FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I provide a supporting statement from a member of SHU staff as evidence?
As supporting evidence of your exceptional circumstances, you can also provide a statement of fact from a member of staff who has provided support or guidance (e.g. from International Experience Team, academic advisor or course leader). This will only be accepted as evidence where the EC Panel acknowledge that the personal circumstances cannot be supported by other documentary evidence.

You can also request a supporting statement from your Student Support Adviser whilst completing the Exceptional Circumstances request. They will add any comments they feel able to make directly to your application prior to it being considered by the Exceptional Circumstances Panel.

The evidence I require to support my exceptional circumstances is not available at the moment. What should I do?
You also have the option to submit your application and notify us that you have further evidence to provide. You can do this by selecting 'Yes' on the Evidence screen where it asks you "Do you want to upload any more evidence later?" This will allow you 10 working days (from the date of the application submission) to upload this evidence to your application.

You do not have to complete your application in one attempt. You can partially complete the application and return at a later date to provide any additional evidence. However, please note that the deadline of 5 working days from the coursework submission/examination date by which you need to have submitted your application.

If you have any concerns about this, please speak to Hallam Help for advice.

Can you contact my medical practitioner to get the evidence from them?
No, the University cannot undertake obtaining evidence on behalf of students. You need to provide this evidence yourself as part of your application.

I am unsure whether the evidence I have is sufficient. What should I do?
Having read through the above guidance, if you are still unsure, please contact Hallam Help.

I do not believe that there is any evidence which can support my application. What should I do?
It is the case that there are some circumstances which cannot be evidenced. If your situation does not meet one of the above criteria and you do not believe that there is any independent third party evidence which can be provided, please continue with your application and the EC Panel will consider your circumstances as you have outlined them.

How can I add further evidence after I have submitted my application?
If when completing your application you selected the option to say you have more evidence to upload, then you should log into My Student Record and then select 'View my Exceptional Circumstances request' which will display all requests which you have submitted. Those requests awaiting further evidence will have an action button to the side which says 'Upload Evidence'. Your request will then be fully submitted and you will not be able to add any further evidence after this point.

If you have fully submitted your application, or did not select the option to say you have more evidence to upload, and find that you have additional evidence to support your application, then you should contact Hallam Help to request that they upload the evidence on your behalf.

My Exceptional Circumstances request has been declined due to lack of evidence. Can I appeal this decision?
Yes, all students have the right to appeal a decision of the Exceptional Circumstances Panel. If you wish to provide further evidence to support your Exceptional Circumstances request as part of your appeal, you should outline within your appeal statement why this evidence was not provided in your original Exceptional Circumstances request. Details regarding the Appeals Policy and Procedure can be found on My Hallam.



Student Policy and Compliance
October 2023