Exceptional circumstances

If exceptional events in your life significantly impact on your ability to study and work towards the completion of assessments (including examinations) then you can submit a claim to the Department for exceptional circumstances to be taken into consideration.

Any claim should be made as near as possible to the time that the exceptional circumstances have occurred and should normally be supported by evidence supplied by an independent third party professional. Claims will be considered on the basis of the evidence received.

While the Department appreciates that student life can often be challenging, successful claims will be in relation to evidence of exceptional events only.

Claims can be made for short extensions to the submission date of written assessments or for performance in written assessments and/or examinations. Please note that you cannot normally claim for both an extension and performance for the same assessment.

If your claim is successful and the Committee accepts that your assessment was significantly affected by your circumstances, you will normally be given a new submission deadline (for an extension request) or an opportunity to take the assessment again as a first/reassessment attempt with the original first/reassessment attempt being voided (for performance requests). This does not apply to practice placements. Grades will never be altered without a further attempt at the assessment.

If you wish to apply for an extension, you must do so by 4.30pm on the scheduled submission date for the assessment for which you are claiming. For claims for performance, your claim must be submitted within seven calendar days of the assessment submission date. Claims must be submitted by 4.30pm. Claims should be submitted electronically using the online claim form.

It is essential that an accurate and comprehensively completed claim form is submitted as near to the time of the exceptional event as possible. Supporting evidence that demonstrates how the exceptional circumstances have impacted on your ability to study should be provided at the same time, or as soon as it is available.

For exceptional circumstances to be considered, the exceptional event will normally need to have occurred within the 6 week period prior to the submission date (for open assessments) or examination date. You are advised to consult the deadlines for exceptional circumstances displayed on the assessment schedule and read the policy.

For further information refer to the Departmental Exceptional Circumstances website. The Exceptional Circumstances Policy can be found in the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback (Section 23).

For extensions related to existing disability arrangements (Student Support Plans) please use the form found on the Department’s Disability website. These claims are considered by the Departmental Disability Lead and not by the Exceptional Circumstances Committee.

If you are experiencing difficulties you are encouraged to contact your personal supervisor or the Department’s Student & Academic Support Service in the first instance. 

Self-certification

If you encounter a short-term problem that will prevent you from submitting your assignment or from attending your assessment, you may be eligible to self-certify this anticipated delay or absence using the self-certification process to request an automatic 4 day extension or deferral to the next attempt as it falls in the academic calendar. Evidence is not required to self-certify, but you must complete the Self-certification task on your e:Vision record for each of the assessments affected. You are only permitted to self-certify for a maximum of 3 assessments per year.