OLL Special Circumstances Committee 2014/15 1. The OLL Special Circumstances Committee meets before each OLL Final Assessment Board to consider requests from students for special circumstances to be taken into consideration when final marks are approved. 2. The definition of special circumstances is set out in the University’s policy: <http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Policies/Special_Circumstances.pdf > Notification of special circumstances by the student 3. It is a student’s responsibility to report any special circumstance, including all relevant documentary evidence. Medical, non-medical or compassionate circumstances, affecting any formal assessed work, must be notified in writing to Graham Venters, CPE Coordinator, by the student as early as possible. Normally, this should be within two days of the assessment being completed. For Art and Design courses, the FINAL date for notification is 02 June 2014. For Open Studies courses, it is 10 July 2015. Any letter, note or email giving such information must be clearly dated. It is helpful if documentation from independent professionals, such as medical staff and counsellors, is gathered by the student at the time the special circumstances occur. 4. Students should contact Graham Venters in advance of these dates if they wish to discuss the process, their circumstances or the evidence needed. Graham Venters CPE Coordinator Office of Lifelong Learning University of Edinburgh Paterson’s Land Holyrood Road Edinburgh EH8 8AQ Telephone: +44 (0) 131 650 4400 Email: [email protected] 5. Students who wish to proceed with a special circumstances case must also complete the OLL Special Circumstances Form: <OLL Special Circumstances Form> 6. When a student has raised special circumstances, they should be aware that these circumstances will be reported, in confidence, to the Convenor of the Final Assessment Board, for consideration by the Special Circumstances Committee of the Board. Procedure to be followed by the OLL Special Circumstances Committee 7. The SCC will meet before the Final Assessment Board and consider all the medical, non-medical and compassionate evidence. 8. The SCC will make a decision on what impact, if any, the submitted special circumstances have had on a student’s performance in an assessment, taking into account all the information made available to it. 9. The SCC will decide which of the actions set out in the University’s Special Circumstances Policy is the appropriate one to follow: <http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Policies/Special_Circumstances.pdf > 10. The SCC will report its decision to the Final Assessment Board. Procedure at the Final Assessment Board 11. The Final Assessment Board will implement the decision of the Special Circumstances Committee. 12. The final decision made by the Final Assessment Board will be reported back to each individual student. Students on the Certificate of Higher Education The SCC will also consider special circumstances submitted by a student who has not completed the 120-credits for the Certificate of Higher Education in the required five years. The student should notify OLL as set out in (3) above.