Mitigation
In this section
- Overview
- What does mitigation do?
- What counts as mitigating circumstances?
Overview
Mitigating Circumstances are unforeseen events or circumstances which have a significant negative impact on your ability to successfully complete or study effectively in preparation for, summative assessment tasks such as essays, written or oral examinations, assessed presentations or assessed laboratory work. If you want any such events or circumstances to be considered by the relevant Board of Examiners you are required to communicate formally (normally in writing) with your Department about them. Please note that while it is acknowledged that cultural attitudes to the disclosure of personal information may vary, students are expected to fully disclose all matters they wish to have taken into consideration by the Board of Examiners.
If you are unsure whether something that has happened to you, or to someone close to you, is eligible to be considered as a Mitigating Circumstance, it is likely to be eligible if it was unforeseeable or beyond your control and if it also had a significant impact on your ability to prepare for or complete the assessment in question. If you are in any doubt about whether something that has happened to you or someone close to you is eligible for consideration then you should consult your Personal Tutor or Wellbeing Support Services or one of the advisers at the Students’ Union Advice Centre. Even if the event or circumstance is not eligible for consideration in this way it may nevertheless be something for which you should seek support and the tables below indicate, in their final column, where to go to access that support.
Mitigating Circumstances
Please note that mitigation moved to Tabula on 28 September 2019. Guidance on this new process can be found here.
Extenuating or mitigating circumstances are those unexpected events that have had a detrimental effect on your study for a specific period of time covering your assessments.
It is in your interest to draw the department’s attention to them and ask for them to be considered in the mitigation of underperformance. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to) illness, both bodily and emotional; the severe illness or death of a close family member; a shocking or traumatic personal experience. In addition, sudden, unexpected changes in family circumstances might affect your ability to make academic progress as a consequence of their demonstrable emotional impact upon you, and may also be considered as mitigation.
Mitigating Circumstances Guidance for Students
The Department understands that for many students it may be difficult to disclose the details of these kinds of circumstances to those outside their family. However, the department and the University are fully supportive of students in difficult circumstances and want to assist if at all possible. All information received is treated confidentially. If you feel inhibited from talking to the personal tutor or another member of staff in the first instance, you may also consider talking to a member of the SSLC, the Students’ Union, or a counsellor for initial, informal advice.
In order for your circumstances to be considered, they must be conveyed formally and supported by the evidence. The University expects that you will discuss your circumstances before Exam Boards meet, so that they may be taken into account in good time. In order to give us the required permission, you MUST submit your mitigation and evidence through the Mitigating Circumstances portal in Tabula.
What does mitigation do?
Mitigating Circumstances can never result in the changing of marks for individual modules or assessments. However, they may affect your overall degree classification. For further information on the possible effects of your Mitigating Circumstances claim being accepted, see Mitigating Circumstances Process and Procedures online at: https://warwick.ac.uk/quality/categories/examinations/policies/u_mitigatingcircumstances/.
What counts as mitigating circumstances?
The two tables below provide more detailed guidance on, and examples of, types of circumstances which are normally considered eligible (Table 1) and types which are not normally eligible (Table 2). If you think you do have an eligible Mitigating Circumstance you should complete and submit a Declaration Form via Tabula. You can find guidance here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/its/servicessupport/web/tabula/manual/cm2/mit-circs/declare
You should submit your declaration as soon as possible after the circumstance arises along with appropriate supporting documentation of the sort outlined in the ‘Supporting Documentation’ column of Table 1. The University recognises that it may be difficult to obtain supporting documentation in a timely fashion, however, you should still register the circumstance pending supply of supporting documentation.
