What is Mitigating Circumstances?

During the course of study you may experience exceptional unforeseen short term circumstances which are outside your control and might have a detrimental effect on your studies.

Students can apply for support with extension or reassessments for assignments and/or exams based on unforeseen circumstances, this is called applying for mitigating circumstances.

In general terms, mitigating circumstances must be:

1. Significant (they have more than a minor impact on you)
2. Unexpected (you must have had no prior knowledge of the event)
3. Unpreventable (there was no reasonable steps you could have taken to prevent the event)
4. Relevant (you must be able to link the timing of the event to the impact on your study including ability to submit work or sit an exam for the period in which the application is being made).

At the University of Bedfordshire this is called applying for Mitigating Circumstances.

Who can award Mitigation?

Academic staff cannot give permission for extensions or reassessment opportunities for assessments or exams.

The only team who can grant mitigating circumstances awards are the Student Engagement and Mitigation (SEAM) team within Student Support.

Mitigation Advice Drop-in Sessions

Students can attend a drop in session with Mitigation for advice if they experience an exceptional unforeseen short term circumstances outside of their control. Students can gain advice if able to apply for an extension or reassessments for assignments or exams due to presenting circumstance. This is called applying for mitigating circumstances.

Attend one of the drop-ins to speak to an advisor at these times:

Please be advised there may be changes to drop in sessions, drop ins will not run on bank holidays or university closure days.
Please contact SID to check if the session is running by calling 0300 300 0042 or visit Level 2 Campus Centre Luton or Level 1 Gateway Building Bedford.

There will be no drop in sessions on the following dates:

• Week beginning 18th March
• 28th and 29th March
• 2nd April
• Week beginning 15th April
• 3rd, 7th, 21st May
• 5th, 9th, 11th and 12th July

Online Advice Drop-in Session (on Zoom):

Tuesday 10:00am – 12:00pm

Friday 2:00pm – 4:00pm

You can join the online sessions via the link: Mitigation Drop-In

Face-to-Face Advice Drop-in Session (in person):

Luton Campus, every Thursday from 2:00 – 4:00pm.

Location: Campus Centre, SID Information Desk Level 2, ask for mitigation drop in session.

Please note: Mitigation requests cannot be approved during the drop in sessions, and applications cannot be fast tracked if students attend the session. Students must complete a mitigation application form and send to mitigation@beds.ac.uk to be reviewed by the team.

Mitigating Circumstances Applications

Please read the whole message carefully –

Before you apply for mitigating circumstances please insure you do the following:

• Include your student ID on all emails.
• Include an application form - Can be found on this page in a Microsoft Word format
• Ensure you have completed the application form in full. No box should be left blank.
• Ensure the unit code is clearly listed on application, including the assessment point.
• Applications are sent in the following format only: JPEG, PDF and word documents.
• Applications are sent from from student email address.

Please note the mitigation team process large volume of queries and applications, especially during exam board periods. Please allow up to 14 calendar days for a decision. Please continue to work on your project and submit your work as soon as possible. Please refrain from sending follow up emails to confirm outcome decisions, as this can delay responses.

Online security is taken very seriously by the University, we therefore ask all current students emailing and sending attachments to email from their University @study.beds.ac.uk account. Please also include your student number on all communications with the team. Mitigation Team will be unable to process your enquiry from personal email accounts and you will need to resend the evidence and application form from student email account.

Forms can be only be submitted and reviewed by the mitigation team in the following formats: JPEG, PDF and word documents attached from student email address. If you submit evidence in any other format the team will be unable to process your enquiry and you will need to resend the evidence and application form in a correct format listed above.

If you do not have access or experiencing difficulties with your student University email account you can safely send your enquiry and any attachments to Student Information Desk (SID) via email: SID@beds.ac.uk. View details on how to log an enquiry here

If you submit your assignment (even partial submission) by the submission date, mitigation does not apply and your work will be marked by your faculty. Any awarded mitigation will therefore be invalid.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Self-Certification

We realise that it can be difficult to get medical appointments for short illnesses or minor
ailments – and the requirement for evidence of these may put undue pressure on health
services - therefore SEAM will accept self-certification but within certain parameters:

• You can only self-certify up to 7 calendar days
• Self-certification periods should be at least 4 week apart. This means you cannot a self-certify for 7 days and then self-certify again for the following 7 days
• You can self-certify up to 3 times within one academic year
• You can apply for more than one assessment (coursework and/ or exams) that fall
  within a specific period covered by the self-certification

You should not use self-certification to submit ‘just in case’ applications and should only self-certify if your situation meets the criteria for mitigating circumstances.

