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The University of Huddersfield
Supporting Evidence Guidance Booklet
Registry
Updated July 2021
Contents
Please click on the following links to take you to the appropriate section for
supporting evidence guidance for:
Consideration of Personal Circumstances
- Extension Applications
- Extenuating Circumstances Applications and Appeals
Results Appeals 4
Fit to Sit Policy 6
Academic Misconduct Mitigation and Appeals 6
Attendance Monitoring Appeals 8
Fitness to Practise Appeals 10
Student Disciplinary Appeals 12
Fitness to Study Appeals 14
Student Complaints Guidance 16
General Information applicable to all areas above:
Late Claims and Appeals 17
PLSPs 17
Sensitive Information 16
General Information on Medical Evidence 17
Consideration of Personal Circumstances
Extension Requests
- If you have exhausted your self-certification opportunities of which evidence
isn’t required, then you must submit independent evidence to support every
extension request, regardless of the amount of time you have requested (up
to 10 working days).
- The evidence should confirm the dates or timeframe during which your
circumstances negatively impacted your ability to study and submit your work
by the deadline.
- You must submit independent evidence to support your extension claim for
every new set of circumstances.
- If you have a PLSP in place it may contain a section with information relating
to Extension requests. Please refer to this section of your PLSP before
requesting an extension.
On-Time Extenuating Circumstances (ECs) Requests
- On time EC claims are to be submitted within 5 days of the
assessment/exam deadline. ECs are circumstances which affect your
ability to attend an exam or complete an assessment by the hand in date.
The EC procedure is intended to support you if you experience
exceptional, unforeseeable and short-term circumstances which affect
your ability to study or take assessments.
- All claims made under the EC Procedure must be supported by
independent, reliable documentary evidence which clearly shows how
you were impacted by your circumstances and the effect they had on
your ability to comply with the assessment requirements.
- The evidence should confirm the dates or timeframe during which your
circumstances negatively impacted your ability to study, complete work or sit
exams. If you have a long-term illness or a disability, the University can
support you with the management of those conditions. These conditions do
not generally fall under the EC procedure as other measures, such as
reasonable adjustments via a Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP), may
be more appropriate forms of support.
- If you have a PLSP in place then you should note that submitting a
copy of your PLSP is not enough evidence for an EC claim to be
approved. Please refer to the section here for PLSP information.
Late Extenuating Circumstances (ECs) Requests
If you submit your EC application more than 5 days after the assessment/exam
deadline has passed , in addition to the information required for on-time ECs as
standard, you also need evidence to support why you could not submit the EC
claim on time.
Consideration of Personal Circumstances Evidence Guide
Short Term Illness, accident, or mental health crisis All evidence should confirm the impact of your diagnosis/condition/issues on your ability to complete your assessments on/by the due dates. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances would have had a negative impact on your ability to complete/submit assessments by the due date. It must cover the dates of the current assessments. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital admission and discharge letters - should confirm your time spent in hospital. Statutory Sick Notes/Fitness for work Notes – must be signed and stamped by your GP practice. The dates must cover the assessment deadlines. Patient Summary Notices – must identify you as the patient and must confirm the impact of your illness/circumstances on your ability to complete assessments. A list of conditions, prescriptions, symptoms and appointments will not be enough. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an EC claim if they have not had any previous contact with you. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an Extension request or EC claim. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an Extension request or EC claim.
Childcare issues If you miss an exam due to issues with childcare, your evidence must confirm that these were sudden, unexpected and unforeseen. Material irregularity If you are claiming that you missed an assessment deadline due to an irregularity or misinformation from a tutor your evidence would need to confirm that poor/wrong advice was given (such as a copy of an email) and the impact that this would have had.
Results Appeals
If you are appealing about a published result on the basis of Extenuating
Circumstances (EC) that impacted on your performance in assessments earlier
in the year, then you must explain why they were not presented via an EC claim
before your results were published.
The evidence you submit to support your results appeal must also
support why you were not able to engage with the EC process from the
time of the assessments to the time of results being published.
