If you are unable to meet the deadline for your thesis, or have special requirements during examinations due to medical or other reasons, these are the steps that you should follow. Consult your department first; only after they have agreed should you contact College.

A. Consult your Department

Ask your supervisor, director of graduate studies or your head of department. They must agree to a delay and must define a new date for completion. When they have done so, you must inform College.

B. Inform College

It is possible that a delay or special arrangements for examinations can be authorised by your department without needing to get the additional approval from the university Proctors. Your department should tell you if this is the case or not.

If it is necessary for the Proctors to approve this, the College will have to submit a plea to them on your behalf. In order to do so we need the following. Be sure to follow these instructions carefully, especially being sure to send any information to the people specified. (In the following TfG = Tutor for Graduates, frank.close@exeter.ox.ac.uk and AA = Academic Administrator, joan.himpson@exeter.ox.ac.uk)

We need:

1. note from your department confirming that they approve a delay and specifying the new date for completion (can be email to AA copy to TfG)
2. note from you explaining why you are unable to meet the original deadline (can be email to TfG copy to AA)
3. any documents to support your case (e.g. if for medical reasons, a letter from doctor). A doctor's letter, and any other information that is in hard copy should be sent to the Academic Administrator.

Upon receiving your email (2) above, TfG can advise if he needs to see you or if we need further information. It is important that you understand what happens at this stage:

C. University Proctors

In order to get approval from Proctors, the College will need to convince them that you have a legitimate case and be able to prove this if necessary. That is why we need the information in 1,2,3 above. The Proctors do not give permission for over-riding university academic regulations without good cause. However, where there is a clear case, properly argued and supported, approval usually follows rapidly.

Note that a request for delay must specify the new completions date "on or before Day/Month/Year". The Proctors will not allow open-ended requests or ambiguous ones such as "two weeks". It is up to you and your department to decide what is acceptable to them; College and Proctors will usually accept this too.

D. MOST IMPORTANT: PLAN AHEAD!

If there is a serious chance of needing an extension, deal with the above matters early. This is especially true during the long vacation. The TfG will be absent from Oxford for long periods due to research, conferences, and also vacation. The College Office (AA and staff) will be over-run with the paperwork for students who are due to arrive in October, and during the vacation period the office will be over-stretched.

If there is some unforeseen event that requires emergency action, we will endeavour to do so and, if necessary, explain to the Proctors why we were unable to meet their deadline. Conversely, applications made within 1 to 2 weeks of a deadline without good reason are likely to run into problems and fail. I cannot overemphasise how important it is that you recognise this. For the vast majority of students none of this will arise; I hope this will include you.

I pass on to you a comment that the Proctors have in the past made. "Note that even absence due to illness of 1-2 weeks should not affect a student's ability to complete on time if work has been done properly throughout the year and not left to the last moment". I encourage you to bear that in mind now so as to reduce the likelihood of problems later.

Joan Himpson, Academic Administrator