LSE Law School

The School has a “fit to sit” policy that applies to all students. If you submit an assessment, or sit an exam, the School considers you have declared yourself well enough to do so. If you experience disruption to your studies prior to the assessment (e.g. due to personal difficulties, crime, bereavement, illness etc.) you must think carefully about whether you should attempt it or whether you should apply for an extension or request to defer.  Please read on for further information about extensions and deferrals.

If something happens very close to your summative assessment deadline which means it will be impossible for you to submit your work on time, you may apply for an extension. Please remember that this is an application process and not a right.

Please read about the extensions policy BEFORE submitting an application:

• LSE Extensions Policy – information about applying for an extension
• LSE Extensions Policy – student guidance

Once you have read the above information and student guidance and if you believe your circumstances fulfil the criteria you may submit an extension request. Please remember that your circumstances must be sudden, unforeseen, out of your control and proximate to the assessment deadline in question, and that you must be able to demonstrate this in your request and evidence.

You will need to complete the Extension Application Form found here:

• Extension Application Form

For LLB please send your application form to law.llbexams@lse.ac.uk. For LLM please send to law.llmexams@lse.ac.uk.

Once you submit your application you will receive an acknowledgement from the Programmes Team and your application will be considered by a panel. Please remember to submit your application in good time, i.e. a minimum of 48 hours before the deadline, to give the Programmes Team and panel enough time to consider and process your request.

Section 3 of the Extension Application Form asks you to provide an explanation of your circumstances with the following instructions:

Please provide a brief explanation of why you are applying for an extension. Your circumstances must be sudden, unforeseen, out of your control and proximate to the assessment(s) in question. Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary. If you are able to provide any supporting evidence with this request, please list it here.

Please be aware of the following:

• Class teachers, course conveners and GTAs are not permitted to give extensions for summative assessments. You must submit your application, as stated above, to law.llbexams@lse.ac.uk or law.llmexams@lse.ac.uk.
• Ensure you write your explanation carefully, demonstrating all the above criteria. A lot of applications we receive do not provide clear timelines for situations and therefore do not demonstrate proximity. So please provide dates and remember that if this is not clear your application will not be approved.
• Ensure you explain how your circumstances impacted your ability to submit your assessment on time. This must be clear otherwise your application will not be approved.
• Your application should be supported with evidence that meets the LSE Standards of Evidence.
• Please remember the following information (taken from the student guidance) when submitting evidence. ‘A letter written by an independent third party that simply repeats what you have informed them will not be sufficient. …. Please make every effort to obtain independent corroboratory evidence of the impact upon you of your circumstances. It is best not to rely on statements of support from staff if possible’.
• Please do not submit an application and state that evidence will follow. We cannot consider an application until we receive ALL documentation.
• Ensure that all the evidence you submit in support of your application is dated.
• If you are granted an extension it will only be for a short period of time, ie, a few days.

Once the panel has reached a decision you will be notified of the outcome of your application. Please be aware that the decision you receive is final. The Law School would like to reassure students that every application is considered in a confidential and respectful manner. We also ask that students extend the same level of respect to our colleagues as has been afforded them in the application process.

Are there any circumstances where extensions will not be granted? 

Yes. Extensions will NOT be granted for:

• interviews, assessment centres, internships, any form of part-time job or work placement
• any type of extra curricula activity
• IT problems in relation to either hardware or software including loss of IT equipment or work
• an assessment for which you have already received an extension (i.e. it is not possible to receive a further extension for the same assessment)
• submission deadlines that fall at the same time (i.e. when you have multiple assessments to submit, it is your responsibility to manage your workload accordingly)

What happens if I have My Adjustments (MA)?

If you have a MA recommending an extension for assessments, you will still be required to submit an Extension Request Form in good time, i.e. a minimum of 48 hours before the deadline.

If you have an MA that does not include any recommendation for extensions on assessments, you must submit an Extension Request Form and supporting evidence in good time, i.e. a minimum of 48 hours before the deadline.

Are there any assessments where I cannot get an extension?

Yes. Extensions will not be granted for assessments lasting 24 hours or less.

Students have to sit their assessments in the same academic year in which they received their tuition. However, you might, under certain circumstances, be allowed to postpone one or more assessments to the next appropriate assessment opportunity. This process is called deferral.

Deferral requests are considered by the Student Services Centre and staff from the Law School are not involved in these decisions. All information you need to make a deferral can be found here.

Please be aware if you defer any courses during the In-year Resit and Deferred Assessment Period (IRDAP) in August there may be an issue with progressing to the next year of your programme. Do speak to the relevant Law School Programmes Team for further guidance if you have any concerns.

If having submitted an assessment or attempted an exam, you feel your performance was directly impacted by circumstances which are sudden, unforeseen and out of your control you should submit Exceptional Circumstances in order to allow the Exam Board to take your situation into account. To find out more about submitting Exceptional Circumstances please see this web page.