Special circumstances
Prolonged illness or other problems resulting in late or missed work must be documented.
Medical Certificates
Medical Certificates are not required for occasional (non-recurrent) absences of less than three days, and the University Health Service has asked that it should not be overburdened with unnecessary requests for certificates.
The policy is that a student will be required to submit a sick note if absent from the University due to ill health for seven days or more or has missed a degree or equivalent examination due to ill health.
In some cases, provision of a suitable certificate may involve payment of a fee to the Doctor concerned. If an absence is such as to require a certificate (such as a missed examination) then the student should be advised that a self-certificate will not be acceptable.
If a student has been ill and has missed, or will miss, the deadline for submission of an essay or project report, he or she should be encouraged to explain the situation to the Course Organiser immediately and to inform the Director of Studies if the matter is not resolved by doing so.
The Director of Studies should then complete a Certificate of Support for Late Submission and send it to the Course Organiser of the Course concerned.
Section Three of the guidance notes sets out the specific advice to Directors of Studies.
- Certificate of Support for Late Submission (PDF)
- Guidance on special circumstances forms (PDF)
- Special circumstances proforma (Word)
- Special circumstances proforma (PDF)
If a Medical Certificate is sent to Registry, the Secretary’s Office or College Office it is forwarded to the Director of Studies, who should copy it to any Schools concerned.
The College Office does not need to be aware of medical conditions unless they lead to consequences such as appeals or failure to make adequate progress, in which case copies should be submitted in supporting documentation.
Other special circumstances
Students may experience other special circumstances that they feel may impact on their ability to study. This can include personal and family problems, or bereavement.
He or she should be encouraged to explain the situation to the Course Organiser immediately and to inform the Director of Studies.
If the student wishes to bring this to the attention of the University for consideration for any level of concession or consideration (including formal ‘special circumstances’) they must supply supporting evidence.
The nature of the supporting documentation and the responsibility for producing that evidence rests entirely with the student.
Overseas students
If the student is overseas or is only resident in Edinburgh for the purposes of education then they are responsible for ensuring that they procure medical or notary evidence (translated to English by an official translator) for any circumstance that may occur in their home country such as death or illness of a parent or close family member.
This article was published on Aug 3, 2010