If you experience personal or health difficulties that are impacting your ability to submit coursework on time, attend exams or that could impact your marks, you should let the University know at the earliest opportunity by submitting an Exceptional Circumstances claim.
Find out:
- what exceptional circumstances are
- who can claim
- types of claim
- circumstances that are likely to be accepted
- types of evidence required for your claim
- how to submit a claim
- deadlines for applying
- more about the process and our policies
- what to do if you have reasonable adjustments (longstanding and/or chronic health conditions)
- where to get extra support.
What exceptional circumstances mean
Exceptional circumstances are incidents that are:
- short term
- arise unexpectedly
- beyond your control.
All parts of the definition above must be met in order for a claim to be successful.
Who can make an exceptional circumstances claim
You can claim for exceptional circumstances if you are a taught undergraduate or postgraduate student and are required to undertake assessments for which marks are awarded.
- If you are studying abroad, on a placement or a research student
If you are studying abroad you can’t make an exceptional circumstances claim to us. You must contact your host institution. If you need to retake an assessment this should take place (where possible) during the host institution’s study period. If you are having difficulty resolving matters, you should speak to the Sussex Abroad Office.
If you are on a placement you should use the sickness reporting systems in place at your employer/placement facilitator. You must also notify your School if you are absent for six consecutive days or more. An exceptional circumstances claim can only be submitted for a respective placement portfolio/project, with claims for non-submission or late exceptional circumstances submission permitted only.
If you are a research student you should contact your supervisor.
Find out more in our exceptional circumstances policy [PDF 143KB].
Types of claim
There are three types of exceptional circumstance claims you can submit for consideration.
Late submission
Some assessments allow students to submit work within a late submission period. A penalty is usually applied to late submissions. If your claim is successful, the late submission penalty will be waived. You should not apply for this type of claim if your assessment does not have a late submission period.
Non-submission or absence
If you're not able to attend an exam or submit your coursework by the published deadline, successful claims will give your School Examination Board the option to offer you an uncapped sit of the assessment at the next available opportunity.
Impairment
If you have managed to submit your work on time and attend your exams, you should apply for this type of claim if you think that your circumstances may have negatively impacted the mark that you receive. If your claim is successful, your School Examination Board will consider whether you can be given a further, uncapped opportunity to complete the affected assessment at the next available opportunity.
Important: You cannot submit a claim for impairment before your assessment or exam. Once the exam date or deadline has passed, you should submit your claim at the earliest opportunity. You should not wait for your marks to be released before claiming as late claims cannot be approved.
Circumstances likely to be accepted
We make decisions about claims on a case-by-case basis which are subject to our exceptional circumstances policy [PDF 143KB] and procedural guide [PDF 213KB].
Examples of experiences that may be accepted are:
- serious short-term illness, an injury or other ailment
- the death or significant illness of a close family member or friend
- jury service (where deferral is not permitted by the court)
- A flare up of the symptoms of a disability.
Examples of experiences that may not be accepted are:
- you feel your assessments are scheduled too close together
- poor time management on your behalf, including not meeting online assessment requirements
- general pressures, stress and/or anxiety from academic work.
- Computer or IT issues – students are expected to back up their work in order to mitigate these types of problems.
You can see more examples of what may or may not be accepted in our exceptional circumstances procedural guide [PDF 213KB].
Providing evidence for your claim
You must provide evidence to support the circumstances you are claiming for – this is a reasonable requirement. Evidence should be from someone who knows you in a professional capacity and who can verify your circumstances. The evidence should cover the date(s) of the assessments in your claim.
Examples of evidence that may be accepted include:
- medical certificate or letter
- letter from a registered counsellor
- letter from a professional who can corroborate matters being considered (such as student advisor or disability advisor)
- hospital admission report/appointment letter
- police/crime statement
- court/tribunal letter.
If you are registered at the University Campus Health Centre you may be able to request medical evidence.
What should I do if I do not have evidence?
The University understands that students cannot always provide evidence. Therefore, students can instead self-certify their circumstances for up to seven days by submitting a completed Self-Certification Form [PDF 278.85KB]. However, the use of the Self-Certification form is limited and students should refer to the exceptional circumstances policy [PDF 143KB] and procedural guide [PDF 213KB] for further information.
Important: You must not upload graphic images such as body parts. These could be seen as offensive and do not meet the above criteria for acceptable evidence.
