19. Absences and Extenuating Circumstances

Extenuating Circumstances

All extenuating circumstance claims or queries should be directed to the Education Services Team.

Extenuating circumstances are defined by Queen Mary as:

Circumstances that are outside a student’s control which may have a negative impact on a student’s ability to undertake or complete any assessment so as to cast doubt on the likely validity of the assessment as a measure of the student’s achievement.

Extenuating circumstances are usually personal or health problems. Health problems include your emotional wellbeing and mental health, as well as your physical health. Extenuating circumstances do not include computer problems, misreading your exam timetable, planned holidays or events, or local transport delays.

In order to be valid, the extenuating circumstances must be:

  • unplanned;
  • outside of the student’s control;
  • such that there has been a negative impact on the ability to undertake or complete any assessment;
  • cast doubt on the likely validity of the assessment as a measure of the student’s achievement.

*A student should plan their work to take into account participation in religious observances.

Queen Mary operates a fit to sit policy, which covers all assessments including coursework and exams. If you sit an exam or submit a piece of coursework you are deemed to be fit to do so. In such instances a request for extenuating circumstances will not normally be considered. If you do not feel you are well enough to attend an exam  or submit an assignment, then you should not attend and should submit a claim for extenuating circumstances instead.

It is your own responsibility to submit any claims for extenuating circumstances, not that of your tutor, Academic Advisor or other School contact (e.g. Student Support Officer). Please ensure that if you have what you believe is a valid case, you complete the submission process in accordance with the guidelines.

It is not possible to make a retrospective claim for extenuating circumstances, specifically once you know your results. Therefore, claims submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

To submit an extenuating circumstance request you must log a claim through the online extenuating circumstances task on MySIS and following the instructions there. Claims must be submitted by the relevant deadlines which are noted below or on the Key Dates chapter of this handbook. If you have any queries please submit a query on AskQM - https://askqm.qmul.ac.uk/s/

Your claim must be accompanied by relevant supporting evidence (for example medical certification, death certificate, police report and crime number, or other written evidence from a person in authority). Please note that although accompanying documentation can be submitted after the claim, claims without any evidence cannot be considered except in the limited cases permitted for self-certification, below. It is in your best interest to provide evidence and supporting documentation that is as comprehensive as possible.

You are entitled to self-certify on a specific number of times during the academic year (please see the Extenuating Circumstances Policy link below for more information and the exact number of self-certification claims you can submit and when these can be submitted); each self-certification can cover a period of up to seven calendar days. This means completing and submitting the Queen Mary self-certification form in place of independent evidence. Please note that self-certification does not mean automatic approval of a claim – The School of Mathematical Sciences will consider it in the normal way and will need to be satisfied of the validity of the claim, and satisfied that it justifies the outcome. Any claims beyond those three must be accompanied by evidence, as described above. 

Please refer to the full guidance notes on extenuating circumstances from the Student Experience Directorate or online at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/student-experience/student-wellbeing-hub/extenuating-circumstances-a-guide-for-students/    

The Extenuating Circumstances Policy can be found at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/governance-and-legal-services/media/dgls-media/policy/current-policies/Extenuating-Circumstances-Policy.pdf

When you submit an extenuating circumstance claim you will receive a formal acknowledgement, you must keep this safe for the duration of your studies. All claims must be received by the relevant deadlines which are noted below or on the Key Dates chapter of this handbook.

All extenuating circumstances claims are kept confidential until they are considered by the School of Mathematical Sciences Subject Examination Board. All proceedings of the subcommittee are strictly confidential, and will not normally be discussed at the full examination board meeting.

It is your own responsibility to submit any claims for extenuating circumstances, not that of your not that of your advisor or any other staff member.

Please ensure that if you have what you believe is a valid case, you complete the submission process in accordance with the set guidelines and deadlines.

It is not possible to make a retrospective claim for extenuating circumstances, specifically once you know your results. Therefore claims submitted after the deadline will not be considered by the examination board.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES CLAIM DEADLINES

You must submit claims as soon as possible and at the latest by the dates noted below.