If you are appealing on the grounds of a material irregularity, you will
need to provide a supporting statement and/or supporting evidence to
submit alongside your appeal. Examples are included in the grid
opposite.
This route may be right for you if you have evidence to confirm that:
▪ there was a material irregularity in how your work was marked;
▪ there was a material irregularity in how your classification was
calculated;
▪ there were circumstances that affected your submission and you could
not have told us sooner by using our extenuating circumstances (EC)
procedure.
Results Appeal Evidence Guide
Short Term Illness, accident, or mental health crisis All evidence should confirm the impact of your diagnosis/condition/issues on your ability to complete your assessments on/by the due dates and your ability to engage with the University Procedures for Consideration of Personal Circumstances and submit an extension request or EC claim prior to the CAB taking place to consider your results. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances would have had a negative impact on your ability to complete/submit assessments by the due date and your ability to engage with the University Procedures for Consideration of Personal Circumstances and submit an extension request or EC claim prior to the CAB taking place to consider your results. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper
University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) - this is unlikely to be accepted for a Results Appeal as it does not give enough detail about why you were unable to engage with the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances during the Academic Year. Hospital admission and discharge letters - this is unlikely to be accepted for a Results Appeal as it does not give enough detail about why you were unable to engage with the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances during the Academic Year unless accompanied by a letter from your GP. Statutory Sick Notes/Fitness for work Notes – this is unlikely to be accepted for a Results Appeal as it does not give enough detail about why you were unable to engage with the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances during the Academic Year unless accompanied by a letter from your GP. Patient Summary Notices – must identify you as the patient and must confirm in detail the impact of your illness/circumstances on your ability to complete assessments and your ability to engage with the University Procedures for Consideration of Personal Circumstances and submit an extension request or EC claim prior to the CAB taking place to consider your results. A list of conditions, prescriptions, symptoms and appointments will not be enough. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an EC claim if they have not had any previous contact with you. The evidence must also confirm why you were unable to engage with the University regulations and procedures for consideration of personal circumstances in year. If you have had previous engagement with the Wellbeing Team it is likely that they would have advised you in relation to submitting EC requests on time and in year. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an Extension request or EC claim. If you have had previous engagement with the School Support Team it is likely that they would have advised you in relation to submitting EC requests on time and in year. Therefore it is unlikely that they will be able to provide evidence that supports a Results Appeal. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an Extension request or EC claim. If you have had previous engagement with your PAT it is likely that they would have advised you in relation to submitting EC requests on time and in year. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will be able to provide evidence that supports a Results Appeal. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or personal circumstances or their impact on your ability to meet a deadline or engage with the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances in year. Academic issues Independent evidence would be required to support why you had not been in a position to raise the issues via the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances in year, prior to the release of results. All other circumstances A letter from a healthcare professional would be required to confirm the impact of the circumstances on your ability to meet assessment deadlines and to engage with the Regulations for Consideration of Personal Circumstances in year. Material irregularity You will need to provide evidence to support either of the two grounds below;
- there was a material irregularity in how your work was marked;
- there was a material irregularity in how your classification was calculated; The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails) to support the claim of a material irregularity, feedback and the marking guidelines
Please bear in mind that your appeal will not be accepted if your claim:
- is not evidenced
- is evidenced by a medical note for another person
- is evidenced by a series of hospital appointments
- is evidenced by prescription notes
- could reasonably have been submitted as an EC claim in-year (in the case
of a late appeal) could reasonably have been submitted within 10 working
days of the publication of the result in question
- if you are intending to consult with a health professional for the evidence
and are unsure what may be suitable, the guidance notes above may help.
