An exceptional circumstance is a circumstance which is outside of your control, and which negatively affects your performance. It is important you describe the impact these circumstances have had on your studies as part of your request. 

For further information, including a list of what the University considers to be exceptional circumstances please see section 8 of the Exceptional Circumstance Policy. Please note: This list included in the policy is not exhaustive – other reasons will be considered. If your circumstance is not on the list please talk to your Student Support Coordinator, School or Department Director of Academic Tutor. The Support Centres (or Henley Helpdesk or ILSI Admin Office) can provide further advice and assistance. 

Please also refer to the policy for information about what is not considered exceptional circumstances and where you find support for such matters.

Requests will be considered where:

• your studies have been impaired by circumstances; 
• the circumstances were beyond your control; 
• your request is supported by appropriate evidence (where possible – see note below).

If you need medical evidence a Medical Confirmation Form completed by your GP may be acceptable. For students registered with the University Medical Practice please use the form on their website. For students registered with other GP practices please use this form.

If you have previously agreed reasonable adjustments to your assessments (via the Disability Advisory Service - DAS) but these have not been put in place, please do not submit an Exceptional Circumstance request. Please contact your Support Centre (or Henley Helpdesk or ISLI Admin Office) for resolving the matter.

It is important to note that Exceptional Circumstances outcomes are recorded against an individual student, and that individual student is notified of an EC outcome via the RISIS portal. The relevant adjustment is noted for that student only. Therefore, group decisions cannot be considered/processed via the EC system for this reason, hence the need for EACH group member to submit their own EC form for group work.

For example: One group member may have had an illness which prevented them from partaking in the group work in the normal way and/or submitting by the submission deadline. They will submit their EC form citing their specific EC reasons, and their circumstance/evidence will be considered in the normal way. If approved and, depending on the cause/length of that illness, they will be granted a relevant adjustment accordingly as per the EC policy. This will/may subsequently impact the other group members being able to complete or submit their work and those members will ALSO need to individually submit their own EC form as the circumstances will have impacted them differently and may need different adjustments as a result.

For UK-based undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, you will need to do the following: 

· Login to the RISIS Portal
· Open the ‘Actions’ tab, then select ‘Exceptional Circumstances' from the list.
· Please read the guidance and complete the online form, following the instructions provided
· The status/outcome of your request will be displayed on RISIS

Our support package includes three different types of Exceptional Circumstance request which you can use depending on your particular situation:

 

Exceptional Circumstances Request Type	When should this type of request be used?	Further information
Standard EC request	Standard EC requests should be used in the majority of cases for valid exceptional circumstances. Students are required to submit evidence to support a standard Exceptional Circumstance request. For more information please refer to the information and FAQs below.	Further information on evidence required to support exceptional circumstances can be found in Annex 1 of the Exceptional circumstances policy.
Self-certification request	Self-certification requests should be used if you have short-term valid exceptional circumstances, for example unexpected illness or temporary disruption to your studies, that you cannot evidence. Students can request a five-working day extension for eligible coursework assignments on two occasions in the academic year. On the self-certification request form, assessments will be available to select from two working days prior to the original coursework deadline and until two working days afterwards. If you are claiming exceptional circumstances due to a positive COVID-19 test, use the self-certification process in the first instance, and immediately email the module convenor explaining what has happened. Remember that self certification does not cover class tests/practicals/some other in-person assessments. More Information on Self-Certification.	If you can provide evidence of your circumstances and the impact on your studies, submitting a standard EC request would be the better option for you.
Post-results EC (PREC) request	PREC requests should be used if you believe that your performance in centrally-timetabled University examinations has been affected by an exceptional circumstance, or if you have missed one or more centrally-timetabled examinations due to an exceptional circumstance.   You will have five working days once your results are published to submit a PREC request, together with evidence, for consideration.	Evidence should be submitted at the same time as the PREC request, or within ten working days of the publication of results if this is not possible.

The relevant request form in RISIS is your opportunity to describe the exceptional circumstance, and its impact on you, and to provide any necessary evidence you have and your request for mitigation. Please note, if you do not provide enough explanation of the circumstance or why mitigation is needed, your request may be rejected.

We are now treating COVID as we would any other illness. If you are claiming exceptional circumstances due to a COVID illness you should submit an EC request and immediately email the module convenor explaining what has happened.

If your exceptional circumstances have negatively impacted your study for the whole academic year we advise you to apply for a Repeat Year, with relevant evidence to support your request, as soon as your results are published in July.  

