Extenuating Circumstances

IMPORTANT: A new Extenuating Circumstances (EC) Procedure launched on 10th March 2025. We are in the process of updating this page to take account of the changes. The new procedure introduces a ‘self-certification’ claims process, enabling students to secure deadline extensions for some assessments without the need to provide evidence in support. The new procedure is available on iCity and on the University’s website, and is supported by staff and student FAQs.

Extenuating circumstances (ECs) are events that affect your ability to study or your performance in an assessment and are usually either unforeseen or unpreventable and outside your immediate control.

Here are some examples:

Sudden illness, such as appendicitis or food poisoning
A flare up of a chronic condition
A mental health difficulty
Bereavement
Responsibilities such as caring for someone close to you

Extenuating Circumstances (ECs) is the university’s procedure which enables you to ask for more time to submit (an Extension) or to defer the attempt to the next assessment date (a Deferral).

Extenuating Circumstances are usually issues such as illness (both physical and mental), bereavement, urgent caring responsibilities, or being a victim of crime. Your circumstance may not be listed but the key point is that your circumstances are temporary and unexpected.

If your circumstances are short-term and have affected your ability to complete an assessment, it’s likely they are extenuating. We suggest applying for extenuating circumstances as soon as possible. If you’re unsure, log an enquiry to talk to our Advice Team.

If your circumstances are longer term and affecting your studies you may benefit from the help of the Disability Support or Mental Health and Wellbeing team. It is unlikely that you will be able to claim ECs for the same reason on an ongoing basis. You might need to even take a break from your studies. If you need advice on suspending your studies, talk to our Advice Team.

Any assessments you defer could be become due in a short space of time, for example, in the summer resit period so think carefully about the impact this will have and whether it would be better to attempt at least some of the assessments now.

Also, if your assessments are deferred until the summer resit period or beyond, this can also have an impact on your progression to the next stage of your course or completing your degree on time. You may want to speak to a tutor for advice on the potential impact before you claim.

You should apply for extenuating circumstances as soon as you are aware you need them

For Self-Certification claims for an extension the laetast these can be made is up to 10 working days after the submission deadline.

For Full EC claims to be on time you need to complete the claim within 5 working days of your assessment deadline. Submit your claim even if you do not currently have the evidence as your evidence can be uploaded to your claim later.

Claims made outside of the 5 working day deadline are considered late so you will need a good reason for your late claim plus evidence to confirm this, such as an ongoing illness that prevented you from being well enough to claim on time. It is worth speaking to our Advice Team if your claim is late so we can advise. Nb the university does not accept waiting for your results as a reason to claim late.

Can I make a late Full EC claim?

Yes. If you miss this deadline you can still claim but will need to provide evidence of the reason why your claim is late. So, your evidence will need to confirm BOTH:

You were unfit to study at the time of the assessment (be specific about the date)

AND

Because you are claiming late, it needs to show that you could not reasonably make the claim any earlier than you have. For example, a sentence to say that your circumstances prevented you from engaging with university procedures between the date of the assessment and when you submit the EC claim.

Self-certification claims

Self-certification claims provide extensions of 10 working days for any coursework or coursework-style assessments falling within the self-certification period you choose.

It’s important to note that:

You can only make a self-certification claim once per semester. Any other claims for an extension in the same semester will need to be backed up with evidence as an EC claim.
You can self-certify for a period of five working days, ‘the self-certification period’.

So, if you have a minor illness (such as a cold) and are due to submit two pieces of coursework that are due the following week, you can make a self-certification claim. You just need to make a self-certification claim via the Extenuating Circumstances area of the MySRS portal. You would choose next week (the week the assignments are due) as the five working day self-certification period and you will automatically be granted extensions of 10 working days for both assignments.

Here's an example to explain the self-certification period:

A student has two pieces of coursework due on Tuesday 18th March and Thursday 20th March. They have been affected by illness and wants to request a self-certified EC claim. They would start the five working day self-certification period on Monday 17th March, and the last day would be Friday 21st March, thereby ensuring the five working day self-certification period covers both assessments.

Full EC claims

Full EC claims always require evidence in support and are subject to the decision of Student Governance staff. Guidance on evidence is available within the EC Procedure.

Both extensions and deferrals can be granted via full EC claims. Students receiving a Disability Support Summary ('DSS') in year can also make use of full EC claims to secure DSS-related repeat assessments or (in appropriate situations) remarks.

EC claims are made on the mySRS portal. Log in and find Extenuating Circumstances under the ‘Support’ tab at the top.

A guidance video for making self-certification claims is available here: How do I submit a Self certification claim for extenuating circumstances - YouTube

A detailed user guidance document for making full EC claims is also available in the 'Attachments' section towards the bottom of this page.

If you’re struggling with the form please log an enquiry with our Advice Team.

How much detail do I need to give for full EC Claims?

