Extenuating Circumstances & Academic Appeal Procedures

Every university has provision within their rules/regulations for students to apply for Extenuating/Mitigating/Special/Exceptional Circumstances (‘EC’) in respect of an assessment(s).  Whilst the terminology differs across the various institutions, a student must be able to show that their academic performance in an assessment was, or will be, negatively affected by certain circumstances.  Often this may require a close nexus in time between circumstances and the assessment(s) affected. 

Care should be taken as to when the regulations require a student to notify the institution of these circumstances, and any application must always be supported by robust evidence if at all possible.  Some institutions have taken the progressive step of relaxing the evidential requirements in respect of medical evidence during the current lockdown period to limit non-essential impositions on the time of doctors.  However, this approach has not been adopted uniformly across the UK, therefore one must take care to ask what temporary changes to the requirements may be in place.

If one does not submit an application for EC, or fails to do so within the specified time-limit, it is often still possible to rely on these circumstances within an academic appeal if they resulted in a ‘fail’ or a poor result.  However, in such an instance a student must explain why an application for EC was not made earlier, i.e. you must demonstrate that there is a good reason for these circumstances not being disclosed to the institution sooner.

Students who are suffering from physical or mental health difficulties should consider whether to inform the university that they may be suffering from a ‘disability’, or a worsening of a previously notified disability, that would warrant ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their assessment. 

All universities are obligated under the Equality Act 2010 to make such adjustments for students where their condition has a substantial and long-term impact on their ability to do normal daily activities.  The development or worsening of a disability may be a valid basis for an academic appeal of a failed assessment.

The formal process and potential remedies available from an academic appeal can vary.  It is therefore vital that anyone considering an appeal checks their institution’s regulations as soon as possible to understand the procedure and avoid any prejudice from delay.  Often a successful academic appeal can result in fresh consideration of the marks for an assessment, being allowed an additional attempt to avoid withdrawal from a course, or a further attempt being regarded as a ‘first-sit’ and therefore being uncapped in its marks.

Complaint Procedures

As with academic appeals, each university has provision within their rules/regulations to allow students to raise a complaint.  If a student has concerns over their course provision, supervision or placement, this is generally more suited to a complaint rather than an academic appeal.  However, the intention in such circumstances is to attempt to remedy the situation, for example through the provision of appropriate reasonable adjustments or a change of supervisor.  A successful complaint can rarely lead to any change in the marks for an assessment.  As with appeals, there are tight deadlines for lodging a complaint.

Beyond the University

An unsuccessful academic appeal or complaint can be further challenged via a Complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (‘OIA’).  In particular, the OIA has sought to emphasise that good communication is critical, not only to ensure fairness to all students and avoid unnecessary anxiety.

Although litigation should always be a last resort, there may also be grounds to consider pursuing legal proceedings against the university for failing to fulfil its obligations to each student either under contract or public law.  This can take the form of a claim for damages based upon breach of contract and/or negligence; or a judicial review challenge to a decision/policy of the university that has negatively impacted you, which is usually based upon the reasonableness and fairness of its decision-making and policies.  Ultimately, any consideration by the courts will not be determined in a vacuum, and so students should expect some leeway to be given to institutions grappling with these issues.

 

The preceding views are not intended to replace legal advice from an instructed lawyer who can deal with any specific queries concerning such issues.