Things you need to know:

- In most circumstances where a Repeat Year request is granted University regulations require that, before a student can re-enter, they must be medically/psychologically fit to do so. This is known as ‘fitness to return conditions’ (FtR). 
- If your Repeat Year request is granted, these FtR conditions will be noted in your Exceptional Circumstances outcome and MUST be met BEFORE you can restart the year. 
- The Repeat Year return to study process which includes any FtR conditions can take many weeks to expedite, therefore we advise you to submit your Repeat Year request in plenty of time before the start of the Autumn term if you wish to restart your studies in the next academic year. 
- If a Fitness to Study (FtS) Form is noted as part of the FtR conditions then you will need to arrange for this to be completed by a GP or appropriate specialist and this form MUST BE returned to the University Medical Practice (UMP) for review by the Head of the UMP no later than 3 weeks prior to the start of the term in which you are recommencing your studies.
- You can wait until the Post Results Exceptional Circumstances (PREC) window following your Resit results to submit your Repeat Year request. However, please be aware that, if granted, this would mean you could not restart your studies in the upcoming year and you would have to be suspended until a full academic year later. This is because you WILL NOT have enough time to fulfil any FtR requirements before the start of the upcoming academic year. 

Further advice and guidance:

- Seek advice and guidance from Reading Students' Union when submitting a Repeat Year request.

- Do not enter into any financial commitments (e.g. accommodation) until you have a final decision regarding your Repeat Year request and your return to study date has been confirmed.  

The information which you provide on your Exceptional Circumstances form will normally be held confidentially and will only be shared with those who need to see it. 

If you are uncomfortable with disclosing information about your circumstances, please do discuss the matter with a member of staff (ideally your Academic Tutor or Student Support Coordinator) or a Reading Students' Union adviser.

If, by repeating a Part of your study, you will now be continuing your studies into and beyond 2024/25, you will see changes to the academic year structure and to your degree programme starting from September 2024. Information about those changes can be found on the Portfolio Review Project website.
 
As noted above, when considering whether repeating a Part of your degree is right for you, you will want to consult the relevant Programme Specifications. Up until 2024/25 you will follow the course structure for the year in which you started your studies and from 2024/25 you will follow the new course structure, as outlined in the Programme Specification published for that year. 

The 2024/25 Programme Specs will be published by 02 October 2023.  
 
Please contact your Support Centre if you need any help to understand which Programme Specification will apply to your studies.

1. Useful information:

1. IT problems are not accepted as evidence for EC (for those who are registered on campus and can use IT facilities during term time). IT problems can only be a reason for an EC request when you cannot reasonably access campus, or when you are affected by a University IT failure.
2. You are expected to store files securely on OneDrive and this is provided to you as part of your University IT package.
3. If you have an IT issue, you are expected to take prompt action to remedy it, for example: email the IT Service Desk; take your technology for repair; contact your School if you need support with the school-provided/recommended software;
4. If your own device is faulty, central PC labs on campus are available to you (check Essentials for details).
5. Failures of the central IT system and the Halls system are logged by DTS – so can be referred to on your ECF.

 

2. Examples of evidence to support an ECF include:

1. Contact with IT Help  – evidenced in the form of the DTS ticket acknowledgment email.
2. Confirmation from IT Help that the problem is real and that they have investigated it.
3. Evidence of reasonable and timely action taken by you to overcome the problem.
4. Evidence of failure by the University to provide services it has committed to provide.
5. Evidence from a Blackboard log that this is an assignment submission difficulty. (NB this needs to be obtained from the Support Centre as it is not accessible to students.)
6. Evidence of a timely email to the relevant module convenor (only in cases where specialist software/storage or other local solutions are being used).

 

3. Examples of evidence that is not acceptable to support an ECF include:

1. A stand-alone screen shot with no date or time; a screenshot could be used in dialogue with DTS to diagnose a problem.
2. Save date & time of file.

You should submit an EC request where:

• Reasonable adjustments have already been put in place regarding your assessment but you are then faced with additional circumstances beyond your control.
• Your studies have been impaired by the new circumstances
• If reasonable adjustments have been put in place for this assessment and then require additional time due to an exceptional circumstances, you should:

1. First use your 5+/10 days reasonable adjustment;
2. then submit an Exceptional Circumstances form for additional time in the normal way.

You should submit an Exceptional Circumstances form before the deadline for submission of coursework. 

Separate deadlines apply to end of part examinations which are centrally organised and to in-class tests administered locally by Schools/Departments. For:

• in-class tests you should submit an Exceptional Circumstances form before the date of the in-class test and within five working days of the date of the test. If you expect to be absent from an in-class test you must inform the relevant lecturer and Support Centre (or Henley Helpdesk or ISLI Admin Office) in advance of the test, if possible. 
• end of part examinations once your examination results have been published you will have an opportunity to submit a post results Exceptional Circumstances (PREC) form within five working days of the publication of your results.

