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Board member news

Welsh Government update and resits and extenuating circumstances

30 June 2021
Claire Morgan

Claire Morgan

Claire Morgan. Female wearing glasses and a blue jumper smiling at camera.

Read a message from Claire Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students sent on 30 June.

Dear Student

Throughout the pandemic, we have followed Welsh Government guidance closely, ensuring we keep you, our staff and the wider community as safe as possible.

Knowing many of you (understandably) wanted to know what the next academic year might look like, while we waited for an update from the Welsh Government we shared an indication of this earlier in the year.

Welsh Government update

Today, the Welsh Government issued an important update as to what safety measures will be required in the next academic year.

This announcement is encouraging, offering the clearest sign yet that the 2021-22 academic year will be closer to the academic and student experience that we all wish you could have – while continuing to try and keep everyone safe. It shows us the possibility of more in-person teaching after the summer, and we will now be working hard to plan within these new guidelines. This will take some time as we work through the implications for each course and year of study.

However, it is important I mention that while things are looking brighter, the pandemic can still bring new challenges for us all. The above only applies while Wales remains at low or moderate risk levels. Should the COVID-19 risk in Wales rise again, our campus experience 2021/22 page remains a useful overview of the safety measures we may need to put in place to keep you and others safe.

Resits and extenuating circumstances

Returning to this year, if you have to resit an exam or resubmit coursework this summer, our extenuating circumstances procedure is available if you are impacted by something beyond your control, and your circumstances meet each element of the extenuating circumstances definition:

  • severe and exceptional and
  • unforeseen or unavoidable and
  • close in time to the assessment, or where you can demonstrate that the circumstances continued to have an impact on your academic performance in the assessment.

Before you submit a declaration to SIMS, consider your situation and ensure that your declaration is true and accurate – false declarations are a breach of the expectations for student conduct and may result in disciplinary action. Please be sure to seek help if you need it, through the contacts noted in the guidance.

Student Support

Please don’t forget, wherever you are, Student Connect is your first point of contact for any support you might need. You can contact the team via the new Student Connect Portal or by phoning +44 (0)29 2251 8888 from Monday – Friday, 09:00 – 16:30. Outside of these hours you can ask our chatbot your questions (look for the blue speech bubble at the bottom of intranet pages).

Conscious I wished you all a nice summer in what was meant to be my final message two weeks ago, I hope this Welsh Government update makes having an enjoyable summer that bit easier.

Best wishes,

Claire Morgan
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Students