Extensions, late submission and penalties

Extenuating Circumstances Application

This process is managed by the ANU Division of Student Administration and Academic Services. Please complete this form through ISIS for any courses where:

  • the assessment item is listed as an "Examination" in the class summary.

or

  • the assessment IS NOT listed as an "examination" in the class summary; and
  • the extension period sought is for 14 calendar days (10 working days) or more; and
  • the assessment task is worth 20% or more.

For more information on Extenuating Circumstances Applications (ECA) and application form, please click the link below.

Extenuating Circumstances Request

 

ECA Adjustments at the ANU College of Law

If approved, outcomes from an ECA are limited to the following:

  • Approved: deferred examination: All deferred examination outcomes are determined by the ANU Central Examinations team.
  • Approved: altered assessment due date: This is the College’s preferred adjustment. Ordinarily and under the ANU College of Law Extensions Guidelines below, the ANU College of Law provides extensions up to one week prior to the return of assessment date. This time is required for Course Convenors to assess, moderate and grade assessment items. Where an ECA is approved, the ANU College of Law may provide a longer extension with the absolute deadline of 5pm prior to the return of assessment date. However, this will result in marking and grading delays and students will not receive feedback until after the published return of assessment date. If it is the final task in a course, then the results will also be delayed, and this may impact on graduation for potential graduands.
  • Approved: modified assessment weighting: Reweighting at the ANU College of Law involves adjusting the weightings of assessment tasks within a course. These adjustments are to assist students who experience unexpected and extenuating circumstances beyond their control, such as disability flare-ups, family bereavements, and hospitalisation that may significantly impact performance during a task.
    If an ECA is approved for a reweighting, the College will typically reweight an assessment by 5% as it is imperative that the learning outcomes are still met in the course. A reweighting will only be applied provided the learning outcomes can be met across the reweighted assessment items.
    Whilst reweighting can benefit some students, the adjustments are typically minor and may have no impact on the final grade. We only recommend applying for a reweighting when there are significant differences in assessment results within a course. It's important to note that once reweighting is applied, the outcome cannot be reversed, even if it adversely affects a student's overall course grade. Please also be aware that 0% weighted assessment tasks, quizzes, participation, and online tests cannot be reweighted.
    Where a successful ECA reweighting outcome is communicated, students have 5-business days to email the ANU College of Law if they elect not to proceed with the reweighting. Once the 5-business day response window has passed, the decision will not be reversed.
  • Approved: alternative assessment: Although seldom approved at the ANU College of Law, in extreme circumstances this option may be explored.

Extension Request Form

This process is managed by the ANU College of Law. Please complete this for any LAWS coded courses where:

  • the assessment IS NOT listed as an "examination" in the class summary; and
  • the extension period sought is for 14 calendar days (10 working days) or less.

or

  • the assessment IS NOT listed as an "examination" in the class summary; and
  • the extension period sought is for 14 calendar days (10 working days) or more; and
  • the assessment task is worth 20% or less.

For more information including required documentation, please read below.

ANU CoL Assessment Extension Request

There is a University-wide policy on: extensions of assessment due dates and times; the late submission of work without an extension; and associated penalties. These matters are addressed in clauses 22 to 28 of the Policy: Student assessment (coursework). The procedures governing the application of this policy are set out in the Procedure: Student assessment (coursework) clauses 7 to 24.

These guidelines apply to all undergraduate and graduate coursework in the ANU College of Law (ANU College of Law (the LLB(Hons), JD, LLM, MINLD, MFIML, CLAW and CINTL Programs). It outlines the steps to be followed by a student seeking an extension for an assessment task within a course. These guidelines align with the ANU Policy: Student assessment (coursework).

Where an extension is approved,  the revised due date and submission time is provided in writing. For all ANU College of Law non-timed tasks, the submission time is always 5pm EST. To ensure equity for all students, the revised due date is calculated by including weekends and public holidays. For the period covered by the extension, no penalty will be applied.

 

Submission after the Extension Deadline

Regardless of which day of the week the revised due date falls on, students who submit after that date are penalised by 5% of the possible marks available for the assessment task per calendar day, including weekend and public holidays.

As per clause 26 of the ANU Policy: Student assessment (coursework), where late assessment is accepted, assessment tasks are not accepted after the earlier of the following: the 

  • tenth (10th) working day after the due date; or
  • date specified in the class summary for the return of the assessment item.

Student who have an extension approved are not permitted to submit their assessment item after the periods indicated above.

