You can submit a request for self-certification for absence from assessment if you have been experiencing exceptional circumstances that have caused you to be absent from a time-bound assessment(s) for a period of up to and including 7 calendar days.
Example of circumstances
An example of these circumstances could be a short-term illness such as norovirus, an accident, or emergency caring responsibilities. You are not required to provide supporting documentation with your request and can include any time-bound assessment(s) that was missed during this time period.
It’s really important that self-certification is only used for unavoidable emergency situations – you may not have another chance to take the assessment until the resit period (normally in the summer break) or the following academic year, which could delay your progression or graduation. Generally, the best time to take assessments is when they are originally planned as part of the module assessment structure, and as close to the teaching and learning activities as possible.
What is a time-bound assessment?
A time-bound assessment is an assessment taken under timed conditions and examples of these include written exams and practical skills assessments such as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE), laboratory tests, observed practice and practical skills exams which cannot be postponed.
If you are unsure whether your assessment is time-bound and eligible for self-certification you should seek advice from your school office. Some time-bound assessments may not be eligible for self-certification due to the requirements of Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs). In this case you should submit a full request for Additional Consideration, there’s more about this in the next section.
Are there any limits or exclusions to the self-certification process?
You can only submit a maximum of one self-certification request per semester and you must submit your request within 7 calendar days of the date of the last assessment you missed. If your circumstances last more than 7 calendar days, or if you have already used the self-certification process for the number of times as stated above, then you should seek medical advice and submit a full request.
Self-certification does not apply to coursework. If your difficulties are short-term and occur close to a coursework submission deadline you may apply for an extension to deadline.
Some courses have attendance requirements and you may need to submit supporting documents to account for any absences from lectures, tutorials, etc. You need to check your module/course information to make sure you know what the attendance requirements are for your course, particularly if there are placement or professional body requirements.
This process is not available to postgraduate research students, as the university’s regulations for research degrees and the Doctoral College’s code of practice and regulations for research degrees will continue to be followed.