Tell us if something made it difficult for you to study

Extenuating circumstances

We know that serious things that have happened, or are happening, in your life can have a big impact on your studies. These are called extenuating circumstances. It’s important that you let us know about your extenuating circumstances so that we can consider them when we assess your application.

Examples of extenuating circumstances

These are some examples of situations that we would appreciate having more information about during the application process:

• if you have a serious acute or chronic medical condition, such as leukaemia
• death of a close family member, such as a parent, legal guardian, child, sibling or partner
• being a victim of serious crime, such as a physical assault
• the impact of ongoing medical conditions, disabilities, learning difficulties or mental health conditions. You can also declare these on your UCAS application. You will be asked about any adjustments you might need for interview (like extra time) at a later stage, so you don't need to submit those via the Extenuating Circumstances Form
• someone stealing your work
• experiencing a terrorist incident, war
• if you’re a refugee or have an asylum background
• experiencing a natural disaster, such as an earthquake
• experiencing a major fire in your home
• if your family experienced a breakdown, for example your parents got a divorce
• if you are estranged from your family, which means you’re not in touch with them
• being evicted from your home
• experiencing racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress
• significant and ongoing caring responsibilities, for example caring for a close family member
• jury service or attending court or tribunal as a witness, defendant or plaintiff

Situations that are not usually extenuating circumstances

There are some situations that we would not usually expect to be informed about through the Extenuating Circumstances Form. For example:

• disruption to your education because of Covid
• minor illnesses or injuries, such as colds, headaches, hay fever
• stress, related to taking exams or assessments
• financial problems or employment issues
• Visa problems
• not revising and preparing on time
• going away somewhere, for example on holiday

How to tell us about your extenuating circumstances

Please ask your teacher, doctor or care worker to complete our extenuating circumstances form.

If you are reporting minor issues or things that happened a long time ago and there is no one who can complete it for you, you can complete the form yourself.

If you are submitting a form on behalf of an applicant and the information you wish to submit has already been outlined in the applicant's UCAS reference, you do not need to complete an Extenuating Circumstances Form as well.

Deadlines to complete the extenuating circumstances form

The form should be completed and submitted to the College you’ve applied to around the same time as your UCAS application. If you want to start your course in 2025 the College needs to receive the form by:

• 5 February 2025 if you’re applying for the Foundation Year
• 8 March 2025 if you’re applying as a mature student in the March application round

If you applied for an undergraduate course by 15 October 2024, the deadline to submit the extenuating circumstances form (22 October 2024) has now passed.

If there is additional supporting information that you’d like to share with your College after the deadline, please contact them directly. 

How to complete and submit the form

To complete the Extenuating Circumstances Form, select the link for the College the applicant is applying to.

• If the College is unknown, select 'College not known'.
• If the applicant has made an open application, select 'Open Application'.
• If the applicant is applying for the Foundation Year, select 'Foundation Year'