Mitigating circumstances

What are mitigating circumstances?

Mitigating circumstances consist of two elements:

1. An intervening event:
   • A mistake or irregularity in the administration or conduct of the assessment.
   • Evidence of bias in the conduct of the assessment.
   • A candidate's illness or other personal circumstances beyond their reasonable control, subject to the Fit to Sit Policy and SQE Assessment Regulations.
2. These events must have, or be likely to have, a significant adverse effect on your marks or performance in the assessment.

How to make a claim for mitigating circumstances

• 1

  The relevant assessment has taken place and I believe I have mitigating circumstances

  • You’ll need to submit your mitigating circumstances form via the SQE Portal. Please refer to the Mitigating Circumstances Policy when completing your claim.
  • Things to consider
    • The grounds
    • The evidence you submit in support of your claim
    • The impact
    • The deadlines
  • We will send you  an email with a copy of your claim form attached within 30 minutes of submitting it. If you do not receive this email, please contact equality.quality@kaplan.co.uk to make sure your claim has been received.
• 2

  I have submitted my claim

  1. Within five working days of submission, the Quality Team will send you an email acknowledging your claim. The email will advise you of when you will receive the outcome of your claim.
  2. The Quality Team will conduct an investigation and obtain evidence for consideration by the Mitigating Circumstances Panel (MCP).
  3. The MCP will consider your claim and will make a recommendation whether to accept or reject your claim.
  4. The Assessment Board will consider the recommendations of the MCP and will make a decision on your claim.
  5. This stage can last for a couple of months, so please do not be concerned if you do not hear anything from the Quality Team during this time.
• 3

  I want to know the outcome of my claim

  1. We will send you the outcome of your claim via email. This will be sent to the email address registered on your SQE account.
  2. If you have any questions about the content of your outcome letter please contact the Quality Team via equality.quality@sqe.sra.org.uk.
  3. If you have any questions about refunds or bookings, please contact the Candidate Services Team via enquiries@sqe.sra.org.uk.

Examples of mitigating circumstances

The following list provides examples of situations that could be considered as “mitigating circumstances”. Please note that this is for guidance only and is not an exhaustive list, and each claim is assessed on a case-by-case basis:

• A candidate feeling unwell after an assessment has started.
• A candidate leaving the assessment due to illness.
• A candidate experiencing specific difficulties related to an ongoing condition or disability during an assessment (e.g. a flare-up).
• A candidate experiencing illness or a bereavement between the FLK1 and FLK2 assessments, or in between the assessment days for SQE2, which has resulted in the candidate not sitting an assessment or assessments in accordance with the Fit to Sit Policy.
• A technical issue that caused a significant and major disruption to the assessment day (e.g. a server issue at a test centre).

Examples of non-mitigating circumstances

The following list provides examples of situations not typically regarded as “mitigating circumstances.” Again, this is for guidance only, and each claim is assessed on a case-by-case basis:

• Transport issues
• Holiday or family events
• Misreading the assessment timetable
• Employment obligations
• An assessment starting later than planned
• Minor disruptions during an assessment, such as noise disturbance or the movement of other candidates in the test centre
• A candidate experiencing illness after one assessment in the window and continuing to sit the remaining assessments despite illness or other personal circumstances
• Events that occur after the assessments have finished
• Assessment questions differing from those in a preparation course.

What to do when mitigating circumstances arise

If mitigating circumstances arise at a test centre