Department of Government and Politics Policy on Late Submissions of Assignments

Late Submission Penalty Waiver policy

• All course work must be submitted by the prescribed deadline.
• Work which is submitted late shall be assigned a mark of zero.
• If, prior to the deadline, exceptional circumstances arise preventing the student from working towards completion of an assignment, a student can apply for a waiver of the penalty at the link included on the Department’s home page.
• In general, waivers will not be granted retrospectively, i.e. students must apply at least 48 hours before the assignment deadline.’
• Waivers requested from the Department of Government and Politics are only applicable to assignments due in modules with a GV or a PO code. Any other module in which a student is seeking to submit after the deadline should contact the relevant department.
• Students who are unavoidably absent from in-class tests and/or oral presentations may also apply under this scheme for permission to take these elements of the assessment process at a later date, in consultation with the relevant lecturer.
• Applications must be made on the prescribed Late Penalty Waiver Application Form. They must include formal documented evidence of the specific circumstance(s) which relates directly to the date of the assessment(s) for the module(s) identified.
• Supporting documentation:
• should detail the substantial and material impact on a student’s ability to prepare for or sit the examination for that module(s),
• may include: medical certification (see below); official bereavement notices; travel documentation (e.g. tickets); official communication from the Gardaí; all commonly used forms of certification/notification of diagnosis, etc.
• Information provided in the personal statement and associated supporting documentation must correlate with the date/time of the examination.
• Incomplete applications (e.g. where supporting documentation is not provided or is not directly aligned with the module(s) identified in the application) will be automatically rejected.
• The onus is on students to follow the criteria outlined in the policy and to provide the necessary detail and documentation. It is not the responsibility of staff to request additional material. Students should note that multiple applications and requests regarding the one assignment are not permissible, and they should ensure that the application is completed in a correct manner when submitting. The decision of the extensions officer is final.

Medical certification:

• If illness, as supported by appropriate medical certification, prevents a student from meeting a deadline for the submission of an essay, or other assigned work for assessment, then an appropriate late submission penalty waiver may be granted.
• All documentation submitted will be treated with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality.
• Retrospective medical certification will only be accepted for consideration in exceptional circumstances, where legitimate reasons for lack of submission within the defined timeframe are demonstrated.
• Each medical certificate, provided by a relevant professional medical practitioner, who must not be a first degree or second degree relative of the student, should:
• specify the name, address and MCRN number of the prescribing doctor
• identify the date of the examination/GP visit
• identify the date the certificate was issued
• align directly with the date of the examination/assessment impacted
• verify the nature of the circumstances submitted by the student
• specify the date of return to study or identify a chronic/on-going condition
• state the impact on the student’s ability to attend for examination/submit the relevant programme assessment(s)
• be returned to the School/Department no later than TWO WEEKS after the date of examination/assessment deadline or approved assessment submission date.
• be legible.

Exceptional circumstances for which an application for a late submission penalty waiver will be considered:

1. Death of parent/guardian, sibling, spouse, child (or person to whom the student is in loco parentis), if within sufficient proximity to the examination to have substantial and material effect.
2. Death of mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparent/grandchild or any person who was habitually resident in the home of the applicant, if within sufficient proximity to the examination to have substantial and material effect.
3. Debilitating illness/condition, if within sufficient proximity to the examination to have substantial and material effect.
4. Circumstances outside the control of the applicant, which make it legally or physically impossible for the student to attend the examination in a particular module.
5. Other circumstances considered to be analogous to any of the above.
6. Pregnancy.

Examples of circumstances for which an late submission penalty waiver will not be granted:

1. Hectic social life; parties; visits to/from friends
2. Moving house; weddings; holidays; failed transport arrangements; commuting distances
3. Computer breakdowns; laptop malfunctions; printing failures; poor wifi

*The lateness waiver policy does not apply to take-home exams which will need to be sit at the Autumn repeat examinations. In such cases the Module Coordinator must be contacted.

For more information, see:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/academicgov/policies/exam-policies/