Student Carers

Juggling your caring responsibilities with your University lifestyle can be tough. We hope that the information provided here makes it a little bit easier. If your caring responsibilities ever interfere with your University commitments, do not worry. We are here to help you.

Information for:

• Students with children (.doc) - information and links
• Students with caring responsibilities (.doc) - information and links
• Pregnant students (.doc) - information and links

If you find that your caring responsibilities are affecting your University life, try the following:

Speak to someone in Student Support

You should notify Student Support as soon as possible that youve had a problem. This will be useful if you decide to file for extenuating circumstances later. If you find that your caring responsibilities combined with the pressures of studying are affecting your emotional, mental or physical health, you can drop into Student Support to speak to a member of staff about what additional support may be available to you as a carer.

Contact details and opening times of the Student Support Office on your campus.

You may also want to make use of the Counselling Service, your local GP or the Health Centre on the Colchester Campus.

Speak to someone in your department

The administrative staff in your department are there to help and guide you. In addition, your personal tutor may be able to advise you and should be able to give you specific information relating to your course.

Notify the University of your absence

Many of the University of Essexs courses require a high level of attendance at lectures and seminars. If you feel that you are struggling with your attendance at either tuition or examinations because of your caring responsibilities, you should contact your course tutors in the first instance to discuss your situation with them to see if any special arrangements can be made.

If you are absent from teaching for more than one week, you should inform your Head of Department in writing of the reason for your absence. Please be aware that if you are absent for longer than two weeks, or if you are frequently absent, you will need to provide evidence or a detailed statement of the details of the reason for your absence.

If you wish for the reason for your absence to be kept confidential, you should discuss this with Student Support. You should also contact Student Support if you are likely to be absent for long periods of time and require your lectures to be taped or some other form of support.

For more information, please see the Absence from Tuition Notification Form and Guidelines.

If you expect to miss an examination, or have already missed an examination, you will need to notify the Exams Office. Please be aware that you must complete a separate form for each examination you miss.

For more information, please see the Absence from Exams Notification Form and Guidelines.

Fill in a Late Submission form

The University of Essex operates a uniform Course Deadline policy on late submission of coursework. Work which is submitted after a set deadline will be given a mark of zero unless you can show satisfactory evidence of Extenuating Circumstances.

To find out more about Extenuating Circumstances, please select the appropriate link:

Extenuating Circumstances Guidelines and Form for Undergraduate students.

Extenuating Circumstances Guidelines and Form for Postgraduate students.

Seek academic support

You can get extra support through the University Skills Centre. The Centre provides guidance, support and resources to help you do the best you possibly can. It is located on the Colchester campus in the Learning Resource Centre, Room 4.204.