This information is for students who have experienced mitigating, extenuating or special circumstances, or factors that have affected their performance in their examination.
WHAT IS A MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE?
A mitigating circumstance is a serious illness or difficult personal circumstances that negatively affected your preparation and/or the examination. Some examples of mitigating circumstances are:
• short-term illness or injury
• worsening of an ongoing illness or disability, including mental health conditions
• symptoms of an infectious disease that could be harmful if passed on to others
• death or significant illness of a close family member or friend
• unexpected caring responsibilities for a family member or dependant
• significant personal or family crises leading to acute stress
• witnessing or experiencing a traumatic incident
• a crime which has had a substantial impact on you
• accommodation crisis such as eviction or the home becoming uninhabitable
• an emergency or crisis that prevents you from attending an exam or accessing an online assessment
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.
However, please note that the University states that evidence obtained after the impact of the illness or grave cause which explains that the student ‘reported’ they were impacted by illness or grave cause is unlikely to be sufficient.
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.
Examination Allowances
Presenting a case that relates to exams and mitigating circumstances 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 formal examination results.
Information from the University on applications for examination allowances and copies of the relevant application forms are available here.
How do I apply?
Applications through the College
If you apply through the College, the first thing you need to do is to discuss your situation with the College Tutor and/or a Wellbeing Advisor. They can help you understand your options and build your application.
In this case, the College will complete the application form, will write a supporting statement explaining your circumstances and will include your supervision reports and/or any other academic evidence.
Your College will ask you to send the supporting evidence (medical or other), sign a declaration form and provide a copy of your Student Support Document if you have one. You could also write your own personal statement to support your application. Our Guidance on Writing Your Personal Statement for an Examination Allowance and the Template to assist you in writing your statement.
Direct applications
Direct applications need to include the following:
• A completed and signed application and declaration form
• A personal statement explaining your circumstances and how these affected the examination
• Supporting evidence (medical or other)
• A Student Support Document where applicable
• Your supervision reports and/or any other academic evidence
Applications need to be sent by email to the EAMC EAMC@admin.cam.ac.uk by the deadline for the next EAMC meeting. The dates of meetings and the respective deadlines are available here.
In the case of direct applications, your College will be informed of the application and the allowance requested, as well as the outcome course. The College may be asked to provide further information for the application where relevant, e.g. all supervision reports, or confirmation of relevant College action.
How applications are considered
The EAMC receives copies of applications seven days before a meeting. Before the Committee meeting, the EAMC may contact the Department or Faculty for further information, e.g. information on grade boundaries.
The EAMC will consider the application presented (directly or through the College), any additional information received from the Department, Faculty or relevant University office, and any previous applications that have been made to the EAMC.
Where the criteria of a requested examination allowance have not been met, the EAMC may grant a different exam allowance.
You and the College will receive the outcome within 10 working days of the Committee meeting date.
Possible outcomes of successful applications for students on the following courses: tripos, MBA and Executive MBA, LLM, MAcc, MASt, MArch, MCL, MEng, M.Fin, MMath, MMus, MSci, PGCE
Allowed to progress
This allowance is for undergraduate students who are not in their final year. This allows you to progress to the next part of the course if you fail an examination.
To be allowed to progress, the University needs to be satisfied that your mitigating circumstances affected your exams and that there is sufficient academic evidence, for example, supervision reports, that you would have passed the examination and progressed onto the next part of the course, were it not for the mitigating factors.
A temporary ‘allowed to progress’ may be granted if your examination results have not yet been finalised, for example, because a Student Disciplinary Procedure is ongoing. You can choose whether to continue with the course considering you may be withdrawn partway through as a result of the ongoing procedure.
Although ‘Allowed to progress’ is unavailable for certain fourth-year courses, the EAMC could provide a letter confirming that your circumstances meet the criteria for illness or grave cause (if the EAMC is satisfied that your circumstances meet the criteria for illness or grave cause). You can provide the letter to the relevant University academic authority considering progression onto the relevant part of the course.
Declared to have deserved honours (DDH) or an Ordinary BA degree
This allowance is for undergraduate students in their final year, or postgraduate students taking an honours degree (for example, the Master of Law).
This applies if you could not attend assessment(s); or attended but either failed or achieved results that were unrepresentative of your abilities.
If the academic evidence shows that you would have achieved at least a Class III, or pass for postgraduate students, if it was not for the illness or grave cause, you can be declared to have deserved honours and receive the award of an honours degree (DDH).
For undergraduate students only, if the academic evidence shows that you would have passed the examination at Part II, IIA or IIB, you can be granted an Ordinary BA degree.
DDH is not a classed award and may not be acceptable for some professional requirements. You could consider obtaining a detailed reference letter from the College which might be better than replacing the Class with a DDH. Before deciding to apply for DDH, it would be a good idea for you to get advice from the Careers Service that could help you decide whether DDH or a Class would be a better option for your future plans.
Allowed the examination
This allowance is for postgraduate students who are not taking an honours degree (e.g. the MBA or the MASt degree).
This credits the student with the examination (the degree you are registered for) even though you have not met all of the normal requirements.
This allowance is granted if the academic evidence shows that you would have passed the examination were it not for the illness or grave cause, for example, partial results at pass level and supervision reports or a letter from the Supervisor.
Reconsideration of an original result
This allowance is available to undergraduate or postgraduate students who receive a Class of 1, 2.i, 2.ii, or 3; or for postgraduates where the course is not classed but there are higher awards available e.g. Merit and Distinction.
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.
This option is only available if by being re-classed on the basis of the unaffected assessments, the class changes from, for example, 2.i to 1st.
Request a paper to be marked
Applications should be made as soon as possible and do not need to be delayed until other marks awarded to the student are known.
Re-sit opportunity
A re-sit may be offered if your mitigating circumstances have impacted more than a small part of your assessments.
Applications for a re-sit will be considered where an alternative allowance e.g. allowed to progress, allowed the exam, a DDH or BA Ordinary Degree is not possible. Or if other allowances would cause substantial disadvantage. For example, if this is not acceptable for external accreditation to professional, statutory and regulatory bodies for your course.
Further information is available here.
Possible outcomes of successful applications for students on the following courses: MPhil by Advanced Study, MRes, Diploma in Economics, PG Diploma in Legal Studies, PG Diploma International Law, CPGS, MSt, MEd
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 be allowed the opportunity to be examined or re-examined
You are permitted to be examined or re‐examined under such conditions and at such time as determined following consultation with the relevant Degree Committee. This may include the opportunity to revise and resubmit work, to be re-examined later in the same academic year or to return to study the following year and retake assessments along with the subsequent student cohort.
Further information is available here.
Possible outcomes of a successful application 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.
Re-sit failure
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.
Re-sits as an exam allowance
If during the first sitting your examination was affected by mitigating circumstances, you would be eligible to re-sit the examination component (a) in July.
If you achieve 65% following the re-sit examination, you can progress to the course.
If a student is permitted to sit the exam component (a) as a first sitting in July, there will be no further opportunity for a re-sit during that academic year.
In exceptional circumstances, where students have been granted a re-sit but are unable to sit the exam in July and wish to do so in the following academic year, this may be permitted.
There is also no mitigation available for students to be re-examined on the coursework components (assessments & project) of the course. This is because extensions may be requested. In exceptional circumstances and where the criteria for illness and grave cause are met, extensions for project (c) may be permitted into the long vacation period, with the assessment being examined at the second Examining Board (in late July/early August).
Further information is available here.
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.
This information can also be accessed in a PDF format below.