Mitigating circumstances

The following are examples of mitigating circumstances for which a claim might be accepted. The list is not exhaustive and other examples may be considered on a case by case basis.

• a) Serious illness or accident resulting in hospitalisation or urgent medical attention/treatment relating to a student
• b) Significant bereavement, for example a death of a close family member or significant person
• c) Serious illness (as described above) of a member of the student’s immediate family (e.g. parents, grandparents, siblings, spouses and children, including step- relations and guardians)
• d) Unforeseen caring responsibilities for immediate family (beyond serious illness, above)
• e) Serious infectious disease that could put others at risk
• f) Sudden deterioration or flare up in a long-term health condition or disability
• g) Complications relating to childbirth or pregnancy
• h) Miscarriage or termination of a pregnancy
• i) New presentation or disclosure of a mental health issue or condition
• j) Legal proceedings requiring attendance at court as a witness or jury service
• k) Severe adverse personal / family difficulties
• l) Being the victim of a crime
• m) Significant and immediate change in working conditions (distance learning and part- time students only)
• n) Harassment based on a student’s disability, faith, gender identity, race, and/ or sexual orientation
• o) Unexpected disruption of access to technology required to complete/submit a time-bound assessment

Examples of mitigating circumstances that will not normally be accepted (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Medical circumstances that:
  • do not relate directly to the assessment period in question and/or cannot be attributed as having an impact on the assessment
  • ii) relate to minor illnesses that would not lead to equivalent absence from a work environment and can normally be treated with over the counter remedies (e.g. colds, sore throat, headaches, day to day ailments)
  • iii) are unsubstantiated or include retrospective evidence (e.g. doctors note after the illness has disappeared)
• Holidays/family events,
• Religious festivals and regular observance (these should be flagged to Schools in advance),
• Sporting fixtures (including those for University teams),
• Financial issues,
• Foreseeable and/or preventable circumstances,
• A long-term condition where treatment or additional support/arrangements are already in place to mitigate the impact and there has been no additional unforeseen flare-up,
• Transport difficulties that could have been anticipated or lack of contingency planning into travel time,
• Being reluctant to disclose circumstances (even brief, non-detailed accounts) at the time,
• Poor time management or personal organisation,
• Criminal conviction,
• Missing exams or assessment deadlines due to misreading of timetables or oversleeping,
• Loss of computer data/printer problems,
• Submitting the wrong work for assessment or draft version of the work.

If your mitigating circumstances submission is accepted your School will consider your circumstances, and any programme specific requirements, to apply one of these seven outcomes:

Assessment will be submitted late

• Removal of lateness penalties.

Assessment will not be submitted

• Provide a new date to attend/submit the assessment, or
• Provide a new date to attend/submit an alternative assessment, or
• In exceptional circumstances it may sometimes be appropriate to void assessment and rescale module mark across other assessment elements

Absence from a scheduled assessment (such as an examinations, class test, lab work or presentation)

• Provide a new date to attend/submit the assessment, or
• Provide a new date to attend/submit an alternative assessment, or
• In exceptional circumstances it may sometimes be appropriate to void assessment and rescale module mark across other assessment elements

Taken ill during a scheduled assessment

• Provide a new date to attend/submit the assessment, or
• Provide a new date to attend/submit an alternative assessment, or
• Void assessment and rescale module mark across other assessment elements

Assessment attended or submitted but you can provide supporting evidence that you were incapable of determining whether or not you were able to undertake an assessment at the time of doing so

• Disregard attempt and provide a new date to submit the assessment, or
• Disregard attempt and provide a new date to submit an alternative assessment, or
• In exceptional circumstances it may sometimes be appropriate to void assessment and rescale module mark across other assessment elements, or
• Note that the assessment was affected and carry the mitigation claim forward to the point of award, for the purpose of any borderline considerations

If you have new or ongoing circumstances affecting your studies, we advise you contact Student Support Services as soon as possible to discuss any support or possible adjustments for your studies. This might then mean that a mitigating circumstances claim is not needed later down the line.

Your assessments will have been planned and scheduled to optimise student performance. You need to be aware that using mitigating circumstances as a means of managing normal assessment stress may cause additional pressure later in the year, especially during the summer vacation period. Some exam/assessment stress may be a normal part of University study and there is support available to help with this from Student Support Services, the Students’ Union and Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity.

Of course, if your circumstances are beyond your control and significantly impacting on your assessments then a mitigating circumstances request may help.

For the majority of cases you will need to submit evidence with a mitigating circumstances claim. The evidence you submit needs to:

• Explain what the circumstance is
• Provide the timeframe for the circumstances (including any relevant dates)
• Any additional information relevant to supporting your claim and the impact on your assessments/performance.

Find out what evidence is needed to support your claim. Requests without evidence or without an explanation for why it is missing will not be considered and the request will be rejected.