Extenuating Circumstances

‘Extenuating Circumstances’ are things outside of your control that are unplanned/unexpected and affect your ability to study or achieve your best in assessments. If you’re affected by ECs, UCB may make adjustments so that you have a fair opportunity to do your best another time.

The Extenuating Circumstances process is described in the Code Of Practice For Extenuating Circumstances. The latest version is available on UCB’s Policy page.

Applying for ECs

Valid Reasons

You can apply for extenuating circumstances if you have encountered any significant personal difficulty that affects your ability to study or complete coursework, assessments and exams. UCB call these the ‘grounds’ for your ECs, which could include:

• Illness (including mental health, physical health/injury, and chronic illnesses)
• The death of a close friend or family member
• Sudden changes in your financial wellbeing
• Family crisis
• Being affected by a crime or misconduct

The list above is only the most common grounds for ECs. If your circumstances aren’t listed, you may still be eligible.

You must submit your extenuating circumstances application as soon as you can, and normally no later than 10 days after any affected coursework/exam. We still recommend that you submit any work you can so that you can receive some marks: if your EC request is successful, you will be able to submit a more finished version.

Evidence

When you submit your EC application, you must include evidence if you can. If you need more time to get your evidence, submit your application, but highlight that you are still waiting evidence and report when it’s likely to arrive.

The evidence that you need will depend on your particular circumstances. Often, ECs are supported with these kinds of evidence:

• Medical letter – this should be signed on official stationary
• Death Certificate or copy of an order of service
• Bank Statement or letter from the Student Loans Company 
• Letter from another professional (e.g. Solicitor or Counsellor) – this should be signed on official stationary
• Court Letter
• Police Case Reference number

How To Apply

You can apply for ECs on the Portal. If you have questions about your application, you can speak to a Guild advisor or email UCB’s Registry team.

Possible Outcomes

If your application is accepted, you may:

• Be permitted to submit the assignment late, within 10 working days after the original due date 
• Have the late penalty removed from late submissions
• Be granted a new submission date for a Dissertation or Research project
• Be granted to sit the examination as a first attempt at the next available opportunity 
• Be granted an additional resit