Annex 15 - Guidance on the Options Available for Boards of Examiners where Extenuating Circumstances are Present
For non-final year undergraduate students
If a student has validated extenuating circumstances which have been accepted, the Board of Examiners may, depending upon the categorised impact of the circumstance, decide to:
- Take no action;
- Permit the student to undertake the assessment again without penalty (i.e. as for the first attempt);
- Award credit for the affected unit(s), notwithstanding a fail mark, on the basis of performance in other contexts within the unit(s);
- Permit the student to undertake the entire year of study again or undertake a supplementary year (depending upon the amount of credit in the year of study the student has already achieved) without penalty;
For final year undergraduate students
If a student has validated extenuating circumstances which have been accepted, the Board of Examiners may, depending upon the categorised impact of the circumstance, decide to:
- Take no action;
- Permit the student to undertake the assessment again without penalty (i.e. as for the first attempt);
- Award credit for the affected unit(s), notwithstanding a fail mark, on the basis of performance in other contexts;
- Disregard the affected mark for the purposes of calculating the final programme mark and degree classification
- Permit the student to undertake the entire year of study or undertake a supplementary year (depending upon the amount of credit in the year of study the student has already achieved) without penalty;
- Award a classified degree, under Ordinance 18, where a student is prevented by illness or other substantial cause from completing a minor part of assessment and the Board is unable to make an academic award under any other of the University’s regulations.
- Award an Aegrotat degree, under Ordinance 18.
For taught postgraduate students in the taught component of the programme
If a student has validated extenuating circumstances which have been accepted, the Board of Examiners may, depending upon the categorised impact of the circumstance, decide to:
- Take no action;
- Permit the student to undertake the assessment again without penalty (i.e. as for the first attempt);
- Award credit for the affected unit(s), notwithstanding a fail mark, on the basis of performance in other contexts within the unit(s);
- Permit the student to undertake the entire taught component again or undertake a supplementary year (depending upon the amount of credit the student has already achieved) without penalty;
- Award an Aegrotat degree, under Ordinance 18.
For taught postgraduate students in the dissertation component of the programme
If a student has validated extenuating circumstances which have been accepted, the Board of Examiners may, depending upon the categorised impact of the circumstance, decide to:
- Take no action;
- Allow the re-submission of the dissertation where the student has achieved a mark of less than 45 out of 100 without penalty.
For students in non-modular undergraduate programmes (BVSc, BDS, MBChB)
If a student has validated extenuating circumstances which have been accepted, the Board of Examiners may, depending upon the categorised impact of the circumstance, decide to:
- Take no action;
- Permit the student to undertake the assessment again without penalty (i.e. as for the first attempt);
- Permit the student to undertake the entire year of study again as for the first time (although the Faculty Board of Examiners may also apply supplementary conditions for progression).
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