Exceptional circumstances

If you are worried that your circumstances could affect your assessments, you should tell us as soon as possible, rather than waiting for your results. An exceptional circumstance is an event that has had a negative impact on your ability to study or complete your assessment. It is something which you could not have foreseen and over which you have no control. Read on to find out more.

Find the right support for you

It’s important that you let us know about any issues you may be experiencing as soon as possible so that we can assist you in finding the right support. Waiting until the end of the year before telling anyone will limit the options available to you.

Examples of exceptional circumstances:

An illness (including mental health) that impacted your ability to attend an exam or meet an assessment deadline or adversely affected your performance in an assessment
Family illness
Pregnancy-related illness
Bereavement
Unforeseen travel disruption normally causing delays of over an hour, for example industrial action or road traffic accident
Acute personal difficulties/Domestic disruption
Jury service

If the due date hasn't passed for your coursework/exams

If you feel that circumstances have impacted you to the point that they could affect your results, you should talk to your Personal Tutor, Programme Leader or Programme Support Officer to see if you may be able to request a coursework extension or have your exam(s) postponed. See the Extension request/exam postponements section below for further information.

If the due date has passed for your coursework/exams

If you have completed your coursework or sat your exam before the full impact of your circumstances are known you should also discuss this with your Personal Tutor, Programme Leader or Programme Support Officer. If you have a valid reason for not reporting this earlier you may be able to request that your circumstances are considered by the Assessment Board when they are looking at your results. See the Request for board consideration section below for further information.

For full information:

Read our student guidance for exceptional circumstances (pdf - 116kb) Find out more in our Exceptional circumstances policy and procedure (pdf - 196kb)

Extension request / exam postponement requests

Online applications for extension requests and exam postponement requests in myHub were launched in 2022/23 to simplify the process of requesting an extension / postponement - please login to myHub (with your BU student account) to make a request.

Important: If you were unable to submit an assignment or sit an exam and did not request an extension prior to the deadline / date and time of exam, then please continue to request assessment board consideration below.

If you have any queries, please contact the Programme Support Team for your course - check with AskBU to find out who this is.

Self-certification of short-term sickness

You may self-certificate for illness up to 5 days. The myHub application form allows you to specify this when you apply and if you are a student in the Business School, Faculty of Media and Communications, or Faculty of Science and Technology you do not need to do anything else.

NHS students on practice or theory, in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences will still need to record a separate self-certification form to satisfy NHS requirements. Please check with your faculty Programme Support Office whether you need to do so and use this form in addition to completing your request in myHub, if you do.

Complete the self-certification of short-term sickness form (word - 48kb)

What happens once I have submitted my exceptional circumstances?

If you have requested a coursework extension(s) or an exam postponement(s) then this will be considered by your Programme Leader (or their nominee). You will normally be advised if this has been authorised within five working days of submitting the form and supporting evidence. For coursework you will be given a new deadline. Postponed exams are normally sat within the next exam period.

Request assessment board consideration

Please use this form if:

You were unable to submit an assignment extension or exam postponement request before the assignment deadline/exam start time (and have a valid reason for the delay)
Your circumstances have continued to have an impact on your performance in assessments beyond the assignment extension/exam postponement that has been granted
You completed your assessment before becoming fully aware of the impact of the circumstances.

Request assessment board consideration (word - 55kb)

More information

What are not exceptional circumstances?

Please be aware that there also events that we would not consider to be exceptional, for example:

Computer IT/failure	It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all work is electronically stored and/or submitted and the correct piece of work is submitted. Enough time should be allowed to submit the work to meet the deadline.
Transport problems	Routine delays to buses and trains will not be accepted.
Misreading assessment dates and times	It is the student’s responsibility to ensure an accurate understanding of the assessment location, time and duration.
Holidays or expeditions	All holidays, and vacations should take place at a time that does not impact your availability to study or prepare for or undertake an assessment.
Inadequate planning, organisation or time management	Students are expected to plan their time to manage their assessments schedules and the study time required to support their own learning.
Timetabling of coursework/examinations	Deadlines of exams being too close together will not be accepted as valid exceptional circumstances claim.
Paid employment or voluntary work	Students are responsible for managing other commitments so that they do not adversely interfere with their studies. If students are experiencing acute personal difficulties that require them to undertake unexpected levels of paid work these might be come under the definition of exceptional circumstances.
Not disclosing circumstances	The University can only consider exceptional circumstances claims if they are disclosed in accordance with regulations. If a student has a valid reason for not disclosing circumstances by the published deadlines they should speak to their Personal Tutor or SUBU Advice.

When will an assessment board consideration take place?

If you have requested assessment board consideration, this will take place during the assessment board season, normally in June or July. If it is agreed that the evidence submitted supports your statement of how the circumstance has impacted you the board will decide the way that you will be reassessed.

This decision will be dependent on how you have performed overall across all of your assessment. Your marks will not be increased and your work will not be marked sympathetically but the board may agree that you be given the opportunity to resit or resubmit as if for the first time.

Can I appeal my results on the grounds of exceptional circumstances?

One of the grounds for appeal is:

“I believe my performance in assessment has been affected by illness or other factors which, for valid reason(s), I was unable to divulge before the meeting of the assessment board.”

Yes, you can appeal, but the appeal can only be upheld if is agreed that you have a valid reason for why this exceptional circumstance could not have been declared before the deadline for board considerations. So, if you think that your circumstances may have affected your results you should still request board consideration, even if you believe you may have passed the assessment.