Potential Outcomes

There are two potential outcomes of a Mitigating Circumstances claim.

Based on the nature of your Mitigating Circumstances (MC), the MC Panel will decide one of the following:

  1. Your MC claim was not approved – No further action will be taken.
  2. Your MC claim was approved – A decision on the appropriate course of action for each individual assessment will be made.

These courses of action will differ depending on whether you are a non-finalist or finalist undergraduate student, or postgraduate taught (PGT) student.

In most cases, an approved claim will be applicable to all assessments contained within the claim. However, in some cases, the panel may determine that some of the assessments were not linked to the circumstances described and no action will be taken in relation to these assessments. This may be because the timing of the circumstances and the assessment do not align (e.g. the assessment had taken place prior to the circumstances occurring) or if multiple circumstances affecting different assessments were included in the same claim and not all of the circumstances were considered to be eligible.

Potential courses of action for non-finalist students

If you are a non-finalist student, the likely outcome of an approved claim is a repeat attempt of any or all parts of module assessment(s) that were negatively impacted on a first or second attempt basis. The attempt basis is dependent on whether you had taken the module on a first or second attempt basis.

If the assessment is unavailable in the Special Assessment Period (for example, it contains laboratory or fieldwork), then the repeat attempt must be undertaken in the following academic year.

For undergraduate students, if you have met the requirements for progression to your next part, you may decide to decline your repeat attempt(s) and you will be able to progress to the next part with the marks you have already achieved. If you have not met the requirements for progression, then your repeat attempt must always be undertaken before you can be considered to progress onto the next part of your programme.

In exceptional circumstances only, the MC Panel may decide to make a minor increase to your assessment mark or substitute an alternative assessment mark. This is normally between 1-5 percentage points, depending on the severity of your circumstance(s) and the extent of the impairment.

Circumstances that might be considered exceptional in this context would include but are not limited to:

  • The affected assessment is unavailable to repeat in the Special Assessment Period; and/or
  • The circumstances giving rise to the MC claim are likely to be ongoing during the Special Assessment Period; and/or
  • There are compelling personal, medical, financial, visa-related, or other reasons why the award of a repeat attempt to be undertaken during the following academic year would be inappropriate.

Potential courses of action for finalist and postgraduate taught students

If you are a finalist or postgraduate taught (PGT) student, the MC Panel might award one of the following outcomes:

  • A repeat attempt of any or all parts of module assessments on a first or second attempt basis (the repeat attempt basis is dependent on whether you had taken the module on a first or second attempt basis); or
  • A minor increase to your assessment mark, which would normally be between 1-5 percentage points depending on the severity of the circumstances; or
  • A substitution of an alternative assessment mark.

Where possible, MC panels will seek to award a repeat attempt and should be conscious of circumstances where not awarding a repeat attempt would result in the loss of an opportunity to improve a degree classification. However, the award of a repeat attempt may result in a delay to your graduation date. Hence, there may be employment-related, visa-related, or other reasons that alternative outcomes are appropriate.

Receiving notification of the Mitigating Circumstances Panels decision

Once your claim has been considered by the Mitigating Circumstances (MC) Panel, you will be notified of the outcome via the Student Self-Service Portal. This will likely be at the end of each Semester, following or in conjunction with the release of your results.

If you have been offered a repeat first or second attempt, you will be sent a reassessment form to complete and return by the deadline. For undergraduate students this will be via the online Reassessment System; for postgraduate taught students, you will be emailed your reassessment form (position statement). You must complete this form regardless of whether you want to accept or decline your repeat attempt(s).