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Mitigating circumstances are things like illness or personal difficulties beyond your control that mean you are not able to complete your work to the standard you would usually expect or have submitted it late or not at all.
Download the UBSU brief guide to mitigating circumstances here
If you act early and address these problems you should not be disadvantaged in any way, either through getting an extension to a deadline or be being able to submit mitigating circumstances to the Exam Board so that all decisions are taken in full knowledge of the problems that affected you.
Where possible see if you are able to get an extension to the deadline. This is always preferable to submitting mitigating circumstances afterwards.
Need some help?
Our contact details are at the top of this page; you can e-mail us on ubsuacademic@brighton.ac.uk or go to the help form at the bottom of this page.
What circumstances are considered valid?
The University has a mitigating circumstances procedure and the types of circumstances that are normally considered valid are:
What circumstances are not normally considered valid?
Tell your school
You should keep your personal tutor / course leader informed about your situation. The sooner you discuss the issues that are affecting you with staff, the sooner you can be helped in overcoming any problems.
Wherever possible, you should request an extension to a deadline for an assessment rather than submit mitigating circumstances. For example, you may be granted an additional week to complete an assignment following an illness, and this assignment can then be assessed alongside other students work.
Mitigating circumstances should be submitted only where an extension will not allow you to perform to their best ability, or where an extension is not possible (i.e. examinations)
Getting an extension – do this at least one day before your assessment deadline
If circumstances beyond your control mean you will be unable to submit work by the deadline, you should apply for an extension.
If you want to do this you should complete an Application for Extension to Deadline Form (ARGEAR1) which you can get from your school office.
This form will need to be signed by the designated signatory for your course (this is normally your Course Leader – your school office will be able to confirm this for you).
Applications for extensions should normally be submitted at least one full working day in advance of the assessment deadline. Failure to do this, without good reason may lead to your case being considered less sympathetically.
You will be expected to provide evidence of your mitigating circumstances. This should be from an independent source such as a doctor or counsellor. Letters from friends / family do not count as evidence.
There will be some cases where it is not possible to submit evidence in advance. In these cases, you should agree with the designated signatory that you will be able to submit evidence as soon as you are able to.
In rare occasions your application can be made by telephone and provisionally approved and then formalised when you provide suitable documentary evidence to support your claim. Under no circumstances can you provide your evidence later than two weeks before the Examination Board meets. Your school office will be able to advise you of these dates.
There may be some occasions where documentary evidence is not deemed necessary (e.g. where brief illness caused you to be absent but it would be unreasonable to demand a doctor’s certificate). You should discuss this with the designated signatory who may be able to use their discretion in these cases.
If you get an extension you will have to submit your work by the new deadline as agreed and your work will be marked as per normal.
Submitting mitigating circumstances
If you think your academic performance has been adversely affected by circumstances beyond your control and you cannot have an extension you should complete a mitigating circumstances form (ARGEAR3) which you can get from your school office.
It is your responsibility to make sure that the Exam Board receives your mitigating circumstances. Your school office will be able to advise you of the deadline for submission.
The Exam Board will only consider cases where documentary evidence is provided. If you do not provide any evidence, your case will not be considered.
Students are not normally given the benefit of the doubt where the case is unclear, or where the supporting evidence is insufficient or does not adequately support the claims. It is you responsibility to ensure that the evidence is suitable, and supports your claim.
How do I submit my mitigating circumstances? – do this at your school office
Before an Exam Board
You should complete a mitigating circumstances form (ARGEAR3) detailing the modules that have been affected and the issues that have affected your performance.
You should indicate clearly the modules or assessments that have been affected and the general nature of your circumstances on the form.
You will be expected to provide evidence of your mitigating circumstances. This should be from an independent source such as a doctor or counsellor. Letters from friends / family do not count as evidence.
You will need to go in to further detail to fully explain your circumstances. You should write a separate statement and include this in a sealed envelope addressed to the Chair of the Exam Board.
Your supporting statement should explain:
• which assignments or modules were affected;
• how the situation has affected you;
• The time period affected;
• Why you could not foresee the circumstances.
In this statement you should refer directly to any evidence you are supplying to support your claim.
After an Exam Board
In some cases it is not possible, for valid reasons, to submit your mitigating circumstances until after the meeting of the Exam Board.
If this is the case and you can demonstrate a valid reason you should lodge an appeal.
In these cases it is your responsibility to also provide evidence explaining why you could not have submitted the mitigating circumstances within the normal timescale.
These cases can sometimes take longer to resolve.
We encourage all students to address any issues affecting their academic performance early and request an extension or submit their mitigating circumstances before any Exam Board when possible.
What happens when I submit mitigating circumstances?
Assessed work is marked anonymously. Final marks are agreed by a Board of Examiners. When this board meets it will receive any information you have provided and decide whether your work should be compensated in any way.
In considering claims for mitigating circumstances, the Exam Board will consider:
• the severity of the mitigating circumstances, and the reasonableness of a claim that such circumstances might have affected performance;
• the documentary evidence;
• the time period affected, and the likelihood that performance may have been affected;
• whether it is reasonable to suppose that the circumstances should have been foreseen by the student, or were avoidable.
General Examination and Assessment Procedures Handbook (09/2007)
Examples of mitigating circumstances and outcomes
If your mitigating circumstances are accepted, the outcomes are limited. You should not expect to be awarded a higher grade. It is more likely that you will be given the chance to redeem any failure.
You missed an exam or failed to submit an assessment
Deferral. You should be allowed to submit a new piece of work or take the exam as if for the first time.
Your performance was affected through illness or injury
Deferral - You should be allowed to submit a new piece of work or take the exam as if for the first time.
You submitted work after the deadline
The actual mark is allowed to stand
In exceptional cases where the work makes a minor contribution to your overall degree classification it may be possible to calculate your overall award without reference to the affected work.
What happens afterwards?
Once the Exam Board has made its decision your course leader should inform you of the outcome and of what you need to do next.
Your school office will keep a record of all mitigating circumstances claims, supporting documentation and the outcomes of these claims for one year after you graduate or leave the course. After this time the school office will shred all confidential documentary evidence
Can’t I just make it up and say I was ill?
Presenting false claims for mitigating circumstances is considered to be cheating and is punishable under the Academic Misconduct procedures. Fabricating evidence to support mitigating circumstances can, in the most serious cases result in exclusion for University.
Late submission of work
Any assessed work submitted after the deadline (including after any agreed extensions) will automatically receive a mark of 0% or the lowest fail grade.
You will be able to get informal feedback on the actual level of performance
If the Exam Board decides that the late submission was due to valid mitigating circumstances, you should be awarded the original mark for the work.
Download the UBSU brief guide to mitigating circumstances here
Need some help?
Contact us to book an appointment, drop in; e-mail us on ubsuacademic@brighton.ac.uk or go to the help form below.
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I'd like some help with mitigating circumstances (if possible please include a contact phone number)