Summer Examinations 2024 PREC deadline window for submitting an EC post results (PREC):

UG and PG finalists (exc BA CDL) can submit a PREC between 19 – 26 June 2024
Part 0 (inc International Foundation Programme - ISLI October cohort) can submit a PREC between 02 – 09 July 2024
Part 1 (inc IOE) can submit a PREC between 02 – 09 July 2024
Part 2 and Part 3 non finalists can submit a PREC between 01 – 08 July 2024
Part 2 BA(Ed), BA CDL Finals and PGCE can submit a PREC between 16 – 23 July 2024
International Foundation Programme (ISLI January cohort) can submit a PREC between 02 – 08 August 2024
Non-finalist PGT students can submit a PREC request between 28 June - 5 July 2024

Resit Examinations 2024 PREC deadline window for submitting an EC post results:

UG non finalist resitters (exc IFP) can submit a PREC between 12 - 19 September 2024
UG and PG finalist resitters can submit a PREC between 07 – 14 November 2024
International Foundation Programme (ISLI) resitters can submit a PREC between 05 – 11 September 2024

EC/PREC forms submitted after the relevant deadline will not normally be considered. If, however, you were not able to submit the form due to significant circumstances, for example hospitalisation, incarceration or major physical or mental incapacity then submit an EC request in the normal way as soon as you are able to. In that late EC request you must provide ALL of the following things:

• Provide the relevant supporting evidence for those circumstances detailed in that request.
• Provide a statement which details the reason for the lateness of that EC request. 
• Provide additional evidence that supports the reason for lateness of that EC request.

For UG Finalists: Please be aware that if your new extension deadline goes past the end of the Spring Term this may mean that your overall results cannot be considered at the Programme Examiners meetings in June.  This may mean that you will be unable to graduate in July and you will be invited to the graduation ceremonies in the following December.

For PGT Finalists and UG finalist Resitters: Please be aware that if your new extension deadline goes past the 15^th September this may mean that your overall results cannot be considered at the Programme Examiners meetings in October.  This may mean that you will be unable to graduate in December and you will be invited to the graduation ceremonies in the following July.

For UG Non-Finalist: Please be aware that if your new deadline goes past the end of the Spring Term this may mean that your results cannot be considered at the Programme Examiners meetings in June.  This may mean that your progression outcome cannot be confirmed in time for reassessment during the August examination period.  In this circumstance, if your progression outcome is failed or not qualified at first attempt, your student status will be ‘suspended exam only’ during the following academic year; and reassessment will take place during the Summer Exam period in that following year.

For UG Non-Finalist Resitters: Please be aware that if your new deadline goes past the August/September resit period this may mean that your results cannot be considered at the Programme Examiners meetings in September.  This may mean that your progression outcome cannot be confirmed in time for the start of the Academic Year.  In this circumstance:

• If your progression outcome is Passed your student status will be ‘suspended exam only’ during the following academic year and you can restart your studies a whole Academic Year later.
• if your progression outcome is failed or not qualified at first/second attempt, your student status will be ‘suspended exam only’ during the following academic year; and your reassessment(s) will take place during the Summer Exam period in that following year.

If you are granted DNS in the Summer Term or Resit Period examinations, it means that you have been given the chance to have a fresh attempt at your examination during the next examination period. 

DNS is not usually granted for other assessments. Outcomes such as extension, alternative assessment or rearrangement are more suitable. If you are given the chance to submit coursework by a different agreed deadline, this will not count as a further attempt. New deadlines for submission will be set by your School. 

Undergraduate students are re-assessed during the subsequent examination period.

You must:

1. Collect evidence of impact, showing why you are unable to sit the exam on the date for which it is scheduled.
2. Submit your request as soon as possible, using the standard Exceptional Circumstances form if you know well in advance of the exam. This must only be done where you know you will definitely not be able to take the exam. Where the form is put in in advance and a DNS is granted, you will not be allowed to sit the exam.
3. If you are able to, it is better to submit a Post-Results Exceptional Circumstances (PREC) form in the PREC window (this is the time after results have been published - see information on PREC below). You will then have all your results and be able to make an informed decision about the need to take this exam on another occasion.

You are strongly encouraged to seek advice from your School/Department before submitting an Exceptional Circumstances/PREC form.

During the examination period, the University has set deadlines by which students must submit their Exceptional Circumstances forms to their Support Centre (or Henley Helpdesk or ILSI Admin Office). 

Forms submitted after the specified deadlines will only be considered if significant circumstances prevented you from submitting the form on time (for example, hospitalisation, or major physical or mental incapacity). You will have to provide a statement explaining in full the reasons for late submission.

We hope the introduction of post-results Exceptional Circumstances requests (see below) gives you the confidence to take your exams as planned; however, if you are considering requesting a delay, you must first seek advice from your School or Support Centre (or Henley Helpdesk or ILSI Admin Office), because it is important that you understand the implications of delaying your exams.

