Postgraduate Online: Short Coursework Extensions

Your Student Adviser will be able to advise you on your individual circumstances, and guide you through the process of submitting an application for an extension or special circumstances as appropriate.  

Student Advisers and Student Support Team

To contact Postgraduate Student Support, please email: BMTOPGStudentSupport@ed.ac.uk

Plan your time

We expect you to plan and organise your time accordingly (including contingency time) to manage multiple deadlines, other commitments e.g. part-time jobs, and possible IT problems.

Late submission of coursework

All in-course assessment (ICA) deadlines are published in course/programme booklets. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these deadlines and plan ahead. 

All assessed work must be submitted by the given deadline.

If a short-term acute event means you know you will not be able to submit a written assessment on time, you can apply for a short extension in advance of the coursework deadline.

If you have a relevant Learning Adjustment, you can utilise this via the Extra Time Assessment Tool.

Please note all coursework submitted to the BMTO is date and time stamped. There is no period of grace. If work is submitted at any point after the time specified, then it will be treated as late.

Coursework submitted after the deadline will be subject to a late submission penalty in accordance with the University Taught Assessment Regulation 28, which states: 

Students need to submit assessed coursework by the published deadline. Where the student provides a good reason for late submission, Schools will consider accepting late submission of up to seven calendar days without exacting a penalty.

Late submission penalty is a reduction of the mark by 5% of the maximum obtainable mark per calendar day (e.g. a mark of 65% on the common marking scale would be reduced to 60% up to 24 hours later.)  

This applies for up to seven calendar days (or to the time when feedback is given, if this is sooner), after which a mark of zero will be given.

See section 28.6 of Taught Assessment Regulations for more information about circumstances in which an extension is likely to be considered appropriate.

Taught Assessment Regulations 

Short coursework extensions

If circumstances beyond your control influence your ability to submit coursework on time, you can submit a request for an extension to the deadline.  

For all BMTO PG online courses this is a maximum of seven calendar days.

From 13 September 2024 under the new Exceptional Circumstances Policy students will be limited to apply for a Short Coursework Extension up to a MAXIMUM of 3 times per academic year. This includes students submitting over the Summer.

We strongly advise that you seek advice from your Student Advisor prior to requesting an extension.  Please note some assessments do not permit extensions or may differ from the standard four calendar days. Where this is the case it will be detailed in the course or programme booklet.   

Learning adjustment (LA)

If you have a Learning Adjustment you can apply for a Learning Adjustment extension each time you are unable to meet a set deadline. You can request this via the Extra Time Assessment (ETA) Tool and this should be requested before the deadline. You should receive an automatic decision.

The standard Learning Adjustments duration is also a maximum of 7 calendar days for all PG BMTO online courses. 

Students who utilise their Proof Reading Adjustment is a maximum of 7 calendar days.

When considering an extension request the following must be noted:

• Extension requests can be submitted for individual written assessments only.
• If other forms of in-course assessment have been impacted by mitigating circumstances beyond your control (e.g. oral presentations or any form of group work) then you should contact your Student Adviser to discuss an Exceptional Circumstances submission. 

Short Coursework extensions or Learning Adjustment extensions cannot be considered after the submission deadline has passed.

Where circumstances beyond your control have a longer term impact on your ability to complete work on time, and a four-day extension is insufficient mitigation, you can still apply for Exceptional Circumstances for these assessments. Please note this does not automatically extend your deadline. Please discuss with your Student Advisor.  

The ESC team is part of Student Systems & Administration based in the Old College. They are responsible for processing extensions and special circumstances applications for all taught students across the University.  

The ESC team will be able to answer any questions relating to your application. Please note that you should always contact your  Student Adviser (SA) or Supervisor to discuss your individual circumstances.

Contact the ESC Team