Appeal Against Assessment Outcomes

Form MCF1

Mitigating Circumstances Form

Please complete ALL relevant sections of the form, including the original assessment deadline. Corroborative evidence must be attached. Claims without accompanying evidence will normally be rejected.

Please read the guidance notes and Mitigating Circumstances Regulations at http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/student-regulations before completing this form. You may wish to seek advice from your Campus Registry Office, Unit Tutor or Course Leader, or from the Students’ Union, on how to complete this form.

If your disability is the reason why you require an extension, you should use this form. It should be noted that an extension will ONLY be granted where your Learning Support Agreement specifies that you will require occasional extensions for reasons arising from your disability. (Please note this does NOT include specific learning differences.)

Student information Name: Student Number: Course Title: Campus: (e.g. BA Fine Art) Year of Course: (e.g. 2nd year)

Contact details – please note that contact will be via email unless otherwise specified UCA: Email address(es): Personal: Phone number:

Contact address:

Assessments affected Unit Title: Unit Code: Original deadline: New deadline (for staff use only): Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task:

Unit Title: Unit Code: Original deadline: New deadline (for staff use only): Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task:

Unit Title: Unit Code: Original deadline: New deadline (for staff use only): Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task: Assessment component/task: Use another sheet if more than 4 units are affected Nature of mitigating circumstances Serious short-term illness Sudden Deterioration of a long term medical condition/disability

Death of close relative, friend or partner Other. Please state:______

Please tick here if you have a Learning Support Agreement in place

Please give details of your mitigating circumstances and describe how these circumstances have affected your assessment. Please state the amount of study time (days/weeks) lost due to these circumstances:

For retrospective and/or ‘unfit to sit’ claims Please state why you were unable/unwilling to submit a prospective mitigating circumstances claim (claims without this information are unlikely to be considered):

Declaration

I confirm that I have completed this form in full, and that I have included appropriate documentary evidence. I have read and understood the guidance notes accompanying this form, the University’s Mitigating Circumstances Regulations and I believe that I am entitled to special consideration in respect of the assessment tasks stated above. I understand that the University regards the submission of false information as a very serious offence.

Signed ……………………………………………………. Date ……………………………….

Please submit this form to your Campus Registry Office, either by hand, by post or by email.

2 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

For Campus Registry Office Use

Date Received ……………………………..

Prospective Retrospective Unfit to sit Out of time

For Prospective Claims – Course Leader’s Use Only Yes - Yes - for these No - for all units only (list unit for all units codes): units

1 Outside the student’s control?

2 Unforeseen and unforeseeable?

3 Acute?

4 Evidenced to be true?

5 Contemporaneous with assessment(s) in question?

6 Will prevent student from submitting or presenting for assessment by due date?

Accepted for all units

Accepted for following units only (rejected for all others): ______

Rejected for all units

Course Leader Signature (for extensions up to 3 weeks) Date ______

Date ______Head of School Signature (for extensions longer than 3 weeks) ______

All retrospective and unfit to sit claims for mitigating circumstances will be considered by the University’s Mitigating Circumstances Panel and the decisions communicated to the Campus Registry who will in turn inform the student.

3 Mitigating Circumstances – Guidance Notes for Students To be read in conjunction with the Mitigating Circumstances Regulations: http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/student-regulations

What are mitigating circumstances?

1. Students are responsible for managing their learning, revision and assessment activities throughout the duration of their studies and as such are expected to manage any unexpected life events which may occur. The University does however recognise that students may experience circumstances beyond their control, which may affect their ability to submit their assessments or assessment performance. The Mitigating Circumstances Regulations exist to ensure that any student experiencing either serious illness, a disability/long term medical condition which may lead to intermittent periods of ill health or from other forms of exceptional, sudden and unforeseen circumstances that might impact their assessments is treated fairly.

2. Mitigating circumstances are those circumstances outside your control, that prevent you from demonstrating the skills and knowledge required to meet the learning outcomes of a unit assessment (e.g. dissertation, presentation, portfolio, examination) by a specific assessment deadline.

3. There are three types of mitigating circumstances claims:  prospective;  retrospective;  unfit to sit.

How do the three types of mitigating circumstances work?

4. Mitigating circumstances claims must be submitted before the deadline for submission. These are ‘prospective’ claims. Your Course Leader will consider these claims and decide whether or not to grant an extension.

5. If you have a valid reason for not submitting a claim before the submission deadline, then you can submit a late claim to be considered by the University’s Mitigating Circumstances Panel. This late claim could be ‘retrospective’, where you haven’t submitted the work, or ‘unfit to sit’ where you did submit the work on time, but you want it to be discounted.

6. Late claims will only be successful where you were unable to make the request before the submission deadline (e.g. if you had mental health problems and a medical certificate to say that you were under a doctor’s care at the time and were not able to make a rational decision due to the type of illness).

How do I apply for mitigating circumstances to be considered for an extension of my assessment deadline?

7. If you believe that your performance in assessment is being negatively affected by exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, including illness warranting a medical certificate, you should fill out a Mitigating Circumstances Form and hand it in to the Campus Registry Office in advance of the submission deadline, unless the nature of your circumstances prevents you from doing so (e.g. sudden hospitalisation).

8. Mitigating Circumstances forms are available from each Campus Registry Office and can also be downloaded from MyUCA.

9. All claims must be supported by appropriate written evidence (see section 13. below). In no case will mitigating circumstances be considered without proper and appropriate documentation to substantiate the claim.

