‘During the course of your studies, you may experience exceptional unforeseen circumstances which are outside your control and might have a detrimental effect on your studies. Some students have a late identification of a specific learning need/disability and so reasonable adjustments to assessments may not be in place. These scenarios are dealt with through the University’s mitigating circumstances procedure.’

For full details, please read the full Mitigating Circumstances Guidance for Students:

How to apply

For a step-by-step guide showing how to apply for mitigating circumstances in Tabula, see Declare mitigating circumstances

How W&SS can help

When applying for mitigating circumstances you may be signposted by a member of your department to speak with the Wellbeing & Student Support team. W&SS may be able to provide support for you and the situation that led you to apply for mitigating circumstances:

• If you are applying for mitigating circumstances on the basis of a complex bereavement and you wish to seek bereavement counselling, the CAPS or Chaplaincy can provide this.
• If you are applying for mitigating circumstances on the basis of a disability/long-term health condition that was not identified until recently, or a serious illness that may be ongoing, the Disability Services team may be able to put reasonable adjustments in place for the future and look at what other support may be appropriate, such as mentoring or study skills.
• If you are applying for mitigating circumstances due to experiencing a panic attack during an exam, a Wellbeing Adviser can provide advice and practical strategies for managing anxiety and panic attacks.
• If you are applying for mitigating circumstances due to experiencing some form of trauma such as sexual assault or domestic abuse, our Sexual and Domestic Abuse Adviser can provide both practical and emotional support.

Evidence

You will be required to provide evidence to support your mitigating circumstances claim.

See section ‘7. Acceptable Evidence’ of Mitigating Circumstances Guidance for Students for information about the types of evidence that may be accepted.

Please note that W&SS is generally not able to provide evidence unless you have been previously engaging with our service at the time of the impact of the circumstances you are requesting mitigation for.

This is because evidence must be:

‘Written around the time you were experiencing your claim in order for an assessment to be made on the impact of your claim. Evidence written sometime after the event will not normally be accepted as it is not possible to evidence the impact of the claim on the individual during the period affected.’ (from Mitigating Circumstances Guidance for Students

Mitigating Circumstances vs Reasonable Adjustments

In situations related to any disabilities or long-term health conditions (including mental health difficulties), it may be unclear whether a student should apply for mitigating circumstances or reasonable adjustments. This table serves to clarify the difference between the two.

	Mitigating Circumstances	Reasonable Adjustments
Circumstances	Unexpected/unforeseen serious illness (physical or mental) at time of assessment or while preparing for it.   Significant deterioration of a permanent or chronic condition close to assessment.   Late identification of a specific disability/long-term health condition.	Ongoing physical condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty (such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, etc.)
How to apply	Claims are submitted via Tabula – see [How to declare mitigating circumstances]( https://warwick.ac.uk/services/its/ servicessupport/web/ tabula/manual/mit-circs/declare	Arranged by meeting with a Disability Adviser – see [Reasonable Adjustments]( https://warwick.ac.uk/services/ wss/students/disability/ how-can-we-help/reasonable-adjustments

 

Further Questions

If you still have questions and would like to discuss your specific situation with a Wellbeing Adviser, use the wellbeing portal to access a brief consultation. These are available Mondays-Fridays, 10am-3pm (except bank holidays) in person at Senate House or online via a Teams call. See https://warwick.ac.uk/services/wss/ for more information.