We understand that you will be better able to evaluate the impact any adverse circumstances have had on your exam performance after the publication of your results. Therefore, if you believe that your performance in examinations has been affected by an exceptional circumstance in the Summer Term or Resit Period or if you have missed one or more examinations due to an exceptional circumstance you are then able to submit an Exceptional Circumstances form following publication of results.

If you are granted Post-Results Exceptional Circumstances, you will be allowed to take the exam again. If you were taking the exam for the first time, when you take the exam again it will be considered a ‘first attempt’ (also known as DNS - ‘Deemed Not to have Sat’) and your original attempt will not be considered. In some cases the mode of assessment may be different. You must seek advice from your School before requesting a ‘Deemed Not to have Sat’, as there are some important implications to consider. The mark for your original attempt will be cancelled, pending the next attempt, which means your overall classification or result for your relevant Part is also cancelled until your new result is published.

Once your results are published, you will have five working days to submit a Post-Results Exceptional Circumstances request for our consideration. Evidence should be submitted at the same time, or within ten working days of the publication of results if this is not possible. If you cannot provide evidence, you will have the opportunity to explain this on the form.

Late evidence: please tell your Support Centre if you are having difficulties getting evidence. Any evidence presented ten-working days after results publication will normally be considered late but may not be processed in time for you to resit the exam at the next available opportunity. It may also mean that you are unable to progress or graduate until the next academic year.

Please do not submit a Post-Results Exceptional Circumstances form for issues relating to exam performance until you have received your results and read the important advice to consider which will soon be published on Essentials, along with the full policy.

If you are faced with situations or difficulties that are outside your control and which negatively affect your academic performance during an Exam period (Summer Term or Re-sit period) you should seek relevant support at the time (for example: contact your Support Centre, seek medical advice). You must also gather the relevant and applicable evidence at the time of those circumstances. This evidence can then be submitted along with your Post-Results Exceptional Circumstances request for our consideration in the five working days after your Summer Term/Re-sit results are published.

You have the right to appeal against a School-level or University Standing Committee on Special Cases decision in respect of an Exceptional Circumstances request.

Please carefully review the grounds for appeal detailed in the Exceptional Circumstances outcome appeal form. You are strongly encouraged to seek advice from the Reading Students' Union Advisers in your Students’ Union, they are professional Reading Students' Union staff with knowledge and experience of the University’s procedures who can offer confidential, independent advice and support you throughout the process.

If you have new evidence which you were not able to submit by the original deadline, you may submit this to the Support Centre, Henley School Office or ISLI (as appropriate) which should normally be within 10 working days from the date that the outcome of your extenuating circumstances request is made available to you, together with an explanation as to why the evidence could not be submitted by the original deadline.

     • Submit any appeal before the deadline for appeal. The deadline to appeal is within five working days from the date you were sent the notification outcome of your Exceptional Circumstances request. The only exception to this deadline is if you are notified of your outcome during the Summer term examination period. 

     • In this circumstance, the deadline for you to appeal is whichever is later:
                   - five working days from the date the outcome of your Exceptional Circumstances request is made available to you, 
                   - the next working day following the final day of the relevant exam period. The dates for exam periods are published online.

     • Download and complete the Exceptional Circumstances outcome appeal form

     • Get any official documents or paperwork that you need to support your appeal.

     • Send the form and the documents the Student Appeals and Academic Misconduct Officer ecfappeals@reading.ac.uk before the deadline for appeal.

Any coursework which is granted an extended deadline through the Exceptional Circumstances process, or an amended deadline as a result of a verified systems outage which impacts the ability of students to submit summative work, will normally be given feedback and marks within a 15 working day period to run from the amended deadline for submission. Any variation from this will require a case for an exemption to be made by the module convenor to the SDTL. The student(s) should be advised of the amended date for feedback as soon as reasonably possible. When determining a revised date for the return of feedback staff should be mindful of the requirement for feedback to be ‘current’.

Further information can be found here: Assessment Handbook (Under Section 3.17 Work submitted late).

• For 20 credit modules and fewer, a cumulative period for extension should not exceed 6 months.

• For above 20 credit modules, e.g. for dissertations, the cumulative period for extension should not exceed 12 months.

If the periods noted above are reached, alternative supporting measures should be considered.

If you have other questions not covered in this page about making a request, you can contact the following people for advice:

-  Your Student Support Coordinator or relevant support staff in ISLI/HBS

-  Your Academic Tutor or the School Director Academic Tutoring

-  The Advice Service at Reading Students' Union: email advice@rusu.co.uk or call 0118 378 4100

-  For students on Henley Greenlands-based programmes contact your Programme Administrator