The Student Room Group

Exceptional Circumstances Consideration

Hey all,

Was wondering if anyone could clear up a slight dilemma that I have regarding extenuating circumstances (or Exceptional Circumstances Consideration to be specific), and whether or not someone could explain them a little better for me. I know some of the following info is a bit odd/unusual for this forum, but it would be cool if people could be mature about it :smile:

First of all I was wondering if anyone could delve a little further into what constitutes extenuating circumstances? It says an illness that affected you during the exam would count. Is this exclusive to really serious illnesses (like cancer or some sort of long term disability)? Without going into too much detail (apologies in advance for any graphic images), I've been suffering from an undiagnosed bowel condition (as in doctors are stumped after various tests rather than self diagnosed, although best guesses are IBD) which results in very sudden and frequent bouts of diarrhoea and have resulted in some unfortunate incidents. These come in 'waves' if you will, and over the past few days I've been really struggling. The morning of the maths exam was tough for me as I had been struggling with these bouts, inlcuding multiple times on the morning of the exam itself. In all honesty, I went in more concerned and stressed as to whether or not I'd be able to do the exam while maintaining my dignity rather than the exam itself, and generally felt quite unwell. While I managed to complete the exam without physical fault, it was certainly diffuclt for me at times throughout and I don't really think I was in the best mindset for the exam given the circumstances in the morning. Again apologies for the descriptions, but would this fall under exceptional circumstances?

The slightly awkward part (as if the situation wasn't awkward enough haha) is that I initially asked about exceptional circumstances under the guise of something else (our teacher had left mid-course and that had disrupted learning a bit) because I really didn't want to bring this up. I feel they may feel slightly wary about me bringing this medical issue now as it's something I've never brought up before (mainly due to embarrassment), although I definitely have various medical records and appointments and test dates and what not that could help verify the condition, and I'm actually scheduled for yet another consultation next month. I don't want it to seem as though I'm just clutching at straws or whatever in hopes of getting exceptional circumstances. Any ways to avoid this, that is, if I should be bringing this up under

Lastly, I was hoping someone might be able to expand upon what exceptional circumstances are? From what I can gather, they will sometimes look at supplementary evidence from prelims or whatever? Somewhat annoyingly, I actually scored poorly in the prelim in comparison to my other classwork/predicted grades - so on that note can you lose marks?
Do they do anything else, like simply take it into account while marking?

Apologies again for the slightly embarrassing thread, but if any one could offer be any advice or anything, I would really appreciate it!
I didn't read all this but no, it needn't be cancer or something super serious, but it depends on your institution and course.
There is some information on here http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/65427.html however it's not particularly useful.
There's not a lot of information about this online and I haven't had experience on this. The best way would probably to talk to the school's SQA co-ordinator person.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by ashleymacleod
There is some information on here http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/65427.html however it's not particularly useful.
There's not a lot of information about this online and I haven't had experience on this. The best way would probably to talk to the school's SQA co-ordinator person.


Original post by greenmang0
I didn't read all this but no, it needn't be cancer or something super serious, but it depends on your institution and course.


Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. I'll definitely speak to the SQA coordinator at my school when next possible.
Reply 4
In saying this, if anyone else reading this has any experience with this, it'd be great to hear about :smile:
As far as I know medical certificates are avalible from your doctor and you should be eliagble considering your circumstances. This will be taken into consideration when the SQA are awarding your grade. BUT. Medical certificates must have been produced either before or soon after your exam. As far as I know within 3 days of your exam. I could be mistaken on this but it is vital you speak to your school as soon as possible if you think that it may further impact your exams or, if you feel like you may wish to leave this matter until after the exams are over, speak to your Support for Learning dept because they may be able to award you support in exams such as extra time so that the impact on your grades is minimised.

I hope that this help! Good luck!
Reply 6
Original post by Scottie1058
As far as I know medical certificates are avalible from your doctor and you should be eliagble considering your circumstances. This will be taken into consideration when the SQA are awarding your grade. BUT. Medical certificates must have been produced either before or soon after your exam. As far as I know within 3 days of your exam. I could be mistaken on this but it is vital you speak to your school as soon as possible if you think that it may further impact your exams or, if you feel like you may wish to leave this matter until after the exams are over, speak to your Support for Learning dept because they may be able to award you support in exams such as extra time so that the impact on your grades is minimised.

I hope that this help! Good luck!


Ah ok - that definitely clears things up a bit, thank you! Unfortunately, as it's part of an ongoing medical condition that my doctor is aware about, and as I have an appointment with my gastro in less than two weeks, I didn't think to make another doctor's appointment as there isn't much they can really do for me when I have a flareup. Do you know if it's three working days within the exam? As I could probably make an appointment for Monday, but that would be 4 days since the maths exam on thursday including the weekend. Alternatively, would something like the extensive tests I've had done, alongside a statement from my doctor saying that I can regularly have these bouts unexpectedly and what not, be used to form evidence?

No worries if you don't know, as I understand you probably won't be able to say for certain. Thanks very much for your help though :smile:
Original post by Exten
Ah ok - that definitely clears things up a bit, thank you! Unfortunately, as it's part of an ongoing medical condition that my doctor is aware about, and as I have an appointment with my gastro in less than two weeks, I didn't think to make another doctor's appointment as there isn't much they can really do for me when I have a flareup. Do you know if it's three working days within the exam? As I could probably make an appointment for Monday, but that would be 4 days since the maths exam on thursday including the weekend. Alternatively, would something like the extensive tests I've had done, alongside a statement from my doctor saying that I can regularly have these bouts unexpectedly and what not, be used to form evidence?

No worries if you don't know, as I understand you probably won't be able to say for certain. Thanks very much for your help though :smile:


I honestly don't know, you're going to have to speak to your school but do so before you speak your school because they'll know more than me. :s-smilie: Happy to help!
Reply 8
Original post by Scottie1058
I honestly don't know, you're going to have to speak to your school but do so before you speak your school because they'll know more than me. :s-smilie: Happy to help!


No problem, thanks!

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