Mitigating Circumstances

What are mitigating circumstances?

If you have suffered serious and unforeseen circumstances during your studies which have affected your ability to complete an assessment, you should let the College know by submitting a request for mitigating circumstances.

What are the grounds for mitigating circumstances? 

Grounds must be unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances which have had a significant impact on your academic performance. They must have occurred at the time of the assessment, or the time immediately preceding it. Examples include:

  • Serious short term illness or injury 
  • Death or significant illness of a close family member or friend 
  • Significant personal or family crises
  • A technical problem which as affected the ability to access teaching or assessment
  • Accommodation crisis 
How should I submit my request?

The request must be made within 10 working days of the assessment deadline. You must provide evidence to support your claim and clearly state which assessments have been affected by the circumstances. If you are unable to provide evidence within the time period, you should state this in the request and provide the evidence as soon as you have it. 

Can I submit a late request?

Late claims can be accepted under limited circumstances. You should submit the request as soon as possible, providing credible and compelling reasons for the late submission, providing evidence to support the lateness. Lack of awareness of the procedure is not an accepted reason. 

What happens after I have submitted my request?

Your department will consider the request and evidence during regular Mitigating Circumstances Boards. They will either accept or reject your request. If your request has been rejected, you will have one more chance to re-submit based on new evidence within 5 working days of the decision. 

If your request has been accepted, you may be offered a deferral (a chance to retake the assessment at a later date) or be allowed a late submission. 

Can I appeal a mitigating circumstances decision? 

You may submit an appeal under the academic appeals procedure on the grounds of procedural unfairness or irregularity.

The full mitigating circumstances procedure can be found here.