Extensions
The University recognises that sometimes students are unable to meet assessment deadlines due to unforeseen circumstances, or have significant personal or medical issues.
If your circumstances are preventing you from submitting your coursework on time, you can apply for a coursework extension. An extension gives you extra time to complete and submit a piece of work, agreed between you and your tutor or module leader.
Students may request an extension to an assessment deadline using the extension to
coursework application form which can be found here. The request should be made to the module leader in
advance of the deadline. The module leader has the discretion to grant an extension of
up to five university working days.
Requests should be made to your module leader in as timely a manner as possible; this means that the extension request should be submitted 24 hours in advance of the deadline at the latest. Requests received after the date and time that the work is due to be submitted will not be considered.
Please Note: An extension will not be granted where a student’s own organisational abilities have caused an issue with meeting a deadline. These include poor time management, failure of IT equipment, uploading incorrect information to Turnitin, commitments to paid or voluntary employment and other similar situations.
Deferrals
The deferral procedure is for addressing sudden and unexpected extenuating circumstances that may affect a student’s ability to undertake assessments. Deferring assessments may impact on your academic progression and therefore your eligibility to student funding, your accommodation and (where relevant) your immigration status. We strongly recommend that you consult your Student Advice Centre, Programme Team or Personal Tutor to discuss your circumstances before submitting a deferral request.
Deferral requests must be submitted no later than 10 university working days from the date of the exam or the assessment submission deadline (including any approved extensions if applicable).
Students with prolonged chronic illnesses or disabilities should contact the Disability Support and Advice team in Student and Academic Services or Personal Tutor for personalised advice, which might include individual arrangements in examinations. Please note, the deferral of assessments is not an appropriate nor standard measure in respect of permanent or long-term conditions.
Deferrals will be considered for students who have notified the university and submitted a DEFERRAL REQUEST FORM FOR CEM STUDENTS to their Faculty Student Advice Centre.
All students granted deferrals will be expected to take their assessments at the next available opportunity. Should this not be possible due to extenuating circumstances, a further deferral should be sought.
Remember, extenuating circumstances do not in themselves excuse poor performance.
There is no provision to adjust marks; you can only apply to have the assessment deferred.
Detailed information can be found in Chapter 3 of the General Regulations.
In assessing the significance of extenuating circumstances, the panel will take into account:
- The severity of the problem
- The length of time it has lasted
- The supporting evidence (remember to include it)
- The closeness in time of the circumstances to the relevant assessment
- Whether all assessments might have been equally affected
Examples of appropriate supporting evidence can be found on page 68 of the Academic Regulations.
What will happen if the panel accepts my deferral request?
The only course of action open to the panel if it accepts your case is to grant deferral of the affected assessment.
Assessment deferrals are time-limited. You will be required to take the deferral at the next opportunity offered by the university, please contact your Faculty Student Advice Centre for further details. If you do not do this, the deferral will be withdrawn and you will be failed in the deferred assessment with a mark of zero.
If you have already submitted work for assessment it will not be marked. If a mark or grade has been awarded it will be declared void.
The mark/grade awarded when you retake or resubmit the assessment is the only one that will be entered on your record.
Once you have applied for a deferral and it has been accepted there is no going back, you cannot retract your request at a later date.
FAQs
How do I request a deferral?
To apply for a deferral, you will need to complete the DEFERRAL REQUEST FORM FOR CEM STUDENTS and together with evidence (examples of evidence can be found in the following link Deferrals (dmu.ac.uk)) submit the request by the relevant deadlines to cemadvicecentre@dmu.ac.uk. If you are having difficulties obtaining evidence, please contact CEM Student Advice Centre on T: 0116 207 8499/8497.
How will I be notified of the decision?
We will notify students by email which we endeavour to do within one calendar month from submission of the request. If you have not received a response within one calendar month of submission please contact cemadvicecentre@dmu.ac.uk
Any other questions
If you have any other questions please contact the CEM Student Advice Centre in-person, by email cemadvicecentre@dmu.ac.uk or by calling 0116 207 8499/8497.