extenuating circumstances, how likely?

Hey guys,

My second year of university i was only allowed to resit 60 CAT points but i failed 90 and i have sort of accepted the fact that i will be retaking the year. During the last two modules of my year (60 CAT points) i missed the majority of uni and my attendance was awful due to the fact that i was home because my father has been very ill. Would applying for extenuating circumstances even be an option for me? and what evidence could i even use for it?

Cheers guys.

It's very unlikely that you will be able to get extenuating circumstances as you need to submit it before any assessments for it to count.

What evidence could i provide though? i think the only thing i have on my side if the attendance records!

Hey guys,

My second year of university i was only allowed to resit 60 CAT points but i failed 90 and i have sort of accepted the fact that i will be retaking the year. During the last two modules of my year (60 CAT points) i missed the majority of uni and my attendance was awful due to the fact that i was home because my father has been very ill. Would applying for extenuating circumstances even be an option for me? and what evidence could i even use for it?

Cheers guys.

You should definitely contact your senior tutor or personal tutor and let them know your circumstance. The usual route is to submit an appeal.

Ask them what specific evidence is needed, but it usually will need to be a statement from a professional (e.g. family doctor, counsellor etc) who knows about your father's ill health.

I would strongly urge you to do so quickly, especially in obtaining the evidence. The deadline for appeal is usually short, for my university it is within 10 days of results publication.

Ask your student union to step in, they are very familiar with university procedures and will help you with your appeal if this is indeed your next step.

For the appeal you would need to prepare a statement with your appeal describing the events and the impact they had on you, what outcome you are looking for and your current circumstances. It would also be worth admitting that you were negligent to not raise the issue with your department before sitting your exams, and the reason why you failed to do so (e.g. mental stress). Given that you had a genuine mitigating circumstance they usually would make reasonable adjustment depending on how reasonable your desired outcome is. You will need to be realistic in determining your expectation. Will you be able to resit 90 CATs worth of exams in just 1-2 months, or is it better to ask to be allowed to redo the year? Apart from convincing yourself, you must be able to convince the appeal committee that your proposal is realistic and achievable.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the detailed reply! In all honesty my tutor is absolutely useless and when i asked about what evidence i would need etc she pretty much told me to research it myself. The course if coursework based and the university i missed meant i missed important tutorial sessions that would of improved said coursework. I had asked via email days before the deadline about getting a deadline extension but i got the same reply about needing 'documented evidence' without any indication on what that evidence would be so i pretty much gave up and hoped my submissions would be enough.

You are naturally allowed to resit 60 CAT points so i would only be asking to resit another 30, i have contemplated just accepting my fate and resitting the year but i honestly feel with 1-2 months i can get the 3 projects to a high standard. I think my course of action will be using a photocopy of a doctors letter as evidence, do they have access to university attendance records or will i need to send them as well? Thanks again mate.

Yes, definitely get a doctor's letter and maybe a supporting statement describing the possible impact the illness would have had on your family. You do not need to provide your attendence record (not that they are in your favour anyway). If the committee wants to see your attendence they can simply ask your department directly.

If you feel that you can redo those projects within 1-2 months then go for it and state it clearly as your desired outcome. You should also state any indication that shows that you are capable of achieving it (e.g. good results on earlier courseworks).

Ask your student union to work with you on the appeal. They will also accompany you if you are eventually invited to the committee's meeting. Usually this will only happen if your appeal is considered a borderline case. If you can produce a good statement with sufficient evidence, together with a realistic desired outcome the appeal will result in your favour without any meeting.

I am only given 300 words for my statement, what are the main points i should get across? I have acquired a doctors letter and ideally want to send this appeal off tomorrow so ensure it gets seen in time! Thanks again for the detailed responses mate.