Academic Misconduct Mitigation and Appeal Evidence Guide
Short Term Illness, accident, or mental health crisis All evidence should confirm the impact of your diagnosis/condition/issues were so severe that your decision- making was impaired and it affected your behaviour at the time of the assessment. The evidence must support that the circumstances were outside of your control and this impacted your decision to commit the alleged academic misconduct breach rather than engage with the Extenuating Circumstances Procedure. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances would have had a negative impact on your ability to engage with the University Procedures for Consideration of Personal Circumstances and the impact of these on your decision making. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) - this is unlikely to be accepted for an Academic Misconduct Appeal or as mitigating evidence as it does not give enough detail about why you were impacted by circumstances which led to the alleged academic misconduct allegation. Hospital admission and discharge letters - t this is unlikely to be accepted for an Academic Misconduct Appeal or as mitigating evidence as it does not give enough detail about why you were impacted by circumstances which led to the alleged academic misconduct allegation. Statutory Sick Notes/Fitness for work Notes – this is unlikely to be accepted for an Academic Misconduct Appeal or as mitigating evidence as it does not give enough detail about why you were impacted by circumstances which led to the alleged academic misconduct allegation. Patient Summary Notices – this is unlikely to be accepted for an Academic Misconduct Appeal or as mitigating evidence as it does not give enough detail about why you were impacted by circumstances which led to the alleged academic misconduct allegation. A list of conditions, prescriptions, symptoms and appointments will not be enough. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an appeal if they have not had any previous contact with you. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an appeal via this procedure. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to appeal an Academic Misconduct procedural decision or to submit mitigating evidence. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or personal circumstances or their impact on you to support an Academic Misconduct Appeal or as mitigating evidence. Bereavement For the death of an immediate family member (such as spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling), a medical note confirming the impact of the bereavement on your decision making and behaviour at the time of the assessment will be required. Caring / family member illness The evidence must confirm the impact of the circumstances on you and your decision making and behaviour at the time of the assessment. A medical letter relating to the family member will not be considered acceptable evidence. Material irregularity You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below:
- There was a material irregularity in how the academic misconduct procedure was carried out The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of a material irregularity in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
Unreasonable decision / penalty was disproportionate You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below:
- You can demonstrate that the decision maker(s) reached an unreasonable decision/ penalty was disproportionate The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Evidence (medical or other) to support one of the grounds above was not taken into consideration appropriately as part of mitigation within the procedure.
- A statement with a detailed explanation and evidence where appropriate to support why the decision maker(s) reached an unreasonable decision/ penalty was disproportionate.
Bias in the procedure You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below:
- You can demonstrate that there was bias or reasonable perception of bias in the hearing procedure. The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of bias in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
- A statement with a detailed explanation and evidence where appropriate to support why there was bias in the procedure.
Attendance Monitoring Appeals
If you are asking the University to take into consideration mitigation when
considering the application of a penalty under the Attendance Monitoring
Regulations you must provide independent evidence as detailed in the table
opposite.
The evidence you provide must support how your circumstances impacted your
ability to attend your sessions as expected by the University’s regulations on
attendance monitoring.
If you are appealing on the grounds of a material irregularity, you will
need to provide a supporting statement and/or supporting evidence to
submit alongside your appeal. Examples are included in the grid
opposite.
You can appeal the decision made at the Attendance Monitoring Formal
Meeting if you meet one or both of the following grounds:
▪ You can demonstrate that a material irregularity has occurred;
and/or
▪ You have extenuating circumstances, which can be independently
evidenced, which for good reason you could not tell us about before the
decision was made.
Attendance Monitoring Appeal Evidence Guide
Short Term Illness, accident, or mental health crisis All evidence should confirm the impact of your diagnosis/condition/issues on your ability to attend your scheduled sessions. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances would have had a negative impact on your ability to attend your scheduled sessions as usually expected. It must cover the dates of the sessions in question. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital admission and discharge letters - should confirm your time spent in hospital.
Material irregularity You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below;
- there was a material irregularity in how the attendance monitoring procedure was carried out The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of a material irregularity in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
Fitness to Practise Hearing Appeals
If you are asking the University to take into consideration mitigation when
considering the application of a penalty under the Fitness to Practise
Regulations you must provide independent evidence as detailed in the table
opposite.
If you are appealing on the grounds of ECs, the evidence you provide must
support how your circumstances impacted your ability to engage appropriately
with the course and the EC process.
