MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES (MC) GUIDELINES

What is Mitigating Circumstances?

The University defines mitigating circumstances as ‘unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances

that may have a significant adverse effect on the academic performance of a student’. If you find
yourself in this situation you may be eligible for special consideration when it comes to assessments
or exams, under our Mitigating Circumstances policy, it is important that you always contact your
lecturer/programme coordinator to ensure that appropriate support is put in place.

How can a claim help me?

If your claim is accepted, you will be given an extension on your assessment due date or defer your
exam date to the next assessment period. You may also be offered further support depending on the
type of issue or incident.

You can find all the information about Mitigating Circumstances below.

Your claim should include:

• As much detail as possible of your circumstance(s).
• A full explanation outlining how your circumstance(s) has impacted your academic
performance in your assessment(s).
• Which assessment(s) was impacted by the circumstances outlined in your claim
• Any evidence that will verify and support your claim.

Am I eligible for Mitigating Circumstances?

To be eligible your case must meet the following five criteria:

1. You must usually submit the request 3 calendar days BEFORE the submission date on the
prescribed form signed by the respective lecturer and submitted to the Programme
Coordinator. Mitigating Circumstances cannot usually be granted retrospectively, so it is
important to put in a claim as soon as you possibly can.
 However, there are a small number of circumstances where retrospective submissions may
be considered, such as an unexpected hospital stay. Until you receive an outcome of your MC
you must work towards the original deadline.

2. Circumstances should be accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence.

3. For a claim to be accepted, the student must be able to demonstrate that mitigating
circumstances are ALL of the following:

4. Submission of a MC claim does not automatically grant the approval of the claim until the
claim has been approved by the Programme Co-ordinator.

5. There must be a clear adverse effect on your academic performance, which may take several
forms:
• You will be unable to submit work by a deadline or attend a scheduled test, examination, or
practical activity.
• The event or circumstance will cause you to underperform in an assessment, either in the
preparation for the assessment, or on the day

6. The circumstances for your request must be accepted. The lists below do not cover
everything but give you an idea of what usually would and wouldn’t be considered.

Examples of circumstances normally considered with Evidence include:

• Serious personal illness or personal injury, or a significant change or deterioration in a long-

term condition.
• Victim of crime (usually with police crime number)
• Involvement in a criminal case/witness.
 • Failure in, or inaccessibility of, School/University provided equipment.
• Failure in the provision of reasonable adjustments

Examples of circumstance that do not require further evidence to be provided:

• The death of someone you are close to e.g., parent, grandparent, guardian, partner, sibling,
child. – this document is not always available immediately so will be confirmed after
submission
• Confirmed Carer Status
• Disability which requires Flexibility around Assessment Deadlines

Circumstances that MAY be considered with evidence include:

• Personal problems/trauma/family crisis/domestic issues/unexpected issues with childcare
provision.
• Illness of a close family member.
• Planned medical operation (if advance notice is provided).
• Planned hospital tests (if advance notice is provided).
• Unforeseen consequences of disability which have not been mitigated by agreed reasonable
adjustments.
• Unforeseen accommodation issues, outside of the student’s control (this would not include
house moves caused due to the end of a lease).

Circumstances that will NOT normally be considered include:

Support needs that have not previously been shared/declared to the University these should be
declared to Inclusive Support to ensure adjustments can be considered.

Other events which you are reasonably expected to manage, for example:

• Issues due to time mismanagement

• Lost (electronic) coursework that is not backed up.
• Domestic events like house moves, holidays or family celebrations.
• General pressures of multiple deadlines
• Traffic difficulties
 • Illness you did not seek medical advice for at the time (or do not have evidence you sought
advice for).
• Pregnancy - (Excluding illness and associated medical appointments).
• General examination nerves (where no diagnosis of a mental health condition has been
received).
• Mistaking a deadline, misreading the examination timetable, or submitting the wrong
assignment in error.
• Paid employment for full time students resulting in time management issues.

Ongoing circumstances and long-term health conditions

You will not normally be awarded mitigating circumstances for known or ongoing circumstances
unless there are events beyond your control that prevent you from accessing support. You will need
to provide evidence to support this.

What evidence do I need?

Applications for mitigating circumstances will not normally be considered unless they are supported
by independent documentary evidence.

Evidence must be:

Independent evidence from a third party that knows you in a professional capacity (GP, police,
hospital, funeral director) Or supporting information documentation from Student Services to support
an application.

All evidence should -

• Be clear photographs or scans of documents.
• Confirm who is providing the Evidence (Person or organisation).
• E.g., Letter-headed correspondence:
✓ Ideally be signed by an appropriate third party
✓ Email from XX
✓ Text from XX
• Include date of evidence
 • Include date and duration of issue/incident (if applicable).
• Where possible state the impact of the issue
• Written in English

The evidence can be redacted as long as appropriate information is still visible.

In certain circumstances academic/school staff can support the application with an email to the
student and this should be attached as evidence. For example:

How do I submit a claim, and what happens next?

1. Seek advice first

You should seek advice from your programme coordinator or lecturer initially, if you are concerned
about meeting deadlines. If your circumstances relate to a long-term condition or disability that you
have not previously declared, you should contact your programme coordinator.

2. Complete the Mitigating Circumstances form including your evidence

You should submit this form to your lecturer for approval by

1. Email copying the respective PC or

2. Handed over to the lecturer for signatures and thereafter handed back to the PC in
person.

Your form must include the evidence of your circumstances to back up your claim. In some cases, the
Mitigating Circumstances (MC) panel may request to see the original copies of your supporting
evidence.

If your supporting evidence is not yet available (for example, you are waiting for a medical certificate),
then please submit your claim and submit your evidence at a later date, but before the deadline.

It is your responsibility to obtain and provide all your supporting evidence on time. The University will
not request or support evidence on your behalf.
When to submit a claim?

You must submit a mitigating circumstance claim no earlier than 7 calendar days before the date of
an assessment/exam and no later than 3 calendar days afterwards.

If you have valid reasons as to why you were unable to apply within the window of application, you
should apply and include this information in your support statement as part of your application,
otherwise your claim will be automatically rejected.

Panel makes a decision.

The Mitigating Circumstances Panel will be comprised of,

• Head of School (If necessary)
• Programme coordinator
• Module lecturer
• One member of Academic Administration team

And chaired by the programme coordinator.

Based on the nature of your Mitigating Circumstances (MC), the MC Panel will decide one of the
following:

• Your MC claim was not approved – No further action will be taken.

• Your MC claim was approved – A decision on the appropriate course of action for each
individual assessment will be made.

The Mitigating Circumstances panel either grants an extension of up to 7 calendar days or declines the
application. You will be told the result on the day of the panel.

If the panel feels you may be eligible for an extension over 7 days

Where the panel thinks a longer extension may be permitted (up to 14 calendar days), the decision
will be referred to your lecturer, who will set up a meeting with you.
You will be notified that your case is being considered for a longer extension, and to expect a meeting
with your Tutor within 5 working days.

An extension may be granted of up to 14 calendar days, or an assessment must be deferred to the

next assessment period. Other options including interruption to study, retaking the module and
reassessment may be considered.

Your programme coordinator will notify you of the decision.

Confidentiality of your claim

We recognise that the information provided as part of your Mitigating Circumstances (MC) claim can
be highly sensitive. MC Panels will treat your claim confidentially.

Concerns relating to confidentiality will not normally be considered as a good reason for not
submitting your Mitigating Circumstances claim by the disclosed deadline.