Extenuating circumstances are genuine circumstances beyond a student’s control or ability to foresee, and which seriously impair his or her assessed work.

Deferring an assessment means postponing it to the next scheduled assessment date. However, deferring the assessment does not excuse attendance from timetabled classes.

 

Attendance is mandatory and the regulations permit students to be terminated for poor attendance. Failing to attend is likely to disadvantage your performance in the assessments even if your deferral request is granted. If you are unable to maintain attendance, interruption of studies may be a more appropriate course of action than deferral.

Interruption means your registration is suspended so for the duration of the interruption you will not be deemed to be a registered student. This means you will not be charged fees, you cannot attend classes or use facilities such as the library or IT suites, and you cannot submit any assignments.

 

Interruption has to be formally agreed by the programme leader and a form must be completed and signed by you. At the point of agreeing the interruption the commencement date of the interruption and the date of returning should be made clear. Before agreeing an interruption it is recommended that you discuss the implications with a DSU Adviser as this may affect your finances and accommodation in ways you have not considered.

Extensions are granted at the tutor’s discretion for a maximum of 7 days. You must submit an extension request form to your module leader at the earliest opportunity before the deadline and explain your situation. You can find the relevant extension form here. If this is not granted or if 14 days is insufficient, you should apply for deferral.

A deferred assessment takes place at a later date, so the missed assessment opportunity is not counted. This means taking a deferred assessment differs from a re-sit because it will not be capped (unless you are deferring a re-sit) and deferring will not use up any of your reassessment credits (which are limited).

You can apply to defer if you are within the deadline, if your circumstances meet the criteria for deferral set out in DMU's Deferrals page and if you have third-party evidence to support your request.

All evidence that you submit to support your application should be from a third party. This could be evidence such as death certificates, medical documents or any documents from official sources which prove your circumstances.

 

If you wish to claim extenuating circumstances on illness/health grounds, you will need to obtain suitable evidence from a GP or another suitably qualified medical professional.

 

It will improve the chances of an application being accepted if the following information can be included in any letter from a medical professional.

 

It is still possible to claim for extenuating circumstances for a long-term condition if there has been an unforeseeable and unpreventable increase in the severity of a condition that is usually manageable. This can also be described as a flare-up of the condition.

 

Evidence should include:

 

(1) The illness/condition that you were / are suffering from. If there are any circumstances that led to the condition for example depression as result of bereavement then that should also be mentioned.

 

(2) The time-period that you were / have been suffering from this condition. For long term conditions the time-period of the flare-up should be mentioned including specific dates if possible. The closer to the period of the assessment the greater the chance of extenuating circumstances being accepted.

 

(3) Symptoms - Any symptoms that have affected your ability to meet the deadline or complete an assessment.

 

(4) Any treatments that a GP has prescribed and any side effects of those treatments. If a medical professional has recommended rest or avoidance of stressful activity for a certain period that should also be included.

The coursework deadlines vary between courses, schools and faculties, so for these it is best to check with your Faculty Advice Centre.

 

Out-of-time (late) deferrals will only be considered in the most exceptional circumstances, for example where you have been hospitalised and unable to apply sooner.

 

Deferral requests will not be considered after the results are published.

Please speak to your Faculty for deadlines. You can find more information on our Extenuating Circumstances page.

A deferral request form must be completed, signed and submitted (available from your Faculty Advice Centre or downloadable here).

 

The form may need to be accompanied by a supporting statement giving additional details. There is space to write a few lines on the form, but you are more likely to be approved if you give full information so do not leave out anything important and write “See supporting statement” if there isn’t enough space. A helpful template is here.

 

Providing evidence of the circumstances affecting you is essential. If this is not yet available make sure you submit your request on-time with a note that the evidence will follow. Original documents are preferred.

Submit your supporting evidence attached to the form in a sealed envelope addressed to the Panel Chair and clearly marked ‘Confidential: from (name) Re: Extenuating Circumstances’. The Chair will inform the Panel that confidential evidence has been received and give his/her opinion on the seriousness and relevance of the evidence, but will not disclose what it is.

