Edit submission and extension information for an assessment

If a Coursework-type assessment allows extension and/or Exceptional Circumstances application, then submission details must be entered into its structure. This information will be displayed to students when they apply through the Exceptional Circumstances (EC) Service. Assessments that enable extra time for learning adjustments will allow students to apply for extra time for submission and proofreading via the Extra Time for Adjustments (ETA) tool. Students that are eligible for this can apply through EUCLID from the link available in the Disability Support page of their account.

Exam-type assessments never allow any type of extension applications but always allow Exceptional Circumstances applications. Therefore, the system does not require nor allow submission details to be entered into assessment structure. Students can apply for Exceptional Circumstances for Exam-type assessments at any time before the application deadline. 

See Exceptional Circumstances application deadlines for each School

The new extension and Exceptional Circumstances policy and application procedure has come into effect in September 2024. 

See details on the updates on EC Service's website

If the due date or extension length in the Assessment structure has changed, the new due date and new extended due date displayed on the student view will be automatically updated. However, students will not receive an automatic notification from the system informing them of the update, regardless of whether the student has extension or Exceptional Circumstances for that assessment/component/item. Therefore, Schools must actively communicate to students if the due date or extension length in assessment structure has been changed.

Students can apply for extension or Exceptional Circumstances for an assessment/component/item up to 10 days before its original due date. Therefore, please do not change the due date in assessment structure when it is within 10 days before the original due date.

If a student has an existing extension for an assessment/component/item but the School removes it from the assessment structure, the already spent extension credit cannot be returned to the student.

If a student has an existing Exceptional Circumstances case for an assessment/component/item but the School removes it from the assessment structure, the EC case will become orphaned in the system. 

Please consult the EC team (ecservice@ed.ac.uk) before making any substantial changes to the assessment structure.

• Click “Edit structure” for the assessment to open the Assessment Setup screen.

• Click the “Edit” button for the assessment, component or item level.
  • Submission details can only be added to a single level of the structure. For example, you entered the details to item-level, then you cannot enter to assessment or component levels.
  • You should always enter submission details to the lowest level. For example, if the assessment contains one component and the component contains one item, then the submission details should be entered to the item-level.

• Submission: 
  • Selecting Yes means this assessment/component/item allows for extension and Exceptional Circumstances, and you must enter submission details.
  • Selecting No means this assessment/component/item does not allow for extension or Exceptional Circumstances, and you cannot enter submission details. Students will not be able to select it in their application, and they will be directed to contact their School for further queries.

• Staggered submission:
  • Selecting Yes means you do not need to enter a specific due date. Students will not see a due date on their view or when they apply for extension or Exceptional Circumstances, and they will be directed to contact their School for further queries.
  • Selecting No means you must enter a specific due date.

• Due date and time:
  • The due date must be within 10 weeks following the end of the course's delivery period. Dates of each delivery period can be found on the CCAM guidance pages.

• Does this support extensions:
  • Selecting Yes: you must enter the length of extension.
  • Selecting No: students will not be able to select this assessment/component/item when applying for extensions, but they can still select it when applying for Exceptional Circumstances.

• If extension is supported:
  • Extension duration (days): refers to the regular extension that all students can apply. This field should always be 4 days, but it can be 7 days if the course is taken primarily by students on part-time/placement programmes.
  • Extra time for submission (ETS days): refers to the length of Extra Time of Adjustments that only students with relevant Learning Adjustments can apply. This field should always have the same or larger value than the “Extension duration” field.
    • Reason for reduced or no extra time for submission: if ETS field is less than 7, you must select a reason.
    • If regular extension is allowed, then extra time for submission must also be simultaneously allowed.

• If extension is not supported:
  • Reason for not supporting extension: must select a reason.
  • Does this support extra time for submission:
    • Selecting Yes, then you must enter a value of “Extra time for submission (ETS days)”. See the bullet point above for guidance.
    • Selecting No means students with Learning Adjustments will not be able to select this assessment/component/item when applying for Extra Time of Adjustments, and they will be directed to contact their School for further queries.

• Is 7 days of extra time for proofreading allowed:
  • Selecting Yes means 7-day proofreading can be applied by students with relevant Learning Adjustments.
  • Selecting No means students with relevant Learning Adjustments will not be able to select this assessment/component/item when applying for Extra Time for Proofreading, and they will be directed to contact their School for further queries. You must also select a “Reason for not supporting proofreading”.

• Hand in instructions after extension: 
  • This will be displayed to all students, regardless of whether they have any type of extension.

• Once you have entered all the information, click “Continue” to the save the information.

• Confirm the information on the Assessment Setup screen is all correct.
  • If “Submission” is Yes at one level (e.g., item), then it is automatically No at the other two levels (e.g., assessment and component), because Submission details can only be added to a single level of the structure.

• Mark the assessment structure as complete.

Editing your assessment

Viewing and printing your assessment structure

Add assessment

Add components and items

Exceptional Circumstances (EC) Service