Wellbeing Services in Devon

Delaying an exam or deadline (mitigation)

There are times when things at Uni don’t go to plan. You may be studying with a long-term health condition or disability, dealing with an unexpected and serious situation or be supporting someone else. If an unexpected or difficult situation affects your ability to take an exam or submit an assignment on time, you can request a delay – this is supported by the University’s Mitigation process. 

Remember, you aren’t the only student to need support through mitigation, so please do use it if you need to (though it’s a good idea to speak to someone first – see more details below). Also, the support teams are there to help so we encourage you to get in touch if you need to.

Types of mitigation

If you need to delay an assignment deadline, there are two options:

  • an evidence-free extension which gives you an extra 3 days to submit your assignment
  • evidence-based mitigation which gives you longer but requires evidence of your situation

If you need to delay taking an exam, you can only apply for evidence-based mitigation. Read more about the mitigation process for full details.

Before you apply

Supporting evidence

Questions and answers

  • You do not always have to provide supporting evidence.
  • You can have an evidence-free extension of 72 hours (3 days) for coursework assignments.
  • You can use an evidence-free extension up to 4 times over 12 months; any further extensions required after this must be applied for through the evidence-based mitigation process.
  • If you have an Individual Learning Plan that includes extensions, your entitlement to evidence-free extensions of 72 hours is unlimited.
  • If you need a longer extension to an assignment deadline or you want to delay taking an exam, you need to apply for evidence-based mitigation.
  • You can read more about evidence-free extensions for coursework on the main Mitigation webpage.
  • If you have an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that says extension requests should be supported, you will have an unlimited number of 72-hour extensions you can use on coursework.
  • If you need a longer extension (up to two weeks), apply via the evidence-based mitigation process. You can use your ILP as evidence.
  • If you need longer than two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
  • A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request for support and either send completed supporting evidence to your Hub/Info Point team, or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.
  • You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months, without additional supporting evidence.
  • If you have an ILP that does not specifically mention extensions, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
  • A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request and a practitioner will get in touch with you where required, to discuss both your mitigation and/or any additional support needs you may have.
  • Your completed supporting evidence will be sent directly to your Hub/Info Point.
  • You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
  • If you have been receiving support from Wellbeing Services, or have in the past, Wellbeing Services may be able to support your mitigation application.
  • For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply through the evidence-based mitigation process and complete the Wellbeing Services Mitigation Evidence Request form.
  • A member of the Wellbeing Services team will review your request and send completed supporting evidence to your Hub/Info Point team, or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.
  • You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence. 
    For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and contact your Education Welfare Team to request supporting evidence.
  • Your Education Welfare Team will review your request and send completed supporting evidence to your Hub/Info Point team and/or contact you to request more information or offer additional support, where required.
  • If you are not currently receiving support from the Education Welfare Team, but have done in the past, please apply via the evidence-based mitigation process and contact your Education Welfare Team via email to request supporting evidence.
  • You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
  • For extensions of two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process.
  • The support service you have been involved with can provide supporting evidence. You will need to contact them and ask they email your Hub/Info Point mitigation team directly or write a statement for you to send to the Hub/Info Point mitigation team.
  • Examples of support services who can provide mitigation evidence may include:
    • University Community Mental Health Team (UCMHT)
    • Your consultant, doctor or psychological wellbeing practitioner from an NHS service
    • A private doctor
    • Third Sector support services - SAFE, DRC, Together, or TALKWORKS for example.
  • You can still make use of the 72-hour extensions available to all students four times every 12 months without supporting evidence.
  • For extensions of up to two weeks, you will need to apply via the evidence-based mitigation process.
  • For support from the Education Welfare Team, please book an initial support appointment to discuss your concerns/situation. This enables Wellbeing Services to ensure you have support in place, as well as supporting mitigation requests, where appropriate.
  • You can book an appointment with your Education Welfare Team. 

Our Mitigation Policy says that when a student requires evidence for health-related circumstances lasting 7 days or fewer but can’t g get a note from a doctor or other support service, students can:

  1. Provide evidence that they have told their Academic Personal Tutor and the relevant Module Lead, of their application and the reasons for it.
  2. Provide evidence that they have told the relevant pastoral members of staff of their application and the reasons for it, so that the right upport can be provided. This might include Academic Personal Tutors, Welfare/Wellbeing staff, the Students’ Guild Advice/Students’ Union Advice teams or the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.

If your mental or physical health or wellbeing is having an effect on your ability to study, or your studying is creating health problems for you, our helpful and experienced Education Welfare Team is available to talk to you in a confidential and non-judgemental way about any issues you may need support with.