Extenuating Circumstances

Before the deadline
If you have no evidence, you may be able to self-certify for an extension twice per year (via Portico). You’ll normally get a response within 1–2 days. Only valid if submitted before the assignment deadline. If you’ve used up self-certifications or your case is complex, the panel decides within 10 days.

After the deadline
You can submit a claim up to 5 working days late, but you’ll need supporting evidence. This takes longer to process (up to 10 days). Submit as soon as possible for a faster decision.

If you’re too unwell to take an exam, follow the same process as coursework (including self-certification if you haven’t used both). This may allow you to take the exam during the Late Summer Assessment (August).

• Claims after the exam must be made within one week
• You should see your doctor as soon as possible for evidence

Self-certified ECs do not require evidence but there are important limits to their scope:

You can only self-certify for up to two separate periods of up to two weeks (14 calendar days) within the 2022-23 academic session. Postgraduates can self-certify on a third separate occasion, but the third occasion can only be used after the end of Term 3, 2023.

• The maximum extension is one week for coursework.
• You can only self-certify once for any given assessment.
• You must submit a self-certified EC in advance of an assessment deadline. But no more than 2 weeks in advance.
• Once you have started any time-limited assessment, you cannot self-certify a deferral to the next assessment period.

Self-certification requests are designed for circumstances where evidence is difficult to obtain or where the mitigation is limited to the point that it doesn’t justify increasing workload pressure on GP practises by insisting on medical evidence.

However, they can be used for any event that constitutes a legitimate EC where evidence cannot be obtained. If you can find evidence, it’s a good idea to apply for conventional ECs. Also, if you need longer extensions, if you need to apply for an extension on top of an existing EC, or if you’ve run out of your quota of self-cert ECs, you must apply for conventional ECs.

Self-certified ECs: No earlier than 2 weeks before the deadline. Requests submitted after the deadline, or after time-limited assessments have started, will not be approved.

Conventional ECs: No more than 2 weeks before the deadline and normally no more than 5 working days after the deadline. If the latter, the expectation is that this is because the EC is ongoing and preventing you from applying for an EC by the deadline.

You can still submit an EC as long as it’s before your formal results are published on the exam board. However, you will need to explain why you didn’t submit your EC on time. If your EC request is late, and you do not provide a compelling reason, backed up by evidence, then your EC may be rejected even if the panel accepts that you had valid reasons for an EC at the time the assessment was due.

No. At this point, it is too late. Extenuating Circumstances claims cannot be considered through these procedures once your formal results have been published. However, you have the right to appeal your results via the Academic Appeals Procedure.

This obviously depends on the nature of your EC, but if you are unwell, you should provide a doctor’s note. If your evidence isn’t written in English, you must provide a notarised translation. Please avoid sending photographs that you think illustrate your condition. Photographs of medication or proof that you have booked an appointment with a GP or therapist are not normally accepted. Further information about the types of evidence which you might be able to use is available in Section 1.5: Providing Supporting Evidence. Your evidence will need to cover the full period for which you are requesting mitigation. If your ECs are submitted late, your evidence should help to explain the delay.

You should submit the EC on time and indicate that your evidence will be forthcoming. Your EC will only be validated on receipt and evaluation of your evidence. You must submit your evidence within FOUR WEEKS of submitting your EC.

If you self-certify then you should hear 1-2 working days. A conventional EC will need to be considered by the Geography EC panel and this can take up to 10 days if we are receiving a very high volume of requests. Please be patient.

Routine computer problems such as viruses, disk corruption, printer problems, and short-term network problems are not normally considered acceptable grounds for an EC. You are expected to take proper precautions and make backup copies of your work and allow enough time to produce your work.

You CANNOT use the EC process to appeal technical failures in any assessment on AssessmentUCL. If you have not been able to submit your work because of a technical problem, you must complete an AssessmentUCL Query Form.

If you experience sickness or an unexpected personal issue during an exam you can use the EC process to request a deferral. But you cannot self-certify once the exam has started; you must provide evidence. See the assessment regulations.

Students are permitted one week of self-certified extension without evidence (two weeks for dissertations). There is no official limit for conventional ECs, but anything over 12 weeks can only be authorised by the Joint Faculty. The length of extension you request should be commensurate to the EC you describe and the evidence you provide – the EC panel will consider the most appropriate form of mitigation and may grant an extension of greater or shorter length than requested.

Extensions will be granted from the original or last approved deadline, not the decision date (students should therefore continue to work on their assessment if they are able to while a decision is being made).

Where a student has a Reasonable Academic Adjustments, extensions will be granted from the adjusted deadline. Students will not be entitled to their Reasonable Academic Adjustments again on top of an EC extension.

Yes, as long as they fall within the same 14-day period. You can submit a self-certified EC to cover any assessments (including exams) falling within that period. Both deadlines would be covered by the EC and would only count as one of your two self-certified opportunities (three if you’re a postgrad).

Back-to-back self-certified ECs are not allowed. If you are still unable to meet the deadline you must submit a conventional EC.

You can only defer time-limited assessments (e.g. exams) to the next assessment period. You cannot defer coursework or the dissertation to the LSA – you can only request a specific extension length. You can only request deferrals 2 weeks in advance of the event.

Not in any way.