Undergraduate students submit exam deferrals to Student & Academic Services in Gateway House: acasupportoffice@dmu.ac.uk Coursework and faculty based tests (such as phase tests) should be submitted to the relevant Faculty Advice Centre:

 

Art, Design and Humanities (ADH): adhadvice@dmu.ac.uk

 

Business and Law (BAL): studentadvicecentre@dmu.ac.uk

 

Health and Life Sciences (HLS): hls.advice.centre@dmu.ac.uk

 

Computing, Engineering and Media (CEM) (formerly TECH): cemadvicecentre@dmu.ac.uk

 

Students on taught postgraduate programmes submit any requests to their Faculty Advice Centre.

 

Research students affected by personal circumstances would need to follow the procedures set out in the Research Regulations for either extension or interruption of registration.

No. All deferral requests have to be considered by a panel. There is strict criteria to qualify for deferral in order to ensure fairness and prevent abuse of this provision to obtain an unfair advantage. If the evidence is insufficient or the circumstances do not meet the requirements set out in Chapter 5 of the General Regulations, or the application is made out-of-time, the deferral request will be denied.

No, you can not apply late for a deferral. It is extremely important that you submit your deferral application by the required deadline. The university sets strict deadlines which you must meet to get your application considered. If you submit late, the university will not accept your application and you will miss out on applying for deferrals.

The decision of the Panel shall be final, except in the event that you have grounds to appeal. There are only two grounds to appeal:

 

• There is new and relevant evidence which could not be provided in the first instance.

 

• The Panel did not comply with procedures set out in DMU's Deferrals guidance.

 

Appeals must be submitted in writing, to the Student Appeals and Conduct Officer (via Gateway House reception) within 10 working days of the Panel's decision. Appeals regarding exams are considered by the Director of Academic & Student Services. Appeals regarding coursework are considered by the Academic Board Panel. This decision will be final.

 

If the assessment is not deferred then you will be expected to attend the exam or submit the assignment as scheduled. If you fail to attend an exam you will receive 0.

 

If the assessment is an essential component of the module, or leads to a fail in that module, then you may have to take a re-sit exam and/or re-submit coursework. There are limited opportunities to take re-assessments so if you do not have sufficient opportunities to re-take the failed module, then you will be unable to continue on the course, but you may have attained enough credits to take a lower exit award. Ask your Faculty Advice Centre for clarification.

The assessment must be taken at the next available opportunity. This is usually within the same academic year, and after the other scheduled assessments have finished, but this can vary. For clarification, ask your Faculty Advice Centre.

Usually deferred assessments take place within the same academic year, for example if a May exam is deferred to August this will allow the marks to be released in time to progress into the next year in September. However, this is assuming the deferred exam passes, if not, then a re-sit may be required and this is likely to delay progression. Furthermore, there are exceptions where the next assessment opportunity is not available within the same academic session (e.g. placements) and in those cases progression will be delayed.

 

Ask your Faculty Advice Centre for clarification.

If you are a final year student a deferral is likely to delay your graduation. Deferred assessments usually take place after the other scheduled assessments so if you have a deferred assessment in August, you won’t graduate in July, but in the following January.

 

Ask your Faculty Advice Centre for clarification.

You can ask your Faculty Advice Centre for the date of the next coursework deferral panel being convened. For exam deferrals, you can enquire in the Academic & Student Services reception in Gateway House. You will be notified by email or letter.

No you cannot change your mind once a deferral is granted. If you apply to defer an exam but don’t find out the decision before the exam, you could sit the exam, and you may feel the exam went well and may no longer wish to defer, but if you then find out the deferral was granted, the exam you have taken will not count so you will have to take it again.

 

If you miss the deadline to defer and realise after the results are released that your performance was impaired, it will be too late to apply for deferral.

See DMU's guidance page on Deferrals.

Yes. DSU Advice can give advice and help you prepare your deferral request.

 

We can help with advice about deferrals, extensions and Extenuating Circumstances applications. We can check your form, give advice as to your statement and tell you what sort of evidence to submit. You should attach any written evidence you have which supports your case to your form. Make sure that the paperwork you include is relevant and crucial to your case.