Full details on the Mitigation Policy can be found here - Mitigation Policy [PDF]

Mitigation for Written Assignments

If you are applying for an extension, we strongly advise that, if you are able to, you continue working on your assignment and submit as soon as possible and within 14 calendar days from the submission date. Do not wait for mitigation approval before submitting.

Please inform your unit co-ordinator that you are in the process of applying for mitigation and that a decision is pending while we await your completed application and find out how to submit your work if your application is approved.

Please note that we cannot award extensions to re-assessments (Referrals) – we can only offer another re-assessment opportunity if your application if approved. As these will be set at the next scheduled opportunity it may impact on your progression onto the next level or delay your graduation by up to a year.

Mitigation for Practical Assessments

We cannot award extensions to practical pieces of work such as Presentations, Placements, Group assignments etc we can only award a re-assessment opportunity if your application is approved. As these are normally set at the next scheduled opportunity it may impact on your progression onto the next level or delay your graduation by up to a year.

Mitigation for Exams

If students experience difficulties during exam they should email exams@beds.ac.uk as soon as possible before the end of the exam and follow appropriate guidance.

If students meet the criteria for mitigating circumstances for exams, students must apply for mitigation on the day of the exam.

Please be advised extensions cannot be awarded for exams and if students meet the criteria and mitigation is awarded, students can be awarded a "Resit". This is another opportunity to complete the exam set by the university at the next scheduled opportunity. Please be advised this may impact progression onto the next level of study and/or graduation may be delayed by up to a year. Students should inform tutor and/or unit co-ordinator following approval of mitigation decision to discuss with them what is required and when the resit will take place.

If students submit a late application, students should provide an exceptional reasons for the delay in contacting SEAM. Student can book an appointment with a Student Engagement Advisor to explain the reasons for the delay and gain advice and guidance.

The University will not normally consider computer issues as grounds for mitigating circumstances as these require students to make reasonable adjustments for these situations to complete their pending work, this includes following the process to contact the exams department. Students should be responsible for getting the evidence themselves and contact the appropriate teams within the university. In exceptional circumstances SEAM may contact university departments including the Exams and Digital Learning Teams to review if there is a university system error causing possible mitigating circumstances.

If students submit an exam script (including partial submissions), mitigation does not apply and the submission will be still marked. Any mitigation awarded will be invalid.

Applying for Mitigating Circumstances

The University of Bedfordshire appreciates that sometimes unforeseen situations outside of your control may prevent you from carrying out your academic work.

These are referred to as mitigating circumstances.

Mitigating Circumstances Application Criteria

Below is a list of circumstances that the Mitigation team consider to be significant enough to be considered grounds for applying. There is also a list of evidence that is acceptable which should be submitted alongside any application.

Mitigating Circumstances Criteria May 2023 [PDF]

Mitigating Circumstances Form

To apply for Mitigating Circumstances you must complete a Mitigating Circumstances Form [DOCX] and email it to the Mitigation Team at mitigation@beds.ac.uk

Important points to consider when applying for mitigating circumstances:

• For your application to be considered you must apply on or before the submission deadline for the assessment. Applications received after the submission deadline will be considered retrospective and will likely be refused by the team unless significant evidence is provided to justify the late application.
• The vast majority of illnesses that occur are minor and although you may feel unwell for a couple of days, they are events that rapidly resolve. Such illnesses are a part of everyday life and you must plan your work so that they do not interfere with your studies.
• Mitigating circumstances cannot be used to strike or remove a submission that has been made - this includes if you have sat an examination or in-class test. The work will need to be marked.
• You should apply as soon as you know you cannot submit your work on time, this should be on on before your deadline.

Speak to an Advisor

Unsure about your request or want to talk to someone?

Please contact SiD at sid@beds.ac.uk or 0300 300 0042 and ask to book an appointment to speak to a Student Engagement Advisor. The team will then find the next available slot and you will be allocated a 30 minute Telephone appointment where you can discuss the process and any concerns you may have.

I am awaiting a mitigation decision, should I submit my work?

You should submit your assessment as soon as it is complete! Keep working on your assessment and submit your work the day you complete it. All extensions will be awarded from the original hand-in date.

Once we receive your completed form and explanation of your circumstances we will normally be able to make a decision within two working days. We will usually email our decision to your student email address.

If you choose to submit work within the submission deadline then no additional mitigation can be applied and your grade will stand.