Mitigating Circumstances
Extenuating or mitigating circumstances are those events which have had a detrimental effect on your study, to the point that it is in your interest to draw the department’s attention to them and ask for them to be considered in mitigation of poor performance. 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.
The University procedures for handling evidence of mitigating circumstances is published here. If you have evidence of mitigating circumstances affecting your performance in examinations you should complete the mitigating circumstances declaration form.
The completed form together with the evidence should be submitted to the undergraduate office P565.
Deadlines (taken from the University's Mitigating Circumstances Procedures)
- Mitigating Circumstances involving examinations: if a student is prevented from attending an examination paper, or any part of an examination, for medical reasons, s/he should submit the Mitigating Circumstances Declaration form with a doctor’s note confirming their inability to take or complete the exam at the prescribed time. Students are strongly encouraged to do this as soon as possible after the missed examination. They must submit the required documentation no later than 3 working days following the last day of their University examinations.
- All other cases of mitigating circumstances should be submitted no later than 5 working days in advance of the Mitigating Circumstances panel/pre-board meeting in the students’ department/faculty.
The Mitigating Circumstances Panel meetings in Physics are scheduled at the end of the week 38 (penultimate week of term 3).
