Student guidance for request for additional consideration policy

What is a Request for Additional Consideration Claim?

Request for Additional Circumstances can be used for circumstances such as medical or personal issues which have seriously affected your ability to complete an assessment, over which you have no control, and which could not have been predicted.

You can ask the University to consider requests for the following reasons:

For Level 1 (Extension) requests:

In the case of a short-term period of illness or condition
When unexpected caring responsibilities are required
If students are affected by a bereavement
When a traumatic incident is experienced because of a protected characteristic

For Level 2 and 3 (Deferral or Mitigating actions) requests:

Where serious, unforeseeable personal circumstances prevent a student from taking or completing a module properly
Where a student is unable to attend a formal examination due to serious, unforeseeable personal circumstances
Where serious, unforeseeable personal circumstances can be shown to have affected a student’s performance in assessment

What sort of grounds can you apply for a Level 2 or 3 Request for Additional Consideration on?

Examples likely to be accepted for Level 2&3 requests may include:

Serious short-term illness or injury
Worsening of an ongoing illness or disability, including mental health conditions
Symptoms of an infectious disease that could be harmful if passed on to others
Death or significant illness of a close family member or friend
Unexpected caring responsibilities for a family member or dependent
Significant personal or family crises leading to acute stress
Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic incident
A crime which has had a substantial impact on the student
Accommodation crisis such as eviction or the home becoming uninhabitable
An emergency or crisis that prevents the student from attending an exam or accessing an online assessment
A technical problem that prevents the student from accessing online teaching or assessment
Safeguarding concerns

Examples unlikely to be accepted may include:

Holidays, house moves or other events that were planned or could reasonably have been expected
Minor illness such as common colds or hay fever, unless the symptoms are particularly severe
Assessments that are scheduled close together
Misreading the exam timetable
Poor time management
Minor transport disruption
Computer or printer failure where the student should have backed up their work
Normal exam stress
Minor life events, unless the circumstances have had a disproportionate impact
Work pressure, unless the circumstances have had a disproportionate impact

How do I make a Request for Additional Consideration Claim?

To make a Request for Additional Consideration Claim you should apply online by visiting UDo.

Please note, for a 7-day Extension via Self-Certification (Level 1) you can submit a request once per academic year and for one assessment.

What if I have ongoing personal circumstances?

The Request for Additional Consideration procedure cannot be used to support or mitigate against ongoing personal circumstances or illness.

If you have ongoing personal circumstances or illness that are impacting on your ability to complete your assessments, you should:

Consider seeking support via a Support Plan if your illness is ongoing
Consider taking an Authorised Break in Study if your personal circumstances are ongoing

You can get advice and guidance on Authorised Breaks in Study from your; Programme Leader, Personal Academic Tutor or Personal College Advisor / Online Learner Advisors.

What evidence should I provide?

Please see appendix one for a matrix of evidence which shows what type of evidence you could consider providing.

This is not an exhaustive list. The important thing when considering what evidence to provide is that the evidence you provide helps the panel understand the impact your circumstances have had on you and your studies.

In all circumstances, you should clearly explain in your application what the evidence is, and how it relates to your application, so the panel can fully understand why it is being provided.

When does evidence need to be provided?

To enable your application to be considered quickly and an outcome given to you in a timely manner, you should aim to provide your evidence alongside your application. If you are unable to do this, you can still submit an application however if you fail to provide evidence following one reminder from the Additional Consideration Panel Officer, your application will be closed down.

What should I do if I become ill during an examination or viva voce?

For Postgraduate Research students, if you are ill during your viva voce, you should notify the Chair of your viva voce examination, and they will discuss with you (and your Director of Studies, if present) how to proceed.

For examinations, applications must be received no later than 7 days post the formal examination.

What happens if I cannot attend my viva voce examination?

If you are unable to attend your viva voce examinations, you should notify the Student Research Office (PGRStudentoffice@derby.ac.uk) as soon as possible, so that all attendees can be notified. If the examination cannot go ahead on the agreed date, you may be asked to provide evidence to support your non-attendance. A new date will need to be agreed upon and communicated to all parties involved.

What happens if I experience technical difficulties when trying to submit work?

Firstly, the best guidance to support you with this is to not leave submitting your assessment right until the last minute. By doing this you do not build in any contingency time, which can be very stressful and you could jeopardise meeting the overall deadline if you are unable to submit.

If you experience technical difficulties whilst trying to submit your work, you should:

Call IT Services on 01332 591234. They will be able to advise and support you and importantly they will record that you have contacted them
You should make every attempt to submit the work that you are trying to submit – either via an alternative submission point or via email to your module leader, by the specified deadline

Requests for Additional consideration on the basis of technical issues will only be accepted where there is evidence to demonstrate that enough time was left to submit on time and that all possible steps where taken to submit successfully.

Where can I get advice about what to apply for?

