It is in your interest to submit independent and reliable supporting evidence as part of your Extenuating Circumstances application. Supporting evidence should be relevant to the circumstances described in both nature and time frame. Without supporting evidence, the Extenuating Circumstances Committee/Board of Examiners may feel obliged to reject your claim.
The following table provides examples of the types of acceptable circumstances that will be considered by the Board of Examiners and the associated evidence that is normally required. Examples are outlined to make clear the expectations and requirements; however this list is not exhaustive and does not guarantee that your request will be accepted.
The University considers each claim of extenuating circumstances on its own merits, as an individual case and according to the relevant procedure.
| Circumstance |
Required Evidence |
Comments |
| Long term condition/disability |
- Written independent evidence on headed paper from a medical professional or a medical proforma from the University Medical Centre or Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service. The evidence is expected to provide an explanation of why and how your studies have been affected over and above any reasonable adjustments already made.
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Where the effects of a long-term health condition or disability may be expected to have a potential impact on your studies, the University expects that you will discuss this with the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service in good time before assessments to determine whether the University needs to make reasonable adjustments to your studies or assessments.
The Board of Examiners will consider cases for this scenario where a new conditions or disability is diagnosed too late to allow reasonable adjustments to be considered or put in place, or if you have been affected by a sudden deterioration or change in your condition.
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| Physical/mental illness or acute personal/emotional circumstances: including long term and short term |
- A medical letter/certificate from an appropriate medical professional. If you are a student with access to the University Health Centre on campus or have sought support from the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service, a medical proforma is required from the relevant professional.
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Please note that many medical professionals will not issue medical certificates either for short-term or minor illnesses, neither will they issue medical certificates when you were not treated at the time and you report your illness to a doctor retrospectively.
Boards of Examiners may accept other evidence submitted by you (such as a duplicate copy of the notification of absence form, which you should have submitted at the time of your absence). In many cases Boards of Examiners may judge that a short-term or minor illness has not had a significant effect on your overall performance.
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| Hospitalisation: including accident or emergency |
- A medical letter/certificate from the relevant hospital confirming the nature and severity of your circumstances and the likely period of impact on your ability to undertake formal assessment and/or study. Letter of appointment for a specialist consultation, investigation or outpatient treatment.
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| Family illness |
- A medical letter/certificate from an independent medical professional.
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Confirmation of the nature and severity of the family circumstances and the likely impact it is having on your ability to undertake formal assessment and/or study will need to be outlined as part of the evidence. |
| Bereavement |
- A death certificate or a letter confirming the death from an independent person (usually not a family member).
- Other evidence can include a funeral service booklet, newspaper obituary or letter from the minister.
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The claim should make clear the nature of the relationship between you and the deceased and how your ability to study has been affected. This is particularly necessary where the relationship is not within the immediate family (e.g. a step-grandparent, a cousin) or the relationship is not one of kinship (e.g. death of a friend, death of a friend’s parent).Successful claims relating to bereavement will normally be accepted for the term in which the bereavement occurred, however if you consider that you have been affected for longer, additional evidence of how you have been affected will be required (e.g. letter from GP or counsellor). |
| Pregnancy, Maternity and Paternity: including a difficult or unplanned pregnancy |
- A medical letter/certificate from an appropriate medical professional. If you are a student with access to the University Health Centre on campus or have sought support from the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service, a medical proforma is required from the relevant professional.
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Please also refer to the University's Student Pregnancy and Maternity Policy for further guidance. |
| Crime: including being the victim of violent crime, theft or being investigated by the police |
- A written statement of events which is supported by written evidence from the Police (including a crime reference number).
- Solicitor letter
- A medical letter/certificate from an appropriate medical professional (or medical proforma from University Health Centre or Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service)
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| Domestic disruption |
- A letter from an appropriate independent individual/authority detailing the relevant circumstances and an indication of the likely impact with their contact details provided relating to a significant and unforeseen domestic disruption.
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This applies only in relation to examinations unless the circumstances are exceptionally severe and extended. Disturbances caused by housemates would generally be considered to be normal and therefore not acceptable as an extenuating circumstance. |
| Relationship problems/breakdown: including relationship with a partner or parental relationship |
- A change of address/bank account/tenancy agreement
- Letter from a third party e.g. a family friend, relative, a counsellor or a solicitor
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The Board of Examiners will need to have sufficient evidence to take into consideration the timing of the break-up and the duration of the relationship and any associated circumstances (e.g. change of accommodation) which may also have impacted on your performance.
Details of the nature of the relationship (i.e. whether it is the break-up of your own relationship or of a relationship which has a significant impact on them (e.g. parental separation/divorce), a statement of the extent to which you consider it has impacted on you and any evidence which can be provided, preferably by a third party.
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| Exceptional financial difficulties |
- Letters (bank, Student Finance, Council, employer etc.)
- Bank statements
- A medical letter/certificate from an appropriate medical professional (or medical proforma from University Health Centre or Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service
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The Board of Examiners will only consider cases where there is clear evidence that the situation is serious, unexpected and not of your own making as financial difficulties commonly experienced by students are not extenuating. |
| Major and exceptional travel disruption |
- Weather, traffic or other incident report
- Correspondence from the travel provider
- Tickets
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You will need to include a clear statement of what has occurred and how you consider it has affected your performance. The Board of Examiners may consider whether you allowed enough time for travel. |
| Serious or significant personal incidents: including house fire, homelessness, direct experience of natural disaster |
- Insurance documentation
- Letter (Solicitor, Council, employer, etc.)
- Documentation from the Citizen's Advice Bureau
- A medical letter/certificate from an appropriate medical professional (or medical proforma from University Health Centre or Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service)
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| Representing the University at a national event or attending another significant/prestigious event |
- A letter of confirmation from the relevant organising body and a supporting statement from you explaining why the event should be considered as significant/prestigious and the reason(s) why you are required to be absent from University
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Please note that this does not include holidays, weddings, changing address or employment, religious holidays or festivals which are usually all known in advance. |
| Jury Service (UK) |
- A letter from the Court together, where appropriate, with proof that a deferral has been requested and rejected or proof that a previous request for deferral has been accepted.
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If you are asked to undertake jury service that would affect your ability to meet any of the requirements of your programme, you should normally make a request to the Court for the Jury Service to be deferred. You should discuss the impact of jury service with your department and whether you should make a deferral request. |
| Unusual extreme pressures of work/incident in placement (placements only) |
- A letter from your line manager or placement supervisor detailing the relevant circumstances and their impact
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The Board of Examiners will have to be satisfied that the pressures referred to were substantially greater than the normal pressures associated with such activities. |
The Policy on Self Certification for Extenuating Circumstances recognises that in the case of medical extenuating circumstances for minor illnesses, you may not need, or be able to seek, medical attention and therefore will be unable to provide supporting evidence. In such cases, you may Self Certify on the following basis: