Mitigation

If you believe that your performance in any assessment task has been affected by personal circumstances (e.g. medical condition, family crisis, bereavement) then you are able to submit an application for mitigation.

Applications for mitigation

Applications for mitigation fall into three categories:

  1. Applications for deferral
  2. Applications for waiving the penalty for late submission of coursework
  3. Applications for consideration of circumstances impacting on performance (mitigation under this category should only be made where a deferral or extension is not appropriate).

Please read the University Procedures for Mitigation in full prior to making an application for Mitigation.

For Exeter Students based at Penryn Campus only, please use the Penryn mitigation form

For more information please email: penryn-mitigation@exeter.ac.uk or visit the Education Support Services Cornwall on ELE.

We would like to draw your attention to the following salient points regarding mitigation:

  • Applications for mitigation should be made at the point of assessment, and before any indicative marks or feedback have been received.
  • It is therefore important that applications should be made on submission of the assessment or exam, or as soon as possible afterwards (normally within 1 working day)
  • Retrospective applications will only be considered in exceptional circumstances where there are compelling reasons for why the application was not made at the time
  • You must apply for mitigation to the appropriate College responsible for the affected module. If you believe your performance has been affected in modules from more than one College, then you must apply separately to each College.
  • Using the application form, you must be explicit in detailing:
    • The circumstances which have affected you
    • Which assessments or modules have been affected
    • How these circumstances affected your performance
    • Evidence to support the application

You can make applications for mitigation in relation to either a piece of coursework, an exam or for the whole module.  Which elements of the module the mitigation relates to should be made explicit in the application.

Applications will be considered by the Mitigation Committee, alongside any evidence supplied and any relevant information about performance in other assessments.

You should note that mitigation is unlikely to result in the alteration of final classification in all but exceptional cases.

Examples of what circumstances will be considered acceptable, and what evidence is required can be found under Mitigation Committees in the University TQA manual.

Before applying for mitigation, you should be aware that you are expected to be able to arrange your work schedule to meet any competing deadlines. The deadlines that are set for work, do make allowances for minor illnesses or other minor difficulties that you may experience in completing set work or sitting examinations. As such, these will not be considered sufficient grounds to be considered by the Mitigation Committee.

Please ensure that a mitigation form is completed and handed in to the Student Services Office.  Forms can be obtained from the office, or emailed if required. Supporting documentary evidence is required (e.g. medical certification), and these requirements are detailed on the form. Applications for mitigation are considered by a College Mitigation Committee which reports to the Board of Examiners.

Deferral

The option to defer an examination is applicable if you are unable to sit in the exam in the usual January or May/June assessment period. This is also appropriate if you could have sat the original exam, but the situation means that you could not make a fair attempt at the exam. If you are deferred in a module, then you will be awarded the higher of either the deferred examination mark, or the deferred examination mark combined with the original coursework mark.

Appeals

Students have the right to appeal decisions of Mitigation Committees on the following basis only:

  • Procedural error or evidence of bias or prejudice
  • Evidence of material circumstances which was not available at the time of the original consideration, but ONLY where it was not possible for the student to submit the evidence at the time of the original consideration.

Appeals should be submitted to Louise Harris, Assistant College Manager Education, and will follow the University’s Student Academic Appeals procedure.