Bereavement

Coping with grief and the death of a close relation can be exceptionally challenging and can have a significant impact on you and your academic studies.

If you have experienced bereavement, we encourage you to let the University know and seek additional support as soon as possible. The following University services can provide support:

• Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity (SWAI)
• University Chaplaincy
• Wellbeing Adviser

If your bereavement has negatively impacted your assessment or preparation for an assessment, then you should submit a Mitigating Circumstances (MC) claim. Similarly, you should submit an MC claim if you have been absent from an examination or class test due to attendance at the funeral of a close relation or friend taking place on the same day.

If you experienced a bereavement that had an indirect impact on you (for example, you were providing support to a close relation who suffered the loss), then please submit a MC claim. Your claim should explain the impact that this had on you and your academic performance.

• As much detail as possible on your bereavement including the date and relationship with the deceased.
• A full explanation outlining how your circumstance(s) has impacted your academic performance in your assessment(s).
• Which assessment(s) were impacted by the circumstances outlined in your claim by selecting the relevant components on the online form.
• If you can provide evidence that will verify and support your claim, you should include this. However, we recognise that it can be challenging to gather evidence for some claims so please submit your claim anyway. Suitable evidence would include, for example, a death certificate.
• If you have received support from Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity (SWAI) for the circumstances outlined in your claim, you can ask SWAI to provide the evidence via the tick box in Student Self-Service.