The Ins and Outs of Extensions

Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and if that curveball comes in the shape of some unexpected or unavoidable circumstances, you might find it difficult to submit your assessment by the deadline you’re set. If worst comes to worst, and you do face some unexpected issues, then you can put in a request for an extension. There are two different extension types:

1. Five day self-certified extension – this is for circumstances which are short-term and it might not be possible to get evidence for (e.g. an illness that lasts less than five working days). This type of extension is granted for five working days. You can only apply for the five day self-certified extension twice during an academic year. If you apply more than twice then you’ll be asked to meet with your department to talk about any wellbeing issues or support you might need.


2. Ten day evidence based extension – for this type of extension request you’ll need to submit relevant evidence as well. This extension is granted for ten working days. There’s no restriction on how many times during the academic year you can ask for this type of extension, but as with the five day extension, if you apply more than twice you’ll be asked to meet with your department to talk about any wellbeing issues or support you might need.

What Do I Need To Know?

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught students can request an extension by logging into Campus Connect and selecting ‘extensions’ under the ‘my studies’ tab. If you’re a Postgraduate Research student, you need to speak to your Director of Graduate Studies for advice.

An extension is granted for personal and medical circumstances which stop you from submitting your work by the set deadline. If you need an extension, you should send out a request as soon as possible, since it can take up to two working days for it to be processed, and being caught short it not a good situation to be in. It’s always worth submitting something even if you haven’t heard back, because if your application is approved you can always resubmit a revised piece. For the ten day evidence based extension you’ll need to include photographs or scan your evidence as attachments. In Appendix B, you can see the type of evidence you’ll need to submit. If your evidence is not in English then it needs to be professionally translated into English. If you applied for the five day self-certified extension but need more time to submit your work, you can submit evidence to be allowed another five working days.

Once you’ve submitted your extension request, updates on your request will be sent to your College email address and a decision on your extension request is normally made within two working days. You can’t request an extension for your work after the original deadline date has passed, and if you submit your work after the deadline (without requesting an extension) the standard penalties for late submission still apply, so make sure you’re prompt with those applications!

If you aren’t able to apply for an extension before your deadline and weren’t able to submit your work by the set deadline, you’ll need to apply for extenuating circumstances. If your extension request was accepted but you still can’t submit your work by the extended deadline, then you’ll also need to apply for extenuating circumstances.

If you need any support or have any questions about extension requests and extenuating circumstances you can contact our Student Advisors who’ll be happy to help you with this.