If you are appealing on the grounds of a material irregularity, you will
need to provide a supporting statement and/or supporting evidence to
submit alongside your appeal. Examples are included in the grid
opposite.
You can request a review of the decision made at the hearing if you can evidence
one or more of the following grounds:
▪ You can demonstrate that a material irregularity occurred during the hearing.
▪ You can demonstrate that the panel reached an unreasonable decision and/or
the penalty was disproportionate or not permitted under the procedures.
▪ You have exceptional circumstances which for good reason you could not tell
us about at the hearing.
▪ That there was a bias or reasonable perception of bias at the hearing.
Fitness to Practise Appeal Evidence Guide
Short Term Illness, accident, or mental health crisis All evidence should confirm the impact of your diagnosis/condition/issues on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances would have had a negative impact on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course. It must cover all dates in question. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital admission and discharge letters - should confirm your time spent in hospital. This must also be accompanied by
another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. Statutory Sick Notes/Fitness for work Notes – must be signed and stamped by your GP practice. The dates must cover all in question as investigated under the procedure. This must also be accompanied by another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. Patient Summary Notices – must identify you as the patient and must confirm the impact of your illness/circumstances on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course. A list of conditions, prescriptions, symptoms and appointments will not be enough. This must also be accompanied by another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an appeal if they have not had any previous contact with you. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an appeal via this procedure. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to appeal a Fitness to Practise procedural decision. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or its impact on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. Bereavement For the death of an immediate family member (such as spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling) a death certificate will be acceptable for 3 weeks a following the death. Your claim form should indicate the nature of your relationship to the deceased. A death certificate for a close friend or less immediate family member will be accepted for a period of 1 week following the death. For a longer period of time or when a death certificate is not available a medical note confirming the impact of the bereavement on ability to attend your on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure will be required. Financial or domestic difficulties Evidence must confirm the impact of the circumstances on your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure. s, for example a medical letter that confirms that the circumstances have caused stress that has impacted on ability to attend any University activity. Pregnancy You should refer to the pregnant student policy here. If your ability to practise at the expected level of professional suitability for your course, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Fitness to Practise procedure was affected due to illness or complications resulting from a pregnancy then evidence from your GP, nurse practitioner or midwife will be required. The evidence will need to confirm the impact of your circumstances on your ability to practise at the expected level of suitability for your course, not just confirm a pregnancy and due date. For cases that require in excess of the standard allowances in the pregnant student policy the standard requirements for appropriate evidence will apply. Material irregularity You will need to provide evidence to support the ground below;
- You can demonstrate that a material irregularity occurred during the hearing. The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of a material irregularity in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
Unreasonable decision / penalty was disproportionate You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below;
- You can demonstrate that the decision maker(s) reached an unreasonable decision/ penalty was disproportionate The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Evidence (medical or other) to support one of the grounds above was not taken into consideration appropriately as part of mitigation within the procedure.
question. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital admission and discharge letters - should confirm your time spent in hospital. This must also be accompanied by another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure. Statutory Sick Notes/Fitness for work Notes – must be signed and stamped by your GP practice. The dates must cover all in question as investigated under the procedure. This must also be accompanied by another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure. Patient Summary Notices – must identify you as the patient and must confirm the impact of your illness/circumstances on your ability to behave at the expected level of a University of Huddersfield student. A list of conditions, prescriptions, symptoms and appointments will not be enough. This must also be accompanied by another form of evidence to state why, for good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an appeal if they have not had any previous contact with you. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to submit an appeal via this procedure. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to appeal a Student Disciplinary procedural decision. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or its impact on your ability to behave at the level expected of a University of Huddersfield student, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure. Bereavement For the death of an immediate family member (such as spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling) a death certificate will be acceptable for 3 weeks a following the death. Your claim form should indicate the nature of your relationship to the deceased. A death certificate for a close friend or less immediate family member will be accepted for a period of 1 week following the death. For a longer period of time or when a death certificate is not available a medical note confirming the impact of the bereavement on ability to behave at the level expected of a University of Huddersfield student, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure will be required. Financial or domestic difficulties Evidence must confirm the impact of the circumstances on your ability to behave at the level expected of a University of Huddersfield student, for which there was good reason you could not have told us about during the Student Disciplinary procedure. Suitable evidence would be a medical letter that confirms that the circumstances have caused stress that has impacted on ability to behave at the level expected of a University of Huddersfield student. Material irregularity You will need to provide evidence to support the ground below:
- You can demonstrate that a material irregularity occurred during the hearing. The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of a material irregularity in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
Unreasonable decision / penalty was disproportionate You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below:
- You can demonstrate that the decision maker(s) reached an unreasonable decision/ penalty was disproportionate The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Evidence (medical or other) to support one of the grounds above was not taken into consideration appropriately as part of mitigation within the procedure.