We suggest writing several sentences that are brief but factual without losing any key information. Ideally, you need to cover:

• what the circumstances are

• when the circumstances occurred (this may be an exact date or a period of time)

• how they affected your ability to study for the assessment(s) you are claiming for

You don’t need to go into great detail about the history of your circumstances. More important is what is happening now or recently that has affected your ability to study.

Which attempt do I choose?

When making a full EC Claim you will be asked which module(s) and assessment(s) you want to apply for. If you’ve already had several attempts at an assessment, you need to choose the assessment attempt that was affected by your circumstances. This will usually be your most recent attempt. However, there are instances in which you can also ask for other older attempts to be to be considered. If unsure, talk to our Advice Team.

What can I claim for?

Here’s an explanation of the options:

• Extension - provides you with an extra 10 working days to submit an assignment. You can’t get an extension for a resit or for an exam.

• Deferral - essentially you are asking to pospone the attempt and do it at the next opportunity, e.g. during the summer. If you have alrtwady attempetd the assessment you are asking to get the attempt back.

• Disability related repeats and remarks – you should choose this option if you’ve recently had a Disability Support Summary (DSS) put in place and want to ask for an earlier attempt(s) you did without support to be ignored or remarked. If considering this option, it is best to talk to our Advice Team.

What evidence do I need to provide for Full EC Claims?

It is important that you provide evidence to back up your claim for Full ECs. On Page 7 of the University’s Procedure there is a list of what types of evidence the university will/will not accept. Claims without evidence are highly likely to be rejected.

Your evidence needs to contain a few key points:

1. Evidence must cover the date of assessment. You need to show that the reasons you’re claiming are affecting you at the time of assessment.

2. Evidence needs to say how your circumstances are affected you i.e., how they prevented you from studying.

3. If you’re claiming late, your evidence needs to show that you could not reasonably make the claim any earlier than you have. For example, was your illness so bad that it prevented you from engaging with university procedures until now?

If you are struggling to obtain evidence to back up your claims, please speak to the Advice Team so we can explore if there are any alternatives.

When will I receive a decision?

For Self-Certified ECs you will receive an automated email to confirm that your self-certification claim has been processed.

For Full ECs you need to check your university email for an email which details whether your claim was successful or unsuccessful, and any comments on the claim. The university aims to reply to all claims within 5 working days of receiving a completed form with evidence. Sometimes there can be delays in response time; the university will let you know through your student email with any updates to your claim.

If response time is delayed to the point your deadlines are approaching, you need to choose to either submit to the original deadline or, if asking for an extension, take a risk and submit to the extended deadline in the hope that it is successful. If not accepted, you will receive a late penalty if you submit within 5 working days of the original deadline. Beyond 5 working days it will be considered a fail.

If your claim was successful, Student Governance will inform your course that you have ECs, and your tutors should be able to advise you on your new deadlines or assessment dates.

Can I appeal?

If your claim was unsuccessful, you can raise a query against the decision and provide further evidence within 10 working days of the decision being made. You should speak to the Advice Team about raising a query against the decision. There should be a reason why your claim was rejected, and there may be steps you can take which can change the decision in your favour. If not happy with the query decision, you can also make a formal academic appeal within 10 working days.

Yes

Yes but only up to 10 working days after the submission deadline. However, you may not get decision before the date of the extended deadline.

Your options are:

Submit what you can by the assessment deadline.

Submit within the late submission period (up to 5 working days) with the reduction in marks. Obviously if a successful Extension decision arrives in this period you can then submit without any reduction.

Work towards the extended deadline in the hope that your claim will be successful. This is a risk because if the claim is not successful and you submit beyond the 5 working days allowed under late submission the work will not be marked.

If you submit a re-assessment attempt more than 1 hour after the published deadline you will fail the re-assessment and the assessment will be returned unmarked.

If you submit a first attempt at an assessment between 1 and 24 hours after the published submission deadline, the original mark awarded will be reduced by 5%. For example, a mark of 60% will be reduced by 3 marks so that the mark the student will receive is 57%. This reduction will not be made if the original mark is below 40% [50% for postgraduate courses] or in cases where the deduction of 5% will reduce the mark from a pass to a fail. In such cases the mark awarded will be 40% [50% for postgraduate courses].

If you submit a first attempt at an assessment between 24 hours and one week (5 working days) after the published submission deadlinethe original mark awarded will be reduced by 10%. For example, a mark of 60% will be reduced by 6 marks so that the mark the student will receive is 54%. This reduction will not be made if the original mark is below 40% [50% for postgraduate courses] or in cases where the deduction of 10% will reduce the mark from a pass to a fail. In such cases the mark awarded will be 40% [50% for postgraduate courses].

Work will not be accepted more than one week (5 working days) after the original deadline. A mark of 0 and a non-submission will be recorded.

Yes, but only if it is a first submission. If it is a re-submission attempt and you submit more than 1 hour after the published deadline you will be deemed to have failed the re-assessment and the assessment will be returned unmarked.