You can also speak to your Personal Academic Tutor, Programme Leader, or Personal College Advisor / Online Learner Advisor.

What if I can’t submit the request myself?

Normally, we expect students to submit the request themselves. However, we understand in some serious circumstances this might not be possible – for example if you are admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment. In such instances, your Personal College Advisor / Online Learner Advisor can exceptionally help you to make the application.

What happens when my request has been submitted?

Once you have submitted your request, it will be considered first by the Additional Consideration Panel Officer. They will check to make sure the application is complete with full details and evidence provided. If this is the case, your application will be considered for an outcome.

For Level 1 requests and singular Level 2 requests where the evidence is clear, the Additional Considerations Panel Officer will be able to make the decision on your request.

For level 3 requests, or for multiple or repeat level 2 requests, these will be considered by the Request for Additional Consideration panel. Normally these panels happen fortnightly, and you will be told when your application is awaiting a panel decision.

If you have not provided enough information or evidence for your application, the panel officer will contact you to seek clarification. If a panel is required, this may cause a slight delay in receiving an outcome.

How are requests considered?

Reviewers determine the validity of each case, taking the following into account:

Have you provided a clear supporting statement detailing the nature, severity and impact of the circumstances?
Could the circumstances have been predicted or avoided?
Did the period affected correspond with the assessment date or timing?
Are the circumstances sufficiently severe to have had a definite impact?
Where evidence is provided, is the request supported by relevant and genuine evidence third-party evidence?
Were adjustments in place to support the assessment (e.g. a RAP)?
Were the circumstances particular to you, or did they apply to all students?

What happens if my request is approved?

You will receive a communication to inform you that your request has been approved, this will include any specific details in relation to the next steps, such as the arrangements/deadline for the deferred assessment.

What can I do if my request has been rejected?

Where requests have been rejected due to insufficient or lack of evidence, you may, within 10 working days, submit further information or evidence to support your case.

Following the conclusion of the Request for Additional Consideration process and where a request has been rejected, you may subsequently submit an academic appeal against the decision of the Assessment Board when ratified/confirmed results are available.

You will need to establish a good reason to explain why all relevant information could not be provided through the Request for Additional Consideration (RAC) Procedure. Not knowing about the University's RAC Procedure would not be considered a good reason for the non-submission of a RAC request.

The following would be considered acceptable reasons to explain why a RAC request was not submitted in line with the RAC Procedure:

How can I use Level 2 of the RAC Policy if I am experiencing financial hardship?

Financial difficulties are not normally a reason for using the level 2/3 RAC policy. However, the University recognises that exceptionally significant, unforeseen financial hardship may impact up on your performance in assessments.

As ever, it is always best to try to submit assessments wherever possible to ensure that you can continue to progress with your studies on time and without delay. However, if you feel that you are unable to submit to your assessment deadline due to the impact of significant financial hardship it may be possible for you to apply for a level 2 RAC to seek a deferral.

Level 2/3 RAC applications are for where serious unforeseeable personal circumstances can be shown to have an adverse effect on your performance in an assessment. Examples of when you might apply for a Level 2/3 RAC based a significant decline in personal/ family/ welfare circumstances due to financial hardship:

You have become ill because of your financial circumstances
Employment termination or redundancy
Rent payments, eviction notices, or unsafe living conditions, requiring time to address these housing issues

When you apply for a level 2 RAC, your application should focus on the impact your circumstances are having on your ability to engage in your assessments. We would normally require evidence from independent professionals to demonstrate this. The RAC panel would not expect or request that you submit financial information (such as bank statements) as they will be requiring evidence of the impact the circumstances are having on you rather than the circumstances themselves.

REMINDER: the RAC policy isn’t designed to manage long term circumstances. Often, we can find that financial circumstances take some time to resolve and therefore we strongly encourage you to seriously consider taking an Authorised Break in Study. Find information about the Authorised Break in Study procedure.

If I am a final-year student, what should I be aware of?

If you are in the final year of your studies, you should be aware that if you are unable to submit an assessment, this may result in a delay to your graduation as it may not be possible to offer a further assessment opportunity prior to graduation. This may mean that your attendance at an Award Ceremony may be delayed, however, you will be invited to the next possible scheduled ceremony.

Should I still submit my work?

We would advise that you should always submit any work that you have completed to the original specified deadline, even if you are seeking an extension via Level 1 or an assessment deferral via level 2. This is because if you don’t submit to the original deadline and your request is not approved, you run the risk of your assessment being marked as a Non-Submission (NS). At least if you submit something, even if it is not fully finished or refined, you might still be able to pass the assessment.

What happens if I still cannot submit my work by the new approved deadline?

It would be unusual for multiple requests to be approved for the same module. This is because the Request for Additional Consideration policy is not meant to manage ongoing circumstances, it is in place to support unexpected circumstances that are impossible to plan for.