UCL REGISTRY AND ACADEMIC
SERVICES
APPENDIX 34
GUIDELINES ON REQUESTING A DEFERRED ASSESSMENT
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Any request for a Deferred Assessment will not be considered without a
completed application form and the appropriate supporting documentation.
Deferred Assessment will not be allowed in any circumstances where prior
planning could have made it unnecessary.
The deferred assessment shall normally be in the same format as the
missed examination (i.e. if the examination was by unseen written paper,
the deferred assessment should also be by unseen written paper). Where
this is not possible, an explanatory statement from the departmental/
divisional tutor should be submitted with the application form.
Deferred Assessment on non-medical grounds is only permissible on the
following grounds:
Bereavement of a close relative (during or immediately preceding the
relevant examination) e.g. parent, partner, sibling or grandparent;
Illness of dependents (nature of dependency and medical certification
must be provided).
REGULATIONS
A candidate who through illness, or other cause acceptable to UCL, is prevented
from attending any course examination may apply to the Academic Registrar of UCL
using the appropriate form, to defer assessment under the following conditions:
(a) The candidate must have been prevented from taking the course in
question in a year other than the final year of his/her degree programme. 1
(b) The application shall be made within one week of the end of the
examination period in question and should be made via the Departmental/
Divisional Programme Tutor and approved by the Faculty Tutor before being
forwarded to Registry and Academic Services.
(c) The deferred assessment shall normally be in the same format as the
missed examination (i.e. if the examination was by unseen written paper,
the deferred assessment should also be by unseen written paper).
(d) Where it would not be possible to assess the candidate in question in the
same format as the missed examination a request for assessment by an
alternative method shall be made under the same conditions as at (b) above
and shall be accompanied with a statement of the reason for the request,
signed by the Departmental/ Divisional Programme Tutor.
(e) Any such assessment of a candidate intending to progress to the
immediately following session must take place no later than August or
September where such progression is dependent on passing the unit in
question. This is to ensure that a provisional result is available no later than
two weeks prior to the start of session to inform progression decisions. Any
such assessment of a candidate not intending to progress to the
immediately following session should take place not later than six months
from the date of the examination from which the candidate was absent. The
deadline for receipt of deferred assessment results in the Examinations
Section is 18 September.
(f) The total value of courses which may be assessed under these deferred
assessment regulations during a candidate’s period of study are indicated
below:
Students who registered in or after September 2005 and are following
the Harmonised Scheme for the Award of Honours
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A maximum of 3 course units may be permissible for deferred
assessment in any one year.
A total of 4 course units may be deferred for a 3 year programme and
6 course units for a 4 year programme.
The intercalated BSc should be regarded in the same way as the
final year of an undergraduate course (i.e. no deferred assessment
would be permissible without an exceptional suspension of
regulations).
(g) If a candidate, through illness or other cause acceptable to UCL, is
prevented from attending and/or completing any assessment held under
these deferred assessment regulations, he/she may apply to the Academic
Registrar of UCL using the appropriate form for one further deferred
assessment not later than six months from the date of the original (not the
deferred) examination from which he/she was absent. No further deferred
assessment of the examination in question shall be permitted.
(h) A candidate who fails to complete any additional deferred assessment
permitted under (g) above may enter for the examination on the next normal
occasion and this examination shall be assessed in the same format as the
original (not the deferred) examination from which he/she was absent,
irrespective of whether permission was granted for the deferred examination
to be assessed by an alternative method.
(i) The form and content of any deferred assessment set shall be approved by
an External Examiner, wherever possible. If it is not possible, an
explanatory statement shall accompany the request for deferred
assessment.
(j) Any paper or other work presented for deferred assessment which is given
a fail mark by the internal examiners shall be immediately referred to an
External Examiner, preferably the one who moderated the assessment of
the work presented for the original, missed, assessment. Papers and other
work presented for deferred assessment which are given pass marks by the
internal examiners, shall be given a final agreed mark at the next full Board
of Examiners meeting (normally in June).
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Please note that for Intercalated students on the Harmonised Scheme for the Award of Honours no
deferred assessment would be permissible without an exceptional suspension of regulations, as
outlined in point (f) (i) above. This regulation will be applied to Intercalated students for the first time
in the 2007/8 academic session.