- A statement with a detailed explanation and evidence where appropriate to support why the decision maker(s) reached an unreasonable decision/ penalty was disproportionate
Bias in the procedure You will need to provide evidence to support the ground to appeal below:
- You can demonstrate that there was bias or reasonable perception of bias in the hearing procedure. The evidence must be in the form of (for example):
- Correspondence with University staff (for example, email trails or meeting records) to support the claim of bias in the procedure marked against the published regulations.
- A statement with a detailed explanation and evidence where appropriate to support why there was bias in the procedure
Fitness to Study Appeals
If you are asking the University to take into consideration mitigation when
considering the application of a penalty under the Fitness to Study regulations
you must provide independent evidence as detailed in the table opposite.
If you are appealing on the grounds of ECs, the evidence you provide must
support how your circumstances impacted your ability to engage appropriately
with the course and the EC process.
If you are appealing on the grounds of a material irregularity, you will
need to provide a supporting statement and/or supporting evidence to
submit alongside your appeal. Examples are included in the grid
opposite.
There are four grounds for appeal and you must evidence at least one of these for
your appeal to be considered:
▪ The University has failed to follow its own procedure;
▪ The decision is unreasonable and/or a disproportionate sanction has been
imposed;
▪ Your circumstances have changed;
▪ You have relevant new information/evidence that you could not reasonably
have provided before.
Fitness to Study Appeal Evidence Guide
Your circumstances have changed or you have relevant new information/evidence that you could not reasonably have provided before. You will be required to submit medical evidence to provide how your circumstances have changed and can support your ability to participate safely, independently, and successfully in academic study and student life generally at the University. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances have now changed and support your ability to participate safely, independently and successfully in academic study and student life generally at the University. The evidence must be up to date. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it.
Student Complaint Submission Guidance
If you are submitting a student complaint based on the eligible grounds below,
you may want to consult the evidence guide below to know what types of
evidence will best support your complaint.
▪ You have a complaint about any programmes, modules, services or facilities
we provide;
▪ You have a complaint about any action (or lack of action) that we as a
university or a member of our staff may have taken.
Student Complaint Submission Evidence Guidance
Evidence to support a student complaint Please provide correspondence (for example, emails trails) or a brief statement which outlines the background to your complaint. You do not need to provide copies of university documents; therefore, you should not need to provide a copy of the course handbook for example. A brief statement should set out the circumstances impacting you as you perceive them and the outcome you are seeking from your complaint. It should provide the investigator sufficient information to understand your complaint, however during the Stage 1 investigation you will have opportunity to discuss the complaint with the investigator therefore your points can be expanded on then. We would not be able to accept evidence which does not relate to you or is provided in breach of GDPR data protection legislation or the University’s data policies. New Evidence at Stage 3 Request for Review If you wish to submit new evidence at a later stage of the procedure you must have good reason for doing so which is supported by independent evidence. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances have impacted your ability to engage with the processes at the University and specifically your ability to engage with the Student Complaints procedure. The evidence must be up to date. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital discharge letter - should confirm your time spent in hospital and your discharge details. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an appeal if they have not had any previous contact with you. School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to engage with this procedure. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to engage with this procedure. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or its impact on your ability to engage with this procedure. Complaints submitted outside of the timescale provided in the Student Complaints Procedure If you have been unable to submit your student complaint and supporting evidence in accordance with the timescales provided in the Student Complaints Procedure, we may not accept the complaint as eligible for investigation. If you submit your complaint late, you must provide independent evidence which confirms it would not have been possible for you to engage with the process sooner. Medical Evidence – this should be from a healthcare professional and does not need to give details of any personal medical circumstances that you would prefer not to share. It should confirm that your circumstances have impacted your ability to engage with the processes at the University and specifically your ability to engage with the Student Complaints procedure. The evidence must be up to date. It must be signed and dated by the healthcare professional and be on headed paper or a completed University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) that has the surgery stamp on it. Hospital discharge letter - should confirm your time spent in hospital and your discharge details. University Student Wellbeing and Disability Services – wellbeing, mental health advisers, disability advisers and counselling staff can only provide supporting evidence if you have been accessing their services. They cannot provide evidence to support an appeal if they have not had any previous contact with you.