10. It is your responsibility to ensure that the Campus Registry Office receives your form and all corresponding documentation in support of 4 your claim by the given deadline.

11. If your claim is not accepted you will still have to meet your assessment deadline. Otherwise this will be treated as non-submission, and you will be awarded a mark of zero (0).

12. Should you choose not to submit mitigating circumstances at the time that they impact on your assessment, you should be aware that it is highly unlikely that any retrospective or unfit to sit consideration can subsequently be given. If you do submit a mitigating circumstances claim form after your deadline, you must clearly state why you were unable, or for valid reasons unwilling, to submit the claim by your submission deadline.

What evidence should I submit in support of my mitigating circumstances claim?

13. Evidence submitted in support of your claim should be independent, third party evidence and should include date(s) relevant to the assessment(s) in question. Accepted evidence may include:

a. Death certificate/interim death certificate or other evidence (e.g. order of service);

b. Medical / health certificate (with relevant date to the assessment);

c. Letter of support / explanation from a support service in the University where you are already receiving ongoing support, e.g. Student Counsellors;

d. Letter of support / explanation from third party medical or other professional;

e. Letter from Learning Support Manager to evidence a disadvantage to student learning (e.g. if the requirement for occasional extensions forms part of your Learning Support Agreement. It should be noted that being disabled or having a specific learning difference is NOT in itself a reason for requiring an extension).

How is my claim considered?

14. For prospective claims: the Campus Registrar will pass your completed form and any supporting evidence to your Course Leader. If your Course Leader considers that your claim should be accepted, she/he may offer you an extended deadline of up to 3 weeks for you to complete your assessment.

15. All Retrospective and Unfit to Sit claims will be considered by the next meeting of the University’s Mitigating Circumstances Panel.

What will be considered in making a judgement about my claim?

16. When considering your mitigating circumstances claim, Course Leaders and Mitigating Circumstances Panels will: a. ensure that you have provided all the information requested on the form and any necessary supporting evidence;

b. check that the form has been signed and dated by you as well as the date it was submitted;

c. ensure that the form has been submitted within the relevant deadline for the type of claim; and

d. ensure that any extension to the deadline, as a result of the claim, relates to the days lost.

17. In addition to the above, the Mitigating Circumstances Panel will consider:

 whether there is justification for a retrospective claim – is there a valid reason why you were not able to tell the University about the mitigating circumstances before the assessment deadline? These must be valid and evidenced reasons - claims 5 on the basis that you were not comfortable discussing your circumstances will not be accepted;  whether there is justification for an unfit to sit claim – were you able to make a rational decision about your ability to undertake your assessment at the time. The reasons must be valid and evidenced. Mental health issues will not normally be accepted unless accompanied by a professional statement from a third party who was responsible for your care at the time at which you made the decision.

18. Decisions relating to mitigating circumstances are matters of academic judgement as to how your circumstances have affected your ability to demonstrate your learning through assessment by the specified deadline for that assessment. The following grounds will normally be considered as part of the decision making process.

What grounds are likely to be accepted for mitigation?

19. The following may be accepted as grounds for mitigation:

a. death of a close relative, friend or partner;

b. serious short term illness or accident

c. evidence of a chronic and sudden episode within an on-going health condition or disability. This episode must be contemporaneous with the assessment.

d. significant adverse personal / family circumstances. These will only be accepted if notified as soon as the circumstances occur and with verification.

What grounds will not normally be accepted for an extension of an assessment deadline?

20. Following are examples of circumstances that will not be accepted as grounds for an extension:

a. statement of a medical condition without reasonable evidence (medical or otherwise) to support it;

b. medical circumstances outside the relevant assessment period;

c. a statement of a medical condition supported by retrospective medical evidence i.e. evidence that was not in existence at the same time as the illness, such as a doctor’s note which states that the student was seen after the illness occurred and that the student declared they had been ill previously;

d. if there is a reasonable case that the mitigating circumstances described were foreseeable or preventable;

e. long term health condition, or disability, for which the student is already receiving reasonable or appropriate adjustments in the relevant assessment period;

f. minor illness or ailment, which in a work situation would be unlikely to lead to absence from work;

g. holiday commitments;

h. employment commitments;

i. financial problems;

j. personal computer / printer problems;

k. poor study practice, e.g. no back up of electronic documents;

l. being unaware of published submission dates / times or examination date / times;

m. late disclosure of circumstances on the basis that a student ‘felt unable or did not

6 feel comfortable’ confiding in a university staff member about their mitigating circumstances; and/or

n. poor time management.

How do I submit a mitigating circumstances claim?

21. You can make a claim:

a. In person at your Campus Registry Office;

b. By post: postal submissions may be permitted after the deadline, provided that they have been posted by the deadline date. Postal submissions should normally only be made out of term-time. The postmark should indicate that the submission has been posted on the deadline date; or

c. By E-mail submission to the Campus Registry Office designated email address. Email submissions directly to the Course Leader will not be accepted.

What outcomes can I expect following consideration of my mitigating circumstances?

22. Assessment marks cannot be changed as a result of a successful mitigating circumstances claim.

23. It is expected that most mitigating circumstances will be resolved by giving an extension to the original assessment submission deadline. The extension must start at the date of the original submission deadline and must be equal to the number of days lost or expected to be lost due to your mitigating circumstances.

Who can help me with my mitigating circumstances claim?

24. You can contact the Students’ Union to get support and advice at [email protected]