Mitigation FAQs

In the past, you’ve needed to provide evidence, such as a doctor’s note, whenever you apply for mitigation. Recognising the difficulty in obtaining such evidence during the height of the pandemic, we have trialled self-certification over the last 2 years. This allowed a maximum of four extensions of up to a week, without the need to present any evidence. It was a trial because we needed to evaluate any impact for students; and any impacts on the ability of academics and professional services staff to support learning and teaching.

We know from speaking to you and your representatives from the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union that last year’s self-certification process was popular and that you would like us to retain it. For this reason, we have given careful consideration as to how we can balance retaining the most beneficial aspects of the process whilst addressing some of the challenges which have arisen as a result.

The self-certification process, combined with other policies covering mitigation, extensions and late submissions, have had some negative knock-on effects. Carefully planned teaching and assessment schedules were overly disrupted, with consequences for students and their learning. Markers' ability to provide timely feedback and manage waves of submissions spanning multiple weeks was also hindered.

Some examples are: 

• Problems for students in managing their assessment workloads, leading to a backlog of extensions and clustering of deadlines. This had a negative impact on their academic performance and/or health and wellbeing.
• On some modules, as feedback included sharing the correct or model answers, this was delayed until all students had submitted their work. This had a negative impact on students who had submitted on time.
• The ability of academics to schedule their workloads to ensure they can turnaround assessments and feedback in a timely way was hindered. One-week self-certified extensions, evidence-based extensions of up to 2 or 3 additional weeks, plus the period of grace (up to 14 days) in which students could still submit coursework and gain a capped mark, reduced the ability of academic staff to meet the timely turnaround policy (i.e. provision of feedback in 15 working days of the submission deadline).

Over five years (2016-21), there was a decline within the National Student Survey (NSS) results surrounding satisfaction with the quality, quantity and/or timeliness of feedback. This did improve a little in the 2022 NSS results but was still nowhere near where we would like it to be. Improving this for you is one of our key commitments in the 2022/23 academic year.  

To enable us to get feedback to you quickly (normally 15 term-time working days after assessment submission), we have revised the rules around self-certification, mitigation, and deadlines.

Discussions first took place via the sub-committee of the Board of the Faculty of Taught Programmes, which included representatives from every college, from the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union, and from Professional Services.

A workshop took place last spring to discuss proposed changes. It was attended by representatives from the Students’ Union and Students’ Guild (including students nominated by both the SU and Guild) as well as academic and professional services staff (including those from Wellbeing, AccessAbility, Student Cases and the Hubs).

As the proposals developed, in response to ongoing feedback from various stakeholder groups, the VP Education for the Students’ Guild 21-22 and the Exeter President of the Students’ Union 21-22 were kept up-to-date throughout and given multiple opportunities to contribute to the policy development process. Those proposals went to the Board of the Faculty of Taught Programmes in June and were discussed again by representatives from every college, the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union, and Professional Services. Finally, they were discussed and agreed by the Education Executive and NSS Gold groups. A key proviso was that the revised policy should be reviewed again in twelve months, again in the light of feedback from students, academics and Professional Services staff.

In terms of more recent discussions about implementation and procedure, Wellbeing and Welfare colleagues, along with Mitigation User Group staff, have been regularly consulted.

We will continue to work with the Students' Guild and Students' Union on this policy and plan to review it regularly. We have been pleased to share our new policy and the reasons for it with the new sabbatical officers (VP Education for the Students’ Guild; and Exeter President for the Students’ Union, Cornwall). Although we haven't always agreed on the best approach, we have always listened to concerns and found areas of consensus, such as the need to introduce financial issues as evidence due to the cost of living crisis. During this process, there has been a commitment to collaboration, dialogue and an exchange of views, which will continue.

Yes, an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out. An EIA is an ongoing process designed to help identify any potential impacts (either negative or positive) of a new/amended policy or process on anyone identifying with a protected characteristic and, where possible, steps should be taken to mitigate against any negative impacts identified.

Throughout the past 18 months, we have consulted widely with representatives and nominees from the Students’ Union, the Students’ Guild, Wellbeing, AccessAbility, the EDI Team, and academic and professional services colleagues, to listen carefully to concerns about potential negative impacts on staff and students protected by the Equality Act 2010. We have given serious consideration to all the points raised and, where possible, have amended the policy accordingly. Where it has not been possible to accommodate all the points raised, we have taken steps, so far as we are able, to mitigate any negative impact.

We have been careful to consider:

• The management and consistency of policy implementation across Faculties, especially in terms of the advice and guidance students receive in relation to assessment and feedback, time management, workload planning, and prioritisation.
• The identification and treatment of students with Individual Learning Plans (ILP) which support extensions.
• The need to review the evidence that students with caring responsibilities might be expected to submit in support of applications for mitigation.
• The need to communicate the changes clearly and make the relevant information accessible to all.
• The ability of markers to extend their marking deadlines to manage their own disabilities and health conditions.

We will continue to engage with, and listen carefully to, our community. We have therefore committed to a further review of this policy after 12 months. We welcome all feedback (particularly from students protected by the Equality Act 2010) in order to inform this review. Through both formal and informal consultations we will be asking your representatives in the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union to provide us with the feedback they have received from students and to collaborate with us in any future development of the policies and procedures.

Yes. You can apply for extensions with no evidence required up to up to 4 times* in an academic year. This will give you an extension of 72 hours (3 calendar days) each time.

*One self-certification permitted per assessment

You can apply for a longer extension of up to two weeks, for which you will need to supply supporting evidence. A maximum of three weeks can be granted in severe and/or complex circumstances. The two or three week extension time includes the 72 hours (3 calendar days).

Yes you can, with supporting evidence. You can read more about the mitigation process and your options here.

It is important not to defer too many items however, otherwise you might have too heavy a workload in your next assessment period. Typically exams are deferred until a single week in August therefore deferring several exams means taking them in a single week period.

The Mitigation Policy on the University website provides some guidance on the accepted grounds for mitigation and the types of evidence that are acceptable. You can find this here: Annex F. Please read this information carefully, as it will guide you to the most appropriate forms of evidence for your circumstances.

In general, we prefer to receive evidence from independent third-parties, such as medical professionals or, in the case of financial issues, statements from workplace supervisors, managers or service leads. However, if you are unable to obtain a note from a doctor or health, wellbeing or other professional, you can ask for a statement of support from a University staff member such as:

• Education Welfare Advisors
• Wellbeing staff
• Academic Personal Tutor
• Dissertation tutor
• Module lead for that group or assignment

Alternatively, you can ask a member of the Students’ Guild Advice Unit or Students’ Union advice team. 

You should ask a member of staff who is familiar with the circumstances surrounding your application for mitigation. Members of staff who are not already aware of your circumstances may not be willing or able to provide a supporting statement.

Yes. For students applying for mitigation on the basis of an ILP which indicates support for extensions on coursework, there is no limit to the number of extensions for which you can apply. However, the maximum extension that can be conferred on any single assessment on the basis of an ILP alone is two weeks. Additional evidence (please see the Mitigation web pages for details of appropriate evidence) may be submitted to request an extra extension of one or two weeks (depending on the length of the original extension). The maximum extension (or total duration of multiple extensions) on any single piece of coursework assignment is three weeks (only permitted in severe and/or complex circumstances).

If you have an ILP which supports extensions, you can apply for an unlimited number of self-certified 72 hour extensions. 

An Individual Learning Plan (ILP) informs your faculty of recommended reasonable adjustments that may be put in place once you have declared a disability.

ILPs support students with a health condition or disability which is classified as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, (i.e. has lasted or is likely to last over 12 months). 

If you require an ILP, we ask that you read the information on the Wellbeing web pages and book an appointment with us. Following an assessment, an ILP will be set up and stored on the Student Record System.

Ahead of the meeting, if possible, it is important that you obtain medical evidence from a doctor or a diagnostic assessment report written by an educational psychologist or specialist teacher for Specific Learning Difficulties.

Cornwall students can request an ILP by contacting the Accessibility team based on our Penryn campus.

We recognise that the cost of living crisis this year may cause difficulties for some students. We’ve worked with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union to change our policy, so that we can include financial circumstances as a reason you can apply for mitigation, this year. If you are experiencing any significant worsening in adverse personal/ family/ welfare circumstances, you may have grounds for mitigation. This could include unexpected and unavoidable short-term financial hardship which is impacting your ability to study.

Evidence must demonstrate the adverse personal circumstances which are making it hard for you to engage with teaching and learning activities, and/or complete your assessments. This could include:

1. Relevant financial documentation, in the form of bills and/or letter of support from the Student Funding Team/Hardship Fund, and evidence of how the related circumstances are impacting your academic work
2. Statement of support from sponsors, indicating significant change in personal/unforeseen financial circumstances which is impacting your academic work
3. Statement of support from, or relevant correspondence with, a workplace supervisor, manager or service lead indicating an increase or decrease in working hours and the resulting impact on your academic work
4. Statement of support from any relevant University of Exeter staff member (e.g. Education Welfare Advisors, Wellbeing Staff, Academic Personal Tutor, and the University scholarships team) and/or Students' Guild (Exeter) or Students' Union (Penryn or Truro) Advice Units. This should be a member of staff who is already familiar with the circumstances and has knowledge of the issue about which the application for mitigation is being made.

We’ve made a commitment to continue our dialogue with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union representatives as we monitor the roll-out of these changes. We will review annually to make sure no further adjustments need to be made. There will be additional reviews in Terms 1 and 2.

In addition, the policy changes will be an agenda item at the Education Boards in October 2022 and June 2023, specifically to provide an opportunity to reflect on their implementation and progress, and to allow further discussion if required.

We always avoid communicating with students over the summer because so many of you are unable to look at your email accounts during this time due to work and volunteering commitments. Similarly, the first week of term is usually very busy, particularly for first year students.

Faculty Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellors for Education and Senior Education Partners have been informed of the changes to the policy, setting out clear expectations in terms of advice and guidance to students. The policy is University-wide, published in the Teaching Quality Assurance (TQA) Manual, and all those responsible for its implementation have been consulted and communicated with. There is a section in the “Mitigation: Deadline Extensions and Deferrals” section of the TQA Manual, under the ‘Consideration of Applications’ heading, which provides guidance to those members of Mitigation Committees making decisions about how to respond to applications for mitigation involving requests for extensions beyond two weeks. We also state that: “Records of permitted extensions beyond two weeks must be kept and reviewed regularly to ensure consistency of approach over time and to enable the sharing of best practice between decision-makers”. This is a process being managed by the Mitigation Advisory Group which includes representatives from all three Faculties.

We’ve simplified our rules around submission deadlines and the penalties that apply for late submissions. Now the same late penalties apply to all online exams and all forms of coursework. We’ve done this to make it easier for everyone to understand.

For coursework this means:

• Work submitted up to one hour late will receive a 5% reduction in marks, down to a minimum score of the module pass mark
• Work submitted between 1 hour and 24 hours late will be capped at the pass mark
• Work submitted more than 24 hours late will receive a mark of zero

(NOTE: Where an exceptional three-week extension has been granted, work submitted at any point beyond the extended submission deadline will receive a mark of zero. Any students requiring additional time should submit a further application for mitigation within 24 hours of the extended deadline in order to be granted a deferral.)

For online exams this means:

• Work submitted up to 59 secs late, no penalty will be applied
• Work submitted between 1 min and 4 mins, 59 secs late will receive a 5% reduction in marks 
• Work submitted between 5 mins and 29 mins, 59 secs late, the mark will be capped at the pass mark
• Work submitted more than 30 mins late, a mark of zero will be applied

Please always check you’re submitting the right piece of work to the right place. A Late Submission of Coursework FAQs is also available within the TQA Manual: section 2.11.

We always seek to make improvements to our online assessments and exams and this work has been happening, alongside the policy changes detailed in the FAQs above.

Like most universities, our rapid move to online exams was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, thanks to your feedback and that of staff, we’re in a position to be able to make further improvements.

We’re partnering with one of the leading education software providers to further develop our ELE platform into a far more advanced assessment hub where you and your academics can find everything you need for assessments.

We will be selecting a small number of modules to pilot new tools for assessments and a better user experience. These will start from January 2023. Depending on the student and staff feedback on these pilots - we aim to roll out coursework improvements across the University from the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year.

This summer, we also started the Assessment Reimagined project, working with students, academics and professional services colleagues, to improve our assessments and provide the right feedback. We’ve been looking at the nature of assessments and assessment journeys, and how best to make them inclusive. This coincided with a Students As Change Agents project, which highlighted areas for improvement and recommended sharing best practice across the University. As a result, we’ll be running some pilot projects during this academic year on a range of initiatives, designed to improve your learning experience. We will collaborate with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union on this new project to ensure we gather your feedback.

Success at university is about more than academic ability. It is also determined by many broader skills which you can develop during your time with us. Managing your time effectively, developing skills in assessment techniques, and ensuring you have a healthy work-life balance are all ways that you can maximise your achievement.

Penryn Support

The ASK Academic Skills team is here to support you and you can find info on their webpages. On the Studyhub pages you will be able to find lots of information, including:

- a range of study guides, resources and tools

- information on accessibility services and inclusion

- how to book 1-1 sessions for advice and support

- language classes and support

If your health or wellbeing is having an impact on your ability to study or manage your workload, you can also speak with your Education Welfare Advisor who can help signpost you to the correct support.

Exeter Support

Study Zone has a range of ways to help you, including drop-in sessions, in-curriculum workshops arranged by your lecturers, and a wide selection of digital resources. You can learn more about things like academic writing, referencing, exams and revision, and digital skills, as well as accessing support with time management, effective note taking, and making the most of feedback. Follow on @uoestudyzone to stay up to date with what’s happening.

The English Language Skills Development programme supports students who speak English as a second language. The team provides an extensive range of courses, classes and one-to-one support in addition to independent learning resources available on the Guided Independent Learning site.

The Liaison Librarians offer one-to-one support for students to develop skills in finding and using quality information sources for their assessments and projects.

If your health or wellbeing is having an impact on your ability to study or manage your workload, you can also speak with your Education Welfare Advisor who can help signpost you to the correct support.

Find out here how second year Geography student Libby managed her increasing academic workload.

If you feel illness or other adverse personal circumstances may affect your ability to perform academically you may be able to apply for Mitigation. The Mitigation Process is used in circumstances such as health issues, or unexpected personal circumstances that may prevent a student working to their full capability.

Applications are processed for the following types of mitigation:

• Extension to coursework deadlines
• Deferral of an assessment to the next available assessment period

Very exceptionally, and in accordance with the University regulations, there may be a handful of cases for which extension or deferral are not appropriate, but these will normally be dealt with on an individual basis.

The mitigation process is used for summative assessments only, however for certain assessments (such as presentations and formatives) you can speak with your module convenor to arrange a different assessment deadline/ scheduled time, rather than going through the Hub Mitigation Team, if you are studying at an Exeter Campus. For those studying at the Penryn Campus, please contact the Penryn Hub for all assessments that you require mitigation - summative or formative.

Please contact your Hub if you require any advice or assistance on this process. Independent advice and support is also available through the Students’ Guild Advice Unit and the Students' Union Advice Unit.

For full University regulations on mitigation please see the Teaching Quality Assurance Manual, Chapter 10.

The details of any application will remain confidential between the colleague dealing with your application and in some cases the Mitigation Committee members and its representatives, unless there is clear risk to you or another. All information regarding your application is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

In cases where you feel like an extension or a deferral are not appropriate, go to your Hub Info Point to initially discuss your options. This could be in cases such as:

1. Requesting alternative assessment – this is only permitted when listed as a requirement on a student ILP. Alternative assessments are applied for by completing and submitting the standard mitigation application form.  Please note that the deadline for requesting alternative assessments for exams is the same date as advertised for those students who require specific exam adjustments.  The dates and additional information will be sent out to students termly.
2. Presentation re-arrangement; Exeter campus students may be able to arrange an alternative time without going through the mitigation process, remember this is at the discretion of the module convenor. Penryn students, please contact your Hub as with other assessments
3. In class tests – please go to your Info Point to check what mitigation provisions are available.

Please go to your Hub Info Point if you have any further queries.

If you feel the circumstances affecting your performance are on-going, and are likely to last the whole academic year or longer, you should consider the following options:

1. Ask your Personal Tutor about support under the Health, Wellbeing and Support to Study Procedure (HWSS). For more information about HWSSP please follow this link.
2. Contact your Info Point or your Hub’s Welfare Advisor. Penryn students can contact the Education Support Manager (Welfare) for their Hub.
3. Contact Wellbeing Services for support.
4. Interruption from your studies. If you are considering interruption, we recommend that you seek academic advice from your Personal Tutor and financial advice from the Students’ Guild Advice Unit (Exeter) or Student's Union (Penryn).  There is information about Interruption of Studies online here.

It is one week from the original due date. You are expected to still be working on your coursework where possible while you are waiting to hear about an extension, and you should hand in your work as soon as it is ready to submit.

• You will receive an email confirming the outcome of any mitigation application.

• If your work is to be submitted via ELE 2, your dashboard will be updated and your submission point will say ‘You have an extension’ next to it. Please note that your ELE2 dashboard will be updated once the full application/evidence has been received and a decision made. Where the decision-making process is completed beyond the submission date, the Mitigation team is able to adjust ELE 2 retrospectively if necessary to add an extension.

• If you would like to query the status of your application, please contact your Hub.

If you find an extension we have granted is not sufficient, and you wish to have a longer extension, you must submit another mitigation application form. Please be aware, the maximum permitted extension is usually two weeks.  After this you will be asked to defer the assessment instead.

Applications will be processed within 5 working days. During busy periods (for example the end of term and assessment periods), applications can take longer to process.