School Based Guidance and Support Teams – support teams will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to engage with this procedure. Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) - will only provide supporting evidence if they have been supporting you on a regular basis and are fully aware of your personal circumstances prior to you needing to engage with this procedure. Academic Staff – academic staff cannot provide evidence that confirms a medical diagnosis or its impact on your ability to engage with this procedure.
General Information applicable to all procedures covered in this
booklet:
Late Claims and Appeals
For any late request for consideration of personal circumstances or appeals, in
addition to the evidence you must provide to support your grounds for appeal /
personal circumstances you MUST provide additional supporting evidence to
demonstrate why your circumstances have meant you were unable to operate
within the normal procedural timeframe. For example, this could be in the form of a
GP/healthcare provider or therapist letter.
PLSPs
A PLSP will not usually be acceptable as sole evidence to support a request for
consideration of personal circumstances or an appeal because a PLSP shows that
reasonable adjustments have been identified and should have already been made.
However, to ensure the context of your individual case is fully understood, we will
consider your PLSP as part of the claim or appeal if you ask us to do so.
Where a long-term condition or disability has worsened, then evidence such as a
Medical Evidence Form or GP’s letter reporting the specific deterioration or sudden
change (including the time period it applies to) will be required. The evidence
should describe how you have been affected by the change in your condition.
Evidence simply confirming the long-term condition without mention of any changes
is normally insufficient. If the circumstances of your disability or condition relating to
your PLSP have changed, you should contact Disability Services to discuss your
support.
If you are intending to contact Disability Services to request evidence to confirm a
change in your circumstances which have impacted on your assessment deadline,
please note, this can only be provided if you have ongoing or regular contact with
your adviser or a specialist tutor or mentor. The evidence must be requested from
your Disability Adviser.
Sensitive Information
If your case is highly sensitive and you are concerned about sharing personal
information for example in the case of sexual assault or if you are giving evidence
as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, we advise that you speak to your
Personal Academic Tutor and/or the University Wellbeing and Disability Service.
These people can review the evidence in confidence with you and may be able to
make a supporting statement for you to include with your form, without you needing
to submit the sensitive evidence.
General Information on Medical Evidence
Any statements you make about your health must be directly supported by
medical evidence if they are to be taken into account by the University when
considering your claim.
The evidence should normally be provided on a University Medical Evidence
Form, a sick note or a letter from a health care professional to confirm your
illness. Other forms of medical evidence, such as patient summary documents
may be accepted at the discretion of the University. For a list of example types
of documents accepted, please see below.
Copies of prescriptions, details of medical appointments, photographs of
injuries, copies of evidence relating to a friend or family member or
supporting letters from families or friends will not be accepted.
The University Medical Evidence Form (UMEF) can be completed by any GP
Practice not just the University Health Centre. Copies of prescriptions or
photocopies of medicine boxes will not be seen as confirmation that you were
unable to complete your work to the best of your ability. These types of evidence
only indicate that a certain medicine was prescribed - you would need medical
evidence to confirm that the nature or impact of your illness was such that you
could not have undertaken your work.
The evidence must be signed and dated by a medical practitioner (GP,
healthcare professional or clinical specialist) and must include the dates when