How to submit a claim
You can submit an exceptional circumstances claim through Sussex Direct.
You will need to:
- log in using your University username and password
- select 'study’ and then 'exceptional circumstances’ from the drop down menu
- select 'new claim’ to start writing your claim
- Further instructions about how to submit a claim can also be found on your Sussex Direct account as directed above.
Important: You’ll receive an email confirming that a claim has been successfully submitted. If you don’t receive an email confirmation, you must return to your draft claim and select 'submit'.
Your claim will be considered in accordance with our exceptional circumstances policy [PDF 143KB] and procedural guide [PDF 213KB].
Deadlines for submitting a claim
All claims (including any requested evidence) must be submitted before the exceptional circumstances claim deadline (see table below).
Deadlines for exceptional circumstances claims will take place throughout the year. Claims after these deadlines will be rejected.
If you have not been able to submit a claim by the published deadline you should refer to the academic appeals process.
Online distance learning (ODL) and ZJSU-Sussex AI Joint Institute only
- Online Distance Learning
Initial assessment attempts
Assessments during Semester 1: modules running from September to December 2025 (D1, D2)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments during Semester 2: modules running from January to April 2026 (D3, D4)
Monday 1 June 2026Assessments during Semester 3: modules running from May to August 2026 (D5, D6)
Thursday 10 September 2026Resit assessments
Resit assessments between 27 April - 11 May 2026
Monday 1 June 2026Resit assessments between 24 August - 7 September 2026
Thursday 10 September 2026 - ZJSU-Sussex AI Joint Institute
Undergraduate (non-finalists)
Assessments for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for Spring Term modules (S2, A2) and resits in A1
Monday 6 July 2026Resit assessments undertaken in A3
Thursday 10 September 2026Final-year undergraduates
Assessments for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for Spring Term modules (S2, A2) and resits in A1
Wednesday 27 May 2026Resit assessments in A3
Thursday 10 September 2026Taught postgraduates
Assessments for autumn term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for spring term modules (S2, A2) and resits in A1
Monday 6 July 2026Resit assessments done in A3
Thursday 10 September 2026
All other students
- Undergraduate (non-finalist including Foundation Year)
Assessments for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for Spring Term modules (S2, A2)
Monday 1 June 2026Resit assessments (A3)
Monday 24 August 2026 - Final year undergraduate
Assessments for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for Spring Term modules (S2, A2)
Wednesday 27 May 2026Resit assessments (A3)
Monday 24 August 2026 - Taught postgraduate
Assessments for Autumn Term modules (S1, A1)
Monday 26 January 2026Assessments for Spring Term modules (S2, A2)
Monday 1 June 2026Resit assessments (A3) and dissertation/projects
Thursday 10 September 2026
All deadlines are subject to UK time and by 11:59pm of the date stated, unless specified otherwise.
The claims process
The exceptional circumstances claims process consists of three stages.
-
Assessment (stage one)
Your claim will be assessed to see if it can be accepted.
-
Outcome (stage two)
If your claim is accepted at stage one, it will be sent to your examination board for consideration. Accepted claims for late submission at stage one will have the late penalty removed automatically.
-
Appeal
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of stage one or stage two, you can submit an appeal. You are advised to read the academic appeal process and comply with any requirements specified – such as the date to submit your appeal (usually during an appeal window).
Important: Decisions made by an Examination Board are based upon academic judgment and not the severity of your circumstances. The Examination Board can only offer outcomes that are permitted under the university’s Progression and Award regulations.
If you have reasonable adjustments
Usually, your reasonable adjustments should be sufficient to support you during your studies long term. You can also seek extensions to your assessment submissions as part of this.
But sometimes there are occasions where you may need both reasonable adjustments and to make an exceptional circumstances claim.
These are:
- you are experiencing an atypical flare up, fluctuation or deterioration in your ongoing condition meaning all adjustments in place are no longer sufficient
- there is a temporary issue in the implementation/presence of your reasonable adjustments (so temporary measures are required)
- you experience an exceptional circumstance that is unrelated to your disability or reasonable adjustments.
Find out more under section six of our exceptional cirumstances procedural guide [PDF 213KB] and find out about our disability support.
More information and support
If you need more help and advice about making an exceptional circumstances claim you can contact: