Students who consider that their ability to study or their performance in (or their ability to attend) assessments such as University Examinations has been adversely affected by circumstances beyond their control, such as illness or attending the funeral of a close relative, may have their case considered by the following the 'Mitigation Process' described here:
, which involves completing and submitting a straightforward on-line form and providing appropriate documentary evidence.
Note: Tutors can't access the on-line form for some obscure reason. This screen-shot is for their benefit but can't be used to submit a claim:
In response to the global pandemic, temporary changes have been made to the mitigation process.
In essence, students will not need to provide documentary evidence for mitigation claims and the timeframe for withdrawing an application for mitigation following examinations is extended from 24 hours to three days.
In addition, deferrals may be offered where students submitted work incorrectly or if they submitted late due to technical difficulties.
The information provided with the claim is considered by appropriately trained Professional Services staff in the first instance, who will take decisions in straightforward cases. More complicated cases will be considered by the Physics and Astronomy Mitigation Committee, which reports to the Assessment, Progression and Awarding Committee (APAC). The APAC meets at the times specified elsewhere in this handbook) to consider the results of the Sessional and Final Examinations.
Applications should be made on submission of the assessment or exam or as soon as possible thereafter (normally within 1 working day). Supporting evidence MUST be provided within 10 working days of the assessment date at the very latest. Applications received after these deadlines will be deemed invalid unless the delay was beyond the submitter's reasonable control.
The University Guidelines for Mitigation state that:
Hence, mitigating circumstances can only be taken into account if there is a clear indication that students may have been prevented from performing as well as they could have been expected to. In many cases, students should take action during their studies if they are adversely affected by circumstances (for example, seek appropriate support from personal tutors, study skills advisers or the AccessAbility or Cornwall Accessibility Centre, or use other mechanisms such as interruption or deferral as appropriate). The guidelines also stress that:
The most likely outcome of a mitigation application is deferral or, in the case of course work, a deadline extension.
Decisions are communicated by allocating a code to each claim. Students are notified of these outcomes by email within five working days of the meeting. Codes normally used are:
| Code | Ref. | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| IIE | 10.5.5(a) | Invalid claim; the claim is excluded by University Guidelines and/or the evidence provided was insufficient to support it. |
| ILT | 10.5.5(b) | Invalid claim; it was received too late. |
| NNA | N/A | Claim noted but no action taken/required. |
| VNA | N/A | Valid claim, no action. (The circumstances of the claim did not directly affect the outcome of an assessment.) |
| VDF | 10.5.6(a) | Valid claim, a deferred assessment is permitted. (Normally during the summer resit week.) This can be recommended even where the assessment has been attempted if the Committee decides that the student may have been effectively incapable of sitting the assessment. |
| VDE | 10.5.6(b) | Valid claim, deadline extended. The mark will be recorded on the transcript. |
| VWR | N/A | Valid claim, warning revoked. (The automatic Department's Warning Form was inappropriate.) |
In exceptional circumstances where deferral or an extension to the submission deadline are not appropriate the following decisions may also be considered:
| Code | Ref. | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| VIG | 10.5.7(a) | Valid claim, the assessment mark or module mark will be ignored for the purposes of classification and/or condonement. |
| VMM | 10.5.7(b) | Valid claim and a proxy mark will be awarded in line with the Department's Missing Marks Procedure and will appear on the transcript. |
| VAM | 10.5.7(b) | Valid claim, a proxy mark calculated by increasing the mark of an assessment taken under adverse circumstances in line with Department policy, normally by 5%. |
The references in the above table are to the applicable paragraphs in the University's
See also: Health, Wellbeing and Fitness to Study Procedure.
A student who has been absent or adversely affected because of illness or other circumstances beyond their control should follow the applicable procedures for
and also consult the University's
, which explains what type of evidence will be required to make a successful claim.
Physics follows the University's Student Illness Procedures. These strictly limit the circumstance in which extensions to submission deadlines are possible, e.g.:
The Student Health Centre have their own guidelines concerning when they will issue medical certificates:
A medical certificate must normally be obtained within 24 hours of the affected examination or missed deadline. Certificates from medically qualified relatives are not normally accepted as evidence. Neither are letters that state that a patient was not ill when seen but had reported to the practitioner that they had been unwell previously.
A death certificate, or similar document, provides evidence of the date of a bereavement but University regulations also require evidence of its impact on the claimant. This would normally be note from a medical practitioner or other appropriately qualified professional. This additional requirement can be waived in the following circumstances:
In the event of the death of a first-degree family member:
evidence of impact will not be required for a period of up to three months. Students in this position will often decide to interrupt their study for up to a year.
In the event of the death of a second-degree family member:
evidence of impact will not be required for a period of up to seven days.
It is recognised that the impact of bereavement can vary widely between individuals and the above waivers do not preclude any claims that are supported by appropriate evidence.
See also: Procedures for Handling Missing Marks.