MEDICAL EVIDENCE
Medical evidence could be a letter from the GP, College Nurse, or any other relevant medical professional, confirming you were unwell before and/or during the examination and explaining the impact the health issues had on your performance or attendance. Medical support should be sought before the completion of the examination as post hoc evidence will not be given the same weight as evidence that predates an examination.
In line with University recommendations the supporting evidence should be:
Relevant – relating to the time in question.
Contemporary – produced close in time to the period affected.
Specific – where possible, it should explicitly relate to the impact the circumstances described have had on the examination.
Check out our Guidance on Medical Evidence that might help you obtain the required evidence.
EVIDENCE OF GRAVE CAUSE
Evidence of grave cause could include for example a death certificate of a parent or medical evidence proving that a loved one has been hospitalised.
ACADEMIC EVIDENCE
Applications for examination allowances should include academic evidence. Depending on your course this could be supervision reports for the year or years on which the allowance is requested, and any other coursework completed throughout the year. You can also consider asking supervisors or other academics you work with to provide letters of support. You can also use emails you may have received from these individuals about the quality of your work.
WHAT IF I DO NOT HAVE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT MY CASE?
Medical Evidence
If medical issues affected your exams and you did not seek medical support at the time, post hoc evidence is better than no evidence. You could explain the situation to your health professional (how you were feeling, when and what impact this had on your exams) and ask them to write a letter. It would be helpful if in the letter the doctor offered their professional opinion that your experience would have had an impact on your studies.
Evidence of Grave Cause
If you do not have evidence to support the actual ‘grave cause’ (e.g. death certificate, hospitalisation of a loved one, increased caring responsibilities), consider speaking to a health professional about what impact this had on your exams. The health professional may be able to write a letter of support on the impact the grave cause has had on your physical and/or mental health. A letter from your Tutor may also be helpful to confirm, for example, that you had increased caring responsibilities during the examination period.
Academic Evidence
Applications for an examination allowance will usually include supervision reports, the examination timetable and any previous examinations/assessments results. In addition, you could also consider asking supervisors or other academics you work with to provide letters of support. You can also use emails you may have received from these individuals about the quality of your work.
IF A MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE DID AFFECT YOUR PREPARATION, PERFORMANCE OR ATTENDANCE, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The first thing to consider in this situation is did you get any help at the time; did you see your GP, College Nurse, Counsellor or other health professional? Or if it was an issue of grave cause, what evidence can you collect to prove this? This is because students, themselves or through their College, can present their case and make the University aware of their circumstances by laying out exactly what happened and providing evidence to support this. This is why it is very important for students to access support if their health is impacted during the examination period, not only for them to benefit from any advice and support a medical professional can provide but also to serve as evidence should the exams have been negatively affected.
HOW WOULD MY CASE BE PRESENTED?
Presenting a case that relates to exams and mitigating circumstances for undergraduate, foundation year students and certain postgraduate courses is called applying for an examination allowance. Applications for examination allowances can be submitted by you or the College on your behalf to the EAMC (Examination, Access and Mitigation Committee) within three months of receiving the examination results.
Whether you apply directly or through the College, it would be a good idea for you to provide a personal statement to accompany the application.
Check out our Guidance on Writing Your Personal Statement for an Examination Allowance and the Template to assist you in writing your own personal statement.
WHAT IS AN EXAMINATION ALLOWANCE?
Examination allowances can be applied where a student’s exams were affected by medical or grave cause, also known as mitigating circumstances - for example, mental health issues, bereavement, or sudden short illnesses. An examination allowance does not affect the marks received. Its purpose is to allow students a chance to obtain the qualification they have been registered for if the EAMC accepts that their performance in the examination has been affected by serious mitigating circumstances.
WHAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR AN EXAMINATION ALLOWANCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES AND STUDENTS ON THE FOLLOWING POSTGRADUATE COURSES: EMBA; LLM; MAST; MBA; MCL; MENG; M.FIN; MMATH; MMUS; MSCI; PGCE?
If you have a case and evidence to support that case, there are a range of possible examination allowances. Your Tutor or the Student Advice Service can provide information and guidance on these.
To be allowed to progress
This allowance is available to students who are on courses that are more than one year in length and students who are not in their final year.
Declared to have deserved honours (DDH)
Awarded an Ordinary BA degree
Allowed the examination
This credits the student with the examination (the degree you are registered for) even though you have not met all of the normal requirements.