Students must make a decision on whether to undertake the exam or submit the assignment on time with the knowledge that the mitigation application may or may not be successful. If students feel that their performance will be significantly affected, they should still submit their assignment or sit the exam, unless it is felt that to do so would exacerbate their condition or disrupt the exam for other students.

If a mitigation application is unsuccessful and the student does not sit the examination, they will automatically receive a mark of zero. If the mitigation application is unsuccessful and the student does not submit the coursework on time, they will be capped. Full details can be found in the TQA manual – section 2.11.

The University does not offer performance impact mitigation, this means the University will never grant additional marks to a student based on adverse personal circumstances. A mitigation application will likely result in either an extension or deferral.

If you are on a year abroad please contact your host institution in the first instance, and engage with their mitigation procedures. If you feel that the mitigation offered by your host institution isn’t sufficient please contact your Study Abroad co-ordinator for their advice, as soon as possible. When contacting Exeter about mitigation please make sure you tell us the title of the module(s) affected.

Students may be granted up to a maximum of three-weeks extension for assessments due during the Refer/Defer period (the August assessment session) in line with the Teaching Quality Assurance Policy. However, please be aware that any extension granted beyond one-week may result in delays to confirmation of progression into the next stage of studies as your work will still need to be marked, moderated and sent to an External Examiner (if applicable) before being considered by the Assessment, Progression and Awarding Committees (APAC).

You can apply for deferral of assessments due during the Refer/Defer period. If approved, this would mean completing the assessment in the next available assessment period in the following academic year.  This would also affect your ability to progress into your next year of studies on your degree programme - for further information, please refer to point 3.4 below.

If you have already been granted deferral for an assessment, and you wish to apply for further deferral we would likely not approve this if you applied on the same grounds (without a flare up or exacerbation being evidenced). This is because we expect students to make reasonable adjustments to their situation in order to prepare for any August assessment sessions.

Please also be aware that in line with the University regulation TQA: 2.13.1, modules must be completed by the end of the academic year following that in which they were started. Periods of interruption are not included within this timeframe.

Unlike referred work, deferred work will not normally be capped. To defer means to delay taking the assessment, normally until the August session, as if for the first time. A deferred essay would however be capped if the essay were then submitted late. If a referred item is subsequently deferred, then it would be capped in the same way that the original referral was. For more information on this please contact your Hub.

The University does not usually permit trailing of assessments/modules, meaning you won’t be able to progress to the next stage of your degree until you have completed your deferred assessments.

Students that have deferred work into the next academic year will have an enrolment status of ‘Resitting without attendance’ and will usually not be allowed to attend any classes.

Undergraduate finalist students may still be able to attend July graduation ceremonies despite not having completed all of their modules by the time of the June APACs. This is dependent on the number of credits you have successfully completed and whether or not you have met the conditions for an ordinary degree. If you meet these criteria you will be able to walk across the stage and receive an empty envelope. Once you have successfully completed your outstanding credits your Honours degree will be confirmed.

For more information on ordinary degrees please refer to Table 2 at https://www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/specificsites/tqa/apa/APA_Handbook_Chapter_9.pdf

For further information on awarding principles please visit: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/specificsites/tqa/apa/APA_Handbook_Chapter_9.pdf

There are penalties (including a potential mark of zero) for uploading the incorrect piece of coursework or submitting an incorrect hard copy. Examples of incorrect submission include:

• Upload of incorrect file
• Correct file submitted but all or part of it is unreadable/corrupted.

If you are concerned about incorrect submission contact your Hub as a matter of urgency.

Students are reminded to check the correct work has been uploaded, submitted to the correct link, and to aim to submit three hours before the deadline to allow for unforeseen problems.

Anyone with an extension of a week or more, will now receive their feedback within 6 weeks.

In term 3, due to the close proximity between marking and the APACs (exam boards) an extension could delay your progression/awarding decision being confirmed, as a full profile of results is required. In some circumstances this delay could result in your award not being confirmed in time to be included in the next graduation ceremony.

Students can appeal against mitigation decisions, however you must follow the University’s strict rules on appeals. Further information can be found here.

Alongside your Pastoral Mentor and/ or Academic Tutor, your Hub is your first point of contact for any queries relating to your course or personal issues which may be impacting upon your studies.

Our Education Support Advisors (Welfare) are available to talk to you in a confidential and non- judgmental space about any issue you feel you may need support with. They offer practical support, as well as access to self-help materials, and signposting to specialist advice and support services.

To contact an Education Support Advisor (Welfare), click here.

Other useful contacts: