Extenuating circumstances - illness and extensions
It may be that at times personal or other circumstances impact on your studies, either directly or indirectly. For example, you may have to undergo an operation during teaching periods and hence may not be able to submit coursework on time or be able to attend a class test. The University procedures require that in such circumstances you complete an Extenuating Circumstances Form (EC1). You should submitt this form to your Course Director as early as possible. The form is then considered by a panel and a decision taken as to whether or not the circumstances presented are considered acceptable to permit, for example, late work to be assessed. The decision of the panel will be returned to you usually within one week.
Given the above it is recommended that if an assignment is due before you expect a result from your request then you should submit whatever work you have done by the original deadline, even if it is unfinished. You should then continue to work on the assignment. You should submit this more complete piece of work by the new deadline you proposed on the EC1 form or by any date communicated to you as a result of your request for an extension, whichever is the earlier date. The above approach is the safest to take, as even if your request is rejected, the partially finished work that you submitted on the original deadline may be marked. If your request is successful then the more complete version that you submit in keeping with the decision of the EC1 Panel will be marked. If you have any further queries about this matter then please contact your studies advisor.
Please note that while extenuating circumstances can lead to a deadline being extended or a first sit being allowed for an assessment, marks cannot be adjusted on the basis of extenuating circumstances. You should also note that individual Module Coordinators or the Course Director are not permitted to take decisions regarding late or missed assessments.
The EC1 Panel is seeing a growing number of hardware failure and viruses cases and hence the panel is reminding students that the failure of non-University hardware is NOT normally accepted as an extenuating circumstance. Students should therefore be encouraged to keep regular backups, ideally using University hosted file storage.
Notification of absence
Please note that as a full-time student you are expected to attend all classes. If for some reason you are absent from your studies for more than 3 days then you must complete a Notification of Absence Form (NA1) and submit it along with any evidence supporting your claim within 5 days of returning to your studies. Evidence is expected in all cases and is required for absences of 5 or more days. Once you have completed the form you must provide your Course Director with a printed copy to be placed in your records. Further instructions are available on the online system used to complete the form.
Extenuating Circumstances Form (EC1) in PDF format and Word format
Notification of Absence Form (NA1)
