Extensions and mitigating circumstances

You should speak to your personal tutor or module leader and seek advice as soon as possible so that they can support you.

Read the exceptional circumstances regulations

To apply for an extension you will need to:

• apply online for a mitigation using MyRegistry before your deadline (sign in, go to ‘My Assessments’, Look for ‘My Exceptional Circumstances’ and click ‘View, Add and Amend Requests’)
• or, complete the mitigation form on our policies and regulations page under the 'Study' heading and send it to mitigationapplications@uwl.ac.uk

The 10 calendar days extension includes weekends and holidays and may mean that you will need to submit your work on a weekend.

Exceptional circumstances are circumstances outside your control that mean you can’t submit your work on time or attend an assessment.

Exceptional circumstances could be:

• Serious short-term illness or injury
• Worsening of an ongoing illness or disability, including mental health conditions
• Symptoms of an infectious disease that could be harmful if passed on to others
• Death or significant illness of a close family member or friend
• Unexpected caring responsibilities for a family member or dependant
• Significant personal or family crises leading to acute stress
• Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic incident
• A crime that has had a substantial impact on the student
• Accommodation crisis such as eviction or the home becoming uninhabitable
• An emergency or crisis that prevents the student from attending an exam or accessing an online assessment
• A technical problem that prevents the student from accessing online teaching or assessment
• Safeguarding concerns

As well as the exceptional circumstances above you may ‘self-certify’ due to a religious or cultural holiday listed in UWL's Interfaith Awareness Calendar.

Exceptional circumstances are unlikely to be:

• Holidays, house moves or other events that were planned or could reasonably have been expected
• Minor illness such as common colds or hay fever, unless the symptoms are particularly severe
• Assessments that are scheduled close together
• Misreading the exam timetable
• Poor time management
• Minor transport disruption
• Computer or printer failure where the student should have backed up their work
• Normal exam stress
• Minor life events, unless the circumstances have had a disproportionate impact

An Individual Support Plan can be issued to students registered with the Disability and Mental Health team to detail the additional support they require.

If you need an extension because of the disability or condition in your ISP, you can apply as normal, but submit your ISP as the evidence to support your claim instead of self-certifying.

Before you apply for mitigation you should talk to your module leader or personal tutor about your circumstances, so that they can support you.

Read the exceptional circumstances regulations

To apply for Mitigation you will need to:

• apply online for Mitigation
• or, complete the mitigation form on our policies and regulations page under the study heading and send it to mitigationapplications@uwl.ac.uk

You must provide evidence from a professional involved in your circumstances. The evidence must be directly relevant to your circumstances and the date of your assessment.

We strongly advise that you get in touch with the UWLSU Advice team, who can help you fill in your mitigation form and support you in getting evidence for Mitigation.

You automatically get two attempts at an assessment, a first attempt, and a resit attempt (where your mark is capped at the pass mark). Mitigation allows you an extra attempt at the assessment you failed or did not submit. The task or question may change for this attempt. 

You can also Mitigate to get a free retake of a failed module (including teaching), or for a penalty for late submission to be lifted, just let us know that's what you want. 

Remember, there are a limited number of times assessments take place in a year. Mitigating a resit attempt may mean you have to wait until the next year to try again and could delay your progression or graduation.

You cannot mitigate the same assessment more than three times.

Make sure you get in touch with your Personal Tutor, Module Leader, Course Leader, or the UWLSU Advice Team about the impact of mitigation on your workload and progression to the next level of your course.

No, you cannot mitigate for an assessment you have passed.

Review your applications and attach evidence using the online form (Sign-in, go to ‘My Assessments’, Look for ‘My Exceptional Circumstances’ and click ‘View, Add and Amend Requests’, then find your application in ‘Requests Awaiting Further Evidence or Awaiting Statement’, under the ‘My Extensions’ or ‘My Mitigations’ tab). You can also scan and email evidence to mitigationapplications@uwl.ac.uk.