What are the circumstances affecting you?
Start by summarising your difficulties in one sentence, and state that this is why you want to request an extension or withdrawal from an exam.
When did they begin/occur?
Explain when your difficulties started, being as specific as possible. It is important to show how your circumstances specifically impacted the assessment(s) that you are including on your form.
If you are applying on the basis of long term difficulties, including a long term mental or physical health condition, you need to also show that this has become worse. This is because the College sees mitigating circumstances as something unexpected.
They’d argue that long term difficulties are not unexpected, so you need to be able to show that there was an unexpected deterioration. This is particularly important if you receive personalised examination provisions (PEP).
How did your difficulties affect you?
Here’s where you can explain what symptoms (both physical and psychological) you have experienced, due to your circumstances. Think about all the ways your general wellbeing has been affected, as well as how it’s affected your ability to
study/revise. For example, have you had problems with sleeping or experienced appetite changes? Be as specific as you can.
If you’ve had to take medication and there have been side effects, it would help to list these too. Remember to include some evidence of the side effects, such as a GP note confirming you’ve experienced these, or a copy of the patient information
leaflet that came with your medication.
You can explain how your difficulties have prevented you from meeting the deadline/sitting the exam. It may help to think about which aspects of studying could have been affected, such as concentration, focus, working speed, memory, ability to process information, ability to understand instructions, ability to think clearly and logically, motivation and time in which to work.
We wouldn’t recommend just listing the aspects of studying mentioned above, as it’s important to give specific examples from your own experience. This helps the reader understand your difficulties.
Remember that you’ll need to provide supporting evidence, such as a medical note from a GP, a letter from a counsellor, or documents that back up what you’re saying. You can get advice from [email protected] if you’re still unsure of what evidence to provide.
If you’ve already submitted your work or sat your exam, what made you decide to sit this assessment at the time?
This section won’t apply to you if you haven’t submitted your assignment or sat your exam yet.
If you have already sat your exam or submitted your assignment, you may wish to retrospectively withdraw using the Mitigating Circumstances Form. You have up to 7 days after the submission/exam when you can retrospectively withdraw.
The College applies the principle that a student who attends, submits or participates in any form of assessment shall be considered by the College to be in a position to do so, which means by sitting your exam or submits assessed work,
the College will consider that you are declaring yourself able to do so. If you’d like to withdraw from an assessment you’ve already taken, you need to be able to provide a valid reason for this, for example that you weren’t able to make
a clear decision about whether you were ready to submit your assessment.
If this is the case, you’ll need to explain how your difficulties were impacting on your ability to think clearly, assess your own wellbeing and make good judgements. If you were stressed because of your difficulties, it’d help to explain any symptoms
of stress you experienced and how they affected your decision making abilities.
This is a crucial section if you’ve already taken the assessment, so do be as specific as you can and get advice from [email protected] before submitting.
If you have multiple deadlines/exams in the same week, but you’re not applying for an extension/deferral for all of them, can you explain why you’re able to sit some but not others?
You should explain why your circumstances mean that some assessments have been more affected than others. Please seek advice from [email protected] if you’re in this situation.