Reconsideration of an original result
This is intended for a student who has performed at the standard of a higher class in all but a relatively small part of the examination (around 25%), where that small part of the examination was affected by mitigating circumstances and where this is apparent in the student’s profile of results.
Re-sit opportunity
Only in very exceptional circumstances will students be allowed to re-sit an examination. As a result, applications for an assessment re-sit will only be considered where disregarding terms, ‘allowed the exam’ or ‘disregarding a paper’ would not be possible.
Request a paper to be marked
This mitigation will be considered where confirmation has been received that a paper will not be considered for marking due to late submission. Applications should be made as soon as possible and do not need to be delayed until other marks awarded to the student are known.
WHAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR AN EXAMINATION ALLOWANCE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS ON TAUGHT PROGRAMMES WHICH INCLUDES THE MPHIL BY ADVANCED STUDY, MRES OR MST DEGREES, DIPLOMA IN ECONOMICS, POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMAS IN LEGAL STUDIES AND IN INTERNATIONAL LAW, CERTIFICATES OF POSTGRADUATE STUDY(CPGS)?
If you have a case and evidence to support that case, there are two possible examination allowances. Your Tutor or the Student Advice Service can provide information and guidance on these. Depending on the examination allowance, outcomes could include:
To approve the candidate for the qualification without further examination
This is only possible if the relevant Degree Committee has judged the student to have performed with credit in a substantial part of the examination.
To allow a candidate to be examined or re-examined under such conditions and at a time determined following consultation by the EAMC with the relevant Degree Committee
WHAT WOULD BE THE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR AN EXAMINATION ALLOWANCE FOR FOUNDATION YEAR STUDENTS?
To qualify for the Certificate of Higher Education in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences,
students must pass the following:
• a synoptic written examination of three hours duration.
• written work, consisting of three essays of no less than 2,000 words and no more than 3,000 words
in length.
• an extended project, of no less than 4,500 words and no more than 6,000 words in length.
Subject to approval from the Board of Examiners, there will be one re-sit opportunity for the
examination component (a) and/or submission of one component (b) in July for the following
reason:
• candidates that do not pass the course overall.
Students who were permitted to take the resit of the examination (a) and/or submit a summative
essay (b) because they did not pass the course overall are not eligible to progress to Tripos
regardless of whether their resit mark would mean they subsequently obtained 65% overall.
Students who were permitted to take the resit because their final grade was below the 40% Pass
threshold are not eligible to progress to Tripos regardless of whether their resit mark would mean they
subsequently obtained 65% overall.
There is also no mitigation available for students to be re-examined on the coursework components
(assessments & project) of the course.
Subject to approval from EAMC, there will be one re-sit opportunity for the examination component
(a) in July for the following reasons:
• candidates whose performance in the first sitting was affected by illness or grave cause.
• candidates who were unable to undertake the first sitting due to illness or grave cause. A re-sit in
such instances would be the student’s first sitting.
There is also no mitigation available for students to be re-examined on the coursework components
(assessments & project) of the course.
Students who did not attain 65% after the first sitting due to illness or grave cause would be
deemed to have met the requirements for progression to Tripos if they were to obtain 65%
following a re-sit.
This information is available here.
WHAT OUTCOMES CANNOT BE APPLIED THROUGH THE EXAMINATION ALLOWANCE PROCESS?
• Change the mark for a paper by either adding extra marks or removing marks.
• Award or instruct a Chair of Examiners to change an overall Class based on how a student might have performed.
• Change or move grade boundaries for an individual student or cohort.
IF I AM UNHAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME, CAN I REVIEW THE DECISION?
If you are unsatisfied with the outcome and reasons behind the decision, you can request a review of this decision within 14 days of receiving the decision letter on the following grounds:
• Procedural irregularities that occurred during the reconsideration which were material or potentially material to the decision being reached;
• The decision is unreasonable in that no reasonable person or body could have reached the same decision on the available evidence;
• The availability of new evidence, which materially impacts the decision and which, for valid reasons, could not have been submitted at an earlier stage.
You can submit the review yourself, although the College can provide advice and support with the application.
Our guidance on the Review of Decisions of University Bodies Procedure can help you understand the process and build your application.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM UNSATISFIED WITH THE OUTCOME OF THE REVIEW OF THE DECISION?
If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of this review, and the reasons behind the decision, you can make a representation to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). To do this, you will need a Completion of Procedures letter (COP) from the University. The deadline to submit a complaint to the OIA is 12 months from the formal decision being issued.