In general, extenuating circumstances applications should be made as soon as possible after the deadline for the assignment has passed. In most cases, the university will expect claims to be made within seven days of the original deadline (for a piece of coursework).

 

The School of Mathematical Sciences extenuating circumstances (EC) deadlines are noted below:

In-term assessments e.g. coursework, mid-term test etc.:

·         7 calendar days after the original indicated deadline for all in-term assessment

 

For an exam or final project/assessment within the Examination Periods:

·         5 calendar days after the last date of the Examination Period

With the exception of the following

·         the Late Summer Resit Examination Period – August 2026 which is within 4 calendar days after the last date of the Examination Period

 

·         Dissertations which are 7 calendar days after the original indicated deadline

 

Wednesday 28th January 2026 at 5pm

for matters relating to Semester A Examination Period - January 2026

Wednesday 10th June 2026 at 5pm

for matters relating to Main Examination period for Semester 2 & Year Long Modules – May/June 2026

Tuesday 18th August 2026 at 5pm

for matters relating to Late Summer Resit Examination Period – August 2026

 

Claims submitted after the relevant deadline will not be considered.

  • Please refer to the full guidance notes on Extenuating Circumstances from the Advice and Counselling service here.

Absences

Students cannot be absent from Queen Mary University of London during term-time without obtaining written agreement in advance from the School of Mathematical Sciences.

If you are unable to attend any scheduled teaching or Advisor meetings, then please notify the School of Mathematical Sciences of your absence via email prior to the scheduled activity: Maths School Office or via AskQM (https://askqm.qmul.ac.uk/s/)

You need to include the scheduled teaching activities and/or meetings you are missing including the reason for your absence. A member of the Education Services Team will notify you if your absence has been approved.

This is underpinned by the School of Mathematical Sciences Student Engagement Framework and you may be de-registered for poor or non-engagement.

In advance of deregistration you will be sent a formal, written warning and a specified period in which you must improve your attendance, participation, or submission of assessment before deregistration from your programme of study occurs.

Further information can be found in the Academic Regulations (point 2.55 onward).

If you are absent for more than 5 weekdays you may be asked to provide supporting documentary evidence such as a letter from your GP.

Missed In-term Assessments

If you report that an extenuating circumstance prevented you from submitting exercises and/or attending a test (you must provide evidence) and we accept your reason for the absence, then we may be able to excuse you. We show an excused mark as "0NA". We normally ignore any excused marks when computing your overall average mark. Please note that this puts more weight on your other assessed work.

A module leader may instead wish to organise a replacement assessment exercise, which you would be expected to attend, and the result of which would form part of your overall mark.

If you miss exercises and/or tests for modules taught by other Schools then you should speak to the module organiser directly and, if you are studying on a joint programme, follow the rules of the School concerned.

Missed Examinations

Do not delay! If you report that an extenuating circumstance prevented you from attending an examination and we accept your reason then we will allow you to sit the examination later without any penalty. We normally require documentary evidence such as a medical certificate or letter (a prescription is not acceptable) from the Student Health Centre, a GP, a hospital or the police. Please note that a medical certificate or letter from the Health Centre or your GP must clearly state that you were unfit to sit examinations during a specified period.

An examination sat later than normal because of extenuating circumstances is called a "first sit". You normally take such (EC-claim-related) first sits in August or at the earliest opportunity.

Please note that if you attend an examination but later tell us that you were ill during the examination we cannot normally grant you a first sit. If you feel ill before an examination then it may be best not to attend the examination but instead to seek medical advice and submit a medical certificate.

Retaking the Year

If you have significant extenuating circumstances, you may be able to request a retake of the year. In order to be considered for a retake, you must request this before the end of the examination period, i.e. before you know any of your examination results. You must demonstrate that significant extenuating circumstances have been present for much of the academic year, which, for example, have led to your missing large parts of Semester A or B. Normally, extenuating circumstances covering only parts of the revision period or the examination period are insufficient.