Table 1: Circumstances normally eligible for consideration
|
Circumstance |
Examples |
Supporting Documentation |
Sources of support you can access |
|
Serious illness or accident of the student (physical or mental health) |
Illness, accident or severe trauma at the time of an assessment, or during preparation for it earlier in the academic year. It should be a serious illness or an unanticipated deterioration in an ongoing illness or chronic medical condition. It can also be an assault of which the student is victim. |
Doctor’s note or letter confirming the illness or accident and attesting to its impact on the student.* If you are a victim of an assault, you should provide a crime number or Police report. |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Bereavement of someone close to the student |
Bereavement at assessment time or in preparation for it earlier in the academic year. ‘Someone close’ can mean parents or guardians, children, siblings, a spouse or partner. It may include friends, in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren, if it can be demonstrated that the relationship was close. |
Copy of the death certificate and evidence of closeness (e.g. statement from Personal Tutor, Wellbeing Support Services or counsellor*). |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · University Counselling Service · SU Advice Centre
|
|
Serious illness or accident of someone close to the student (mental or physical health) |
Issue arising at assessment time or in preparation for it earlier in the academic year. ‘Someone close’ can mean parents or guardians, children, siblings, a spouse or partner. It may include friends, in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren if it can be demonstrated that the relationship was close. |
Doctor’s note or letter* confirming the illness or accident and statement by Personal Tutor or Wellbeing Support Services attesting to closeness and impact on the student. |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · University Counselling Service · SU Advice Centre
|
|
Abrupt change in personal circumstances of the student or other serious unforeseen event |
Divorce; fire or burglary; the requirement to appear in Court at or near the time of the relevant assessment; acute accommodation issues; serious and unforeseeable transport disruptions (for example road closure due to fatal road traffic accident). |
Statement by Personal Tutor or Wellbeing Support Services and/or copies of relevant documentation (e.g. Court summons). |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · University Counselling Service · SU Advice Centre
|
|
Significant change in employment circumstances beyond control of student affected |
For part-time students only. |
Copy of letter from employer and statement attesting to impact on student by Personal Tutor or Wellbeing Support Services. |
· Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Diagnosis of Specific Learning Difference |
Only eligible when diagnosis is obtained too late for reasonable adjustments to be made by way of Special Exam Arrangements or in other ways. |
Copy of diagnosis letter and confirmation from Department that it was submitted too late for reasonable adjustments to be made in other ways. |
· Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · Disability Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Deterioration of a permanent condition you have already told us about (physical or mental health) |
Where this permanent condition has already been adequately adjusted for through Special Exam arrangements or other reasonable adjustments only the deterioration counts as a Mitigating Circumstance. |
Copy of letter from Disability Services, Student Support, GP or consultant or counsellor.* |
· Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · Disability Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Bullying, harassment, victimisation, assault or threatening behaviour |
Only eligible if student is victim or alleged victim. |
Report from Personal Tutor or Student Support Services Copies of emails or screenshots from social media platforms or other communications or police report. |
· Personal Tutor · SU Advice Centre · Wellbeing Support Services · campus police |
* If the letter or note is in a language other than English you must provide both a copy of the original note and a certified translation into English. The University may seek to verify the accuracy of the translation provided.
Table 2: Circumstances not normally eligible for consideration
|
Circumstance |
Examples |
Sources of support |
|
A permanent condition which you have already told us about unless you can provide appropriate evidence that there has been a worsening of your condition during the assessment period (see Table 1). |
An ongoing mental or physical health condition, or Specific Learning Difference or disability. You should tell the University, (Disability Services) and your Personal Tutor about any disability, Specific Learning Difference, or ongoing mental or physical health condition as soon as possible in your University career so that appropriate adjustments can be made to support you. If in doubt speak to your Personal Tutor. |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · Disability Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Minor illnesses or ailments |
Aches and pains, colds, sore throats and coughs where these are not symptoms of a more serious medical condition. However, if you feel that your ailments are impacting on your ability to study you should seek medical attention and notify your Personal Tutor. |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Examination stress and worry |
Exams and other University assessments are tests of your performance and inevitably involve a certain amount of stress. Having feelings of stress or worry at such times does not necessarily mean you are unwell or have an eligible Mitigating Circumstance. However, if you experience a more acute form of anxiety (a ‘panic attack’ or ‘anxiety attack’) it may be eligible and you should seek medical or professional attention, as well as notify your Personal Tutor. |
· GP or hospital · Wellbeing Support Services (Mental Health and Wellbeing Team, in particular Wellbeing Drop-in) · Student Careers and Skills · Personal Tutor · University Library · SU Advice Centre |
|
Computer, printer or other IT failure |
Failure to keep adequate back-ups; computer ‘crash’. However, theft of computer equipment may be eligible if you have reported it to the police and can provide a crime number. |
· Personal Tutor · IT Services |
|
Pressure of academic workload |
Essay deadlines falling on the same day or in close proximity. However, this may be eligible as an aggravating factor if you also have a diagnosis of a relevant medical condition (see Table 1, above). |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · SU Advice Centre |
|
Non-academic activities and foreseeable events |
Holidays, weddings, rites of passage ceremonies whether religious or secular, sporting fixtures or training in preparation for them and other similarly foreseeable events. |
|
|
Temporary self- induced conditions |
Hangovers; ill-effects from the use of recreational or performance-enhancing drugs, whether legal (e.g. caffeine, energy drinks) or illegal. If in doubt, please consult one of the sources of support in the box immediately to the right. |
· GP or hospital · Personal Tutor · Wellbeing Support Services · SU Advice Centre |
Mitigating Circumstances Panel
The Mitigating Circumstances Panel meets to consider cases put forward by students or members of staff directly before examination boards (October/November for Postgraduates). There are separate Panels for first-year undergraduates, intermediate/final year undergraduates, and postgraduates. However, the procedures and forms are the same in all cases. Members of the panel are bound by the confidentiality requirements specified by the General Data Protection Regulation. Normally, the panel will act on the recommendation of the Personal Tutor or appropriate staff member; and students should be reassured that detailed disclosure will only happen to the extent that it is absolutely necessary. The recommendations of the panel (but not the circumstances themselves) are then passed on to and considered by the relevant examination boards but the student will not usually be informed of the specific outcomes of the Mitigating Circumstances Panel.
See the guidance above for the possible allowable outcomes from the Panel and further information.
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