Mitigating Circumstances Statement Template
As part of an Extension Request Form or a Notification of Examinations Absence form, you’ll have to write a
statement explaining your difficulties and how they’ve impacted your academic work. We’ve designed this
statement template to help. Click the links to be brought to more detailed advice:
Basic statement structure – it’s essential you address all these points:
1. What are the circumstances affecting you?
2. When did they begin/occur?
3. How did your difficulties affect you?
Additional information – you may need to address these points, depending on your circumstances:
4. If you’ve already submitted your work or sat your exam, what made you unable to make a rational
decision about your fitness to sit at the time?
5. If you have multiple deadlines/exams in the same week, but you’re not applying for an extension/deferral
for all of them, can you explain why you’re fit to sit some but not others?
1. What are the circumstances affecting you?
Start by summarising your difficulties in one sentence, and state that this is why you want to request an
extension or withdrawal from an exam.
2. When did they begin/occur?
Explain when your difficulties started, being as specific as possible. It’s important to show how your
circumstances specifically impacted the assessment(s) you’re including on your form.
If you’re applying on the basis of long term difficulties, including a long term mental or physical health
condition, you need to also show that this has become worse. This is because the College sees mitigating
circumstances as something unexpected. They’d argue that long term difficulties aren’t unexpected, so you
need to be able to show that there was an unexpected deterioration. This is particularly important if you
receive personalised examination provisions (PEP).
3. How did your difficulties affect you?
Here’s where you can explain what symptoms (both physical and psychological) you’ve experienced, due to
your circumstances. Think about all the ways your general wellbeing has been affected, as well as how it’s
affected your ability to study/revise. For example, have you had problems with sleeping or experienced
appetite changes? Be as specific as you can.
If you’ve had to take medication and there’ve been side effects, it’d help to list these too. Remember to
include some evidence of the side effects, such as a GP note confirming you’ve experienced these or a copy
of the patient information leaflet that came with your medication.
You can then explain how your difficulties have prevented you from meeting the deadline/sitting the exam. It
may help to think about which aspects of studying could have been affected, such as concentration, focus,
working speed, memory, ability to process information, ability to understand instructions, ability to think
clearly and logically, motivation and time in which to work.
We wouldn’t recommend just listing the aspects of studying mentioned above, as it’s important to give
specific examples from your own experience. This helps the reader understand your difficulties.
Remember that you’ll need to provide supporting evidence, such as a medical note from a GP, a letter from a
counsellor, or documents that back up what you’re saying. You can read our Evidence Guidance Notes for
more information and get advice from advice@kclsu.org if you’re still unsure of what evidence to provide.
4. If you’ve already submitted your work or sat your exam, what made you unable to make a rational
decision about your fitness to sit at the time?
This section won’t apply to you if you haven’t submitted your assignment or sat your exam yet.
If you have already sat your exam or submitted your assignment, you may wish to retrospectively withdraw
using the Notification of Examination Absence form.
The College has a ‘fit to sit’ policy, which means that when a student sits an exam or submits an essay, they
are declaring themselves fit to do so. So, if you’d like to withdraw from an assessment you’ve already taken,
you need to be able to provide a valid reason for this, for example that you weren’t able to make a rational
decision about whether you were ‘fit to sit’.
If this is the case, you’ll need to explain how your difficulties were impacting on your ability to think clearly,
assess your own wellbeing and make good judgements. If you were stressed because of your difficulties, it’d
help to explain any symptoms of stress you experienced and how they affected your decision making
abilities.
This is a crucial section if you’ve already taken the assessment, so do be as specific as you can and get advice
from advice@kclsu.orgbefore submitting.
5. If you have multiple deadlines/exams in the same week, but you’re not applying for an
extension/deferral for all of them, can you explain why you’re fit to sit some but not others?
This won’t apply to you if you’re submitting an Extension Request Form or Notification of Examination
Absence form for all your deadlines/exams, or if you only have one deadline or one exam.
If this does apply, you should explain why your circumstances mean that some assessments have been more
affected than others. Please seek advice from advice@kclsu.org if you’re in this situation.
Finished your statement?
You may wish to have your statement checked by KCLSU Advice Service before you submit it. This is particularly
important if you’re unsure whether your circumstances would be considered sufficient, if you’ve withdrawn from
an exam you’ve already sat, or if you have already missed an assignment deadline.
Once you’ve completed a draft, please don’t hesitate to email it to advice@kclsu.org. Our Advice
Caseworkers will be happy to check through it and offer our suggestions on making it as strong as possible.
If you’d prefer to have it checked in person, contact us to arrange an appointment or attend one of our scheduled
drop-in sessions. Check out kclsu.org/advice for more information.