You should provide the Student Support Officer with a one-page summary detailing your case. Summarise briefly any extenuating circumstances affecting the current year and, where appropriate, refer to extenuating circumstances forms you submitted earlier. For recent occurrences that have not been covered by previously submitted extenuating circumstances forms, you should also submit a new extenuating circumstances form. The Student Support Officer will be able to advise you on whether a request to retake the year might be successful. If you want to go ahead with a retake request, you need to complete a Queen Mary Retake of Academic Year form, which is available from either the Maths Office or the Student Enquiry Centre. Please hand in all completed forms to the Maths Office.

Interruption of Studies or Withdrawal

If you decide to withdraw from Queen Mary, either temporarily or permanently, you should discuss the matter with your advisor and read the Your studyweb site. If you decide to proceed, you must complete an "Interruption of study" or "Withdrawal from Queen Mary" form, which is available from the Maths School Office or the Student Enquiry Centre, room CB01 in the Queens' Building or the Your study web site. Then take the form to the Education Services Team, who will want to discuss it with you before agreeing to sign it. Further information can be found here:

https://www.qmul.ac.uk/registry-services/student-information/my-studies-/withdrawing-from-your-studies/

If you wish to interrupt, i.e. withdraw temporarily, then you must do so by the set deadline stated on the interruption form. Interruption of studies is normally for one complete year but, in exceptional circumstances, the period may be up to two years. Please contact the Education Services Team to discuss this further, If you interrupt your studies then you lose the automatic right to enter examinations for modules that you took before you interrupted, and we may not allow you to enter for any examination in which you would be the only candidate. Further information can be found here:

https://www.qmul.ac.uk/registry-services/student-information/my-studies-/interrupting-your-studies/

If you are looking to interrupt your studies or withdrawing from your studies you need to contact the Education Services Team to discuss both procedures. Interruption of Studies or Withdrawal forms can only be authorised by the Education Services Team.

Please note that the Registry deadlines for forms to be submitted; these are usually close to the start of the relevant exam period (early January or early May). Students who sign forms after these dates will remain registered for examinations in either the January or May examination periods and failure to attend may result in marks of 0 being entered and being used towards award outcomes.

Religious observance and study

Queen Mary is a diverse community of over 30,000 students and staff. With a variety of faiths and beliefs represented on campus, we are committed to tolerance, understanding and co-operation, as well as to ensuring as far as possible that our policies are consistent across all needs. Many religions and beliefs require their members to pray at specific times during the day, or have special festivals or spiritual observance days. We recognise therefore that students at Queen Mary often strike a balance between their educational and religious commitments.

 

One of Queen Mary’s fundamental aims is to provide an education that is judged internationally to be of the highest quality. It would be both impractical and inconsistent with our aims as a university to suspend teaching for reasons of religious observance, but we will accommodate students’ religious commitments where we reasonably can do so. This may include providing learning materials (potentially including QReview recordings) online and permitting students to attend classes at different times where there is availability.

 

Students are expected to stay engaged and up-to-date with their studies throughout their time at Queen Mary. Schools and Institutes should make their expectations for attendance and submission of coursework clear to students at the beginning of their studies, and students should inform themselves beforehand about the potential implications of missing learning and teaching activities. Students must also inform their School or Institute beforehand if they intend to miss any teaching. We will take religious commitments into reasonable account when reviewing students attendance, but we expect students to plan their studies so that they can submit coursework on time. 

 

 The following procedures apply in the event that a special festival or spiritual observance day would result in absence from a scheduled assessment:

 

In the case of an in-class test, students may request permission in advance from their Head of School or Institute to be absent on that occasion. The Head of School or Institute will consider whether reasonable adjustments can be made, for example by permitting late submission or rearranging the test. It is important to submit requests well in advance, in case reasonable adjustments cannot be made.

In the case of formal examinations, students may notify Queen Mary of any special festivals or spiritual observance days by submitting the online ‘Notification of Religious Holidays  form’ by the deadline specified in the Academic Calendar. We will accommodate such requests where we reasonably can do so. More information can be found here: https://arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/exams/.