Extenuating Circumstances Form

The Extenuating Circumstances Form is designed to ensure that all Colleges of the University of Cambridge have the information they require to accurately assess applicants who have experienced particular personal or educational disadvantage*.

It helps Admissions Tutors by providing:

1. context against which they can judge the academic record of an applicant
2. information useful in assessing an applicant’s performance at interview

Submission deadlines

For 2024 entry, the completed form must arrive by the relevant deadline below for Colleges to be able to consider the information when deciding which applicants to call for interview: 

• 23 October 2023 - for students applying by the 16 October UCAS deadline
• TBC February 2024 - for students applying for the Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (pre-degree course)
• TBC March 2024 - for mature students applying in the second application round

If there is additional supporting information you need to make your College aware of after the deadline, please contact them directly. Any information received after the deadline will be considered as part of post-interview decision-making and should be sent at the earliest opportunity.

How to submit the Extenuating Circumstances Form

The form should normally be completed and submitted by the applicant's school/college. Please note, in those cases where the applicant's school/college remains unaware of the full circumstances, the applicant’s doctor or social worker may complete the form on the applicant's behalf. 

To complete the form on behalf of an applicant, you need to select the College to which the applicant has applied, from the list on this page.

• If the applicant has applied for an Open Application, select 'Open Application'.
• If you don't know which College the applicant has applied to, select 'COLLEGE NOT KNOWN’.
• If the applicant has applied to the Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (pre-degree course), please select ‘Foundation Year’.

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* Do not use this form for COVID-19-related educational disruption, which should be declared by the applicant on the Additional Applicant Information Form (AAIF) that will be provided to them.