If you feel that you have mitigating circumstances which need to be taken into account during the assessment of your application to the RVC, you need to complete the Mitigating Circumstances form in the My Applications portal.

Please contact the Admissions Office on myapplication@rvc.ac.uk to obtain access to the form in the portal.

What is a mitigating circumstance?

Mitigating circumstances are factors that are outside of an applicant’s control and therefore they should: ·      

• be something that the applicant could not reasonably expect ('unforeseen')    
• be out of the applicants control and something they were not able to prevent 
• be time specific
• have had a significant and detrimental effect on the applicants’ performance, assessment or ability to fulfil a deadline 

Whilst there is not a definitive list, examples of the types of mitigating circumstances we would encourage applicants to tell us about are:

• The onset or worsening of a serious or chronic mental or physical health condition
• Significant adverse personal/family circumstances and/or the loss of a close relative/significant other 
• Significant disruption to educational provision at school/college 
• Being the victim of a serious crime or significant involvement in an on-going court case 
• A natural disaster, act of terror or conflict affecting the applicant’s school/college, home, or close family

We are not normally able to consider circumstances such as:

• A managed disability or long-term health condition where reasonable adjustments have already been made by the school or examining body
• Not being aware of our entry requirements and therefore not meeting specific requirements or missing specific deadlines
• Short-term illness or other events during the examination period for which mitigation has already been given by the exam board
• Poor time management and organisation, including last minute technical issues and problems relating to deadlines or failure to inform yourself of assessment and examination guidelines 
• Anticipated disruptions such as holidays, moving house or work commitments

You should ensure that the relevant supporting information is also uploaded, for instance medical documentation and signed supporting letters from your school/college. For more information on what supporting information is required, as well as further guidance on mitigating circumstances, please see the Admissions Policy.

If you have previously emailed the Admissions Office about your mitigating circumstances you will still need to complete the form and upload your supporting evidence. 

Deadlines

The deadlines for submitting the form throughout the application process are as follows:

• For consideration at the initial assessment stage, prior to invitation to interview for Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Nursing applicants: within two weeks of the deadline for applications
• For consideration in relation to submission of the supplementary application form: no later than 72 hours after the deadline has passed
• For consideration in relation to interview performance: one week after the date of your interview
• For consideration in relation to academic results: by 1st July in the year your results are released*

*Where mitigating/extenuating circumstances are in connection with a qualification or its results, the applicant should include a letter from their school or college in addition to any further supporting information. Applicants should ensure that the relevant exam board is notified of any mitigating/extenuating circumstances, prior to the issue of results,  and that their relevant mitigating circumstance procedures have been followed. The RVC expects that the relevant exam board has taken account of mitigating/extenuating circumstances and therefore that appropriate adjustments have been made and are reflected in the results. We will therefore apply limited mitigation in these circumstances. It will not be possible to give any consideration to mitigating/extenuating circumstances divulged after the issue of results.  

Once your form has been received and considered we will notify you of the outcome via the application portal, please see the Admissions Policy for further details on this. 

Where supporting documentation suggests that ongoing circumstances will affect both your studies, interview performance and/or exam results, these will be taken into account throughout your application journey and you will therefore not be required to re-submit the Mitigating Circumstances form after your initial submission. 

Applicants who submit a Mitigating Circumstances form after an unsuccessful decision has already been made can only by reconsidered if the form was submitted within two weeks of the application deadline on UCAS/VMCAS. Otherwise, we cannot reconsider an application.

We only look at the mitigating circumstances you send us during the year that you apply. If you sent in mitigating circumstances for an application in a previous UCAS/VMCAS cycle, you will need to submit a new form for a new application. We will tell you if you need to re-submit further evidence.

Applicants should note that applications are considered holistically against our published criteria and therefore the acceptance of mitigating circumstances does not guarantee that an application will progress to the next stage of the assessment process or that we will accept you if you do not meet the conditions of your offer.

Guidance for teachers/tutors

You can submit information regarding mitigating circumstances as part of your reference on UCAS - please follow this guidance. If we notice something detailed in the extenuating circumstances section of your reference we may contact you for further information and to advise that the student completes our mitigating circumstances process as detailed above.