your assessments up to fourteen days after the original deadline.

Seeking advice or support

If something is affecting your ability to attend lectures and complete your assessments, you should talk to your academic advisor, course leader or the Student Engagement and Retention Team.