 

Exceptional Circumstances that Warrant Approval of an Assessment Extension

Exceptional circumstances that warrant approval of an Assessment Extension include, but are not limited to:

  • Medical: e.g. significant illness/injury; significant exacerbation of condition registered in access plan that means completion of the assessment task is not possible by the published due date;
  • Hardship: e.g. victim of significant crime including family and domestic violence; financial hardship; significant car accident or widespread public transport issues; significant broad spectrum IT issues; sudden, unavoidable primary caring responsibilities that means completion of the assessment task is not possible by the published due date;
  • Compassionate: e.g. death/sudden serious illness of immediate family member or close friend that means completion of the assessment task is not possible by the published due date;
  • Elite: e.g. sport or performance event that directly conflicts with the assessment task due date;
  • Duties: e.g. essential, military, emergency/volunteer emergency services that directly conflicts with the assessment task due date;
  • Disaster: e.g. significant natural disaster/geo-political event: e.g. flood, fire, pandemic, earthquake, tsunami, outbreak of war, terrorism, cyber-attack that means completion of the assessment task is not possible by the published due date;
  • Employment related reasons: where a student's employment status or employment arrangements change unexpectedly due to circumstances beyond their control of such significance that means completion of the assessment task is not possible by the published due date; or
  • Cultural or religious commitments: where a cultural or religious event conflicts with the published due date of the assessment task. This includes Indigenous cultural duties, consistent with the ANU Reconciliation Action Plan.

Key points to note in relation to the ANU policy and procedure on extensions are:

  • Applications for an extension must be made in writing by completing the ANU College of Law Assessment Extension form on or before the assessment due date and time as published in the class summary (Procedure, clauses 10 and 11) and must be accompanied by documentation substantiating the case for an extension (Procedure, clause 12).
  • Under clause 14 of the Procedure, an extension will only be granted if there are exceptional circumstances beyond a student’s control which render the student unable to complete the assessment task by the due date.
  • All requests for extension will be considered within three working days (Procedure clause 19). Working day means a day that starts at 12:00.00am (midnight) and finishes at 11:59.59pm (23:59.59) on the same day and is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday in the Australian Capital Territory or a University holiday as declared by the Vice-Chancellor.
  • A new due date must not extend beyond the date for the return of the assessment item specified in the Class Summary (Procedure, clause 16). In order to provide Conveners with the time to assess, moderate and grade assessment items, The ANU College of Law provides extensions up to one week prior to the return of assessment date. This time is required for Course Convenors to assess, moderate and grade final assessment items and finalise course results in order to meet the university timelines.
  • At the end of each semester, there is an exception to this rule: a new due date cannot go past the deadline for submitting final grades. These dates are all unique to individual courses and students will be advised upon receipt of a request for exstension. To provide Conveners with the time to assess, moderate and grade assessment items, the ANU College of Law provides extensions up to one week before the due date for the submission of results due/deadline to the complex backend processes of moderating, entering marks and approval meeting involved to meet the university timelines. 
  • Please note that under policy you can submit the task up to 9am on the published return of assessment date, however, late penalties will apply.
  • Ensuring that our students are well supported and all appropriate welfare provisions are in place is our number one priority. The ANU College of Law will not approve any more than four extensions for the same assessment task without the student making an appointment to speak with an academic advisor. Once this appointment has been conducted, we will then consider further extensions if appropriate.

If an extension is for more than 10 working days, and the assessment task is worth 20% or greater, you should complete an Extenuating Circumstances Application (ECA) instead.

Students who are suffering long-term illness or difficulties should contact ANU Accessibility to investigate implementing an Education Access Plan (EAP).

To ensure equity and transparency in the granting of extensions across the College, the Dean of the ANU College of Law has made a determination that extensions will be governed by the College Student and Education Support team in liaison with the Associate Dean (Education).

 

Supporting Documentation

Supporting documentation from any relevant independent person (or authority) must be scanned and included with the application, for example:

  • documents/certificates from health professionals (a medical certificate is only valid if it attests to your illness at the time claimed)
  • a police report
  • a death notice from a Newspaper
  • an email from an employer attesting to additional and unplanned workload
  • an email from a cultural or religious leader attesting to an event that conflicts with an assessment due date.
  • Education Access Plan (EAP) from Access & Inclusion
  • a letter of support from your residential college
  • a letter of suport from the ANU Student Safety and Wellbeing Team

Requests for extensions will not be considered if the application does not include copies of all relevant supporting documentation.

Certified copies of documents provided during the initial application process are not required. However, the University reserves the right to require applicants to provide original documentation subsequently. Any document submitted may be audited and is subject to verification from the issuing body.

Documentation must be in English. Where the original documentation is not in English, an official translation must be provided. Students should attach copies of the original documentation and the English translation of these documents.