During the course of study you may experience exceptional unforeseen short term circumstances which are outside your control and might have a detrimental effect on your studies. You may have a late identification of a disability and so reasonable adjustments to assessments may not be in place.

Both scenarios are dealt with through the University’s mitigating circumstances procedure. It is important that you always tell your Personal Tutor/Departmental Senior Tutor of any mitigating circumstances or reasonable adjustment needs as early as possible to ensure that appropriate support is put in place.

Your department will have a dedicated Mitigating Circumstances Officer, who will help you draft and support your submission if required, organise a mitigating circumstances panel and communicate with you on next steps and outcomes.

Read more advice and guidance around mitigating circumstances.

Mitigating circumstances are defined as:

• Situations that you could not have predicted and had no control over (e.g. serious illness,
  death of someone close, being the victim of a crime, family difficulties and unforeseen
  financial hardship)
• Situations with a significant impact on your ability to undertake
  assessments or examinations which are independently evidenced in a timely fashion; (e.g.
  doctor’s note during illness showing duration and level of negative impact)
• Situations that are acute or short term, the timing of which are relevant to the impact on
  your study (normally within three weeks of the relevant assessment event or deadline)

Read more about the mitigating circumstances policy.