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Personal Circumstances (PC)

What was previously known as the EMC procedure is now the Personal Circumstances procedure (PC). Please read below to see how the process has changed and how it can help you with your studies.  Information on this page was collated by members of our expert Advice Team.

 

 

 

 

UPDATE, FEBRUARY 2024: Please note that there have been recent changes to this process after the university considered advice from the Office of The Independent Adjudicators' good practice framework. The main change is that students can now also submit a PC after their results have been released (as well as at the time of the affected assignment/exam). This replaces the mitigating circumstances criteria on the appeals procedure.

 
 
Students should submit a PC within 3-5 days of any assignment or exam if illness or personal mitigating circumstances are affecting them. This means that if you are awarded a fail for that work and your PC is upheld, you could be allowed a further opportunity/attempt without the need to submit an appeal.
 
 
Also, as per above, the university regulations have now changed, meaning that students can submit a PC after the results have been released. So you can also submit a PC (within 10 working days of the release of their results) if you require the university to consider personal mitigating factors in relation to a failed assignment.
 
 
The changes will be beneficial to EHU students as:
  • The process will now run smoother/quicker
  • Students can now submit a PC after the assessment board has released their results. (*within 10 working days of your results being released)
  • Evidence requirements have been relaxed
  • Students can now challenge/appeal a rejected PC submission.
 
 
 
 
You will see:
 
“You should submit a PC application if you are unable to complete (*or if you fail) an assessment at the scheduled point, and this can’t be resolved via your Departmental extension scheme. An approved PC will not change any overall progression or award decisions. Your assessment will be moved to the next assessment point without penalty”.
 
 
In line with OIA guidance, EHU will consider PC applications for the following circumstances:
 
  • Serious short-term illness or injury
  • Worsening of an ongoing illness or disability, including mental health conditions
  • Symptoms of an infectious disease that could be harmful if passed on to others
  • Death or significant illness of a close family member or friend
  • Unexpected caring responsibilities for a family member or dependant
  • Significant personal or family crises leading to acute stress
  • Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic incident
  • A crime which has had a substantial impact on you
  • Accommodation crisis such as eviction or your home becoming uninhabitable
  • An emergency or crisis that prevents you from attending an exam or accessing an online assessment
  • A technical problem that prevents you from accessing online teaching or assessment
  • Safeguarding concerns
 
 
If your circumstances are not listed, please select ‘other’ when completing your EMC form and provide details in your statement.
Circumstances which may not be accepted are :
 
  • Holidays, house moves, or events that were planned or could reasonably have been expected
  • Minor illness such as common colds or hay fever, unless the symptoms are particularly severe
  • Having assessments scheduled close together
  • Misreading of an assessment submission deadline or examination timetable
  • Poor time management
  • Minor transport disruption
  • Computer or printer failure where you have failed to back-up your work
  • Normal exam stress
  • Minor life events, unless these have had a severe impact on you
  • Sometimes events happen that appear minor but which impact you more severely than they impact other students. If you believe that you have been severely impacted by a circumstance listed here, please select ‘other’ on the PC form and provide details in your statement.
 
 
Evidence:
 
OIA guidance outlines that supporting evidence can be provided by yourself and other sources. This means you need to include the following information on your PC form.
 
  • A factual statement detailing the reasons for your PC claim. The statement should provide context on how your circumstances have impacted your assessment submission
  • Independent supporting evidence from the following list:
  • Doctor’s letter or fit note
  • Statement from a counsellor
  • Hospital appointment letter
  • Crime reference number
  • Eviction notice
  • Bereavement evidence (eg notice of service, obituary, news report, letter from personal tutor, family member or friend)
  • Letter from domestic violence services
  • Letter from Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme
  • Letter from Edge Hill mental health advisor
  • Letter from Edge Hill Disability advisor
  • Letter from personal tutor
 
 
 
The EHU website guidance states:
 
“We understand that in some cases it may not be possible for you to obtain supporting evidence. For example, if you have had a short illness that significantly impacted your exams or assessment but did not require medical intervention. In these cases, you should provide the details in your factual statement. If you are not providing additional supporting evidence, please tick the ‘no additional evidence’ box on your EMC form. We will consider your application based only on the information in your statement”.
 
 

 

A successful PC can result in: 

  • A further (uncapped 1st attempt ) if the work affected was a 1st attempt
  • A further attempt capped at 40% if the work affected was a 2nd attempt
  • Being reinstated onto your course to be given a further attempt at the failed assignment if the assignment/exam affected was your final attempt. 
 
 
You can submit a PC either shortly before or after an assignment or exam due date or as per the changes, after the results have been released. 
We must advise that any PC submission MUST state mitigating factors that affected you at the time of the affected, missed or failed assignment or exam.
We would always advise that if you can provide supporting evidence, you should do so as this would greatly increase the chances of an EMC being upheld.
 
 
*Please also note that the PC procedure does not consider long term illnesses or disabilities unless there has been an unusual spike in your condition, which can be evidenced, at the time of the relevant assignment. 
 
Students with long term illness’s or disabilities should contact the EHU inclusion team to request information on support available, for advice on what support may be available to you.
 
 
 
If you would like to speak to an SU adviser about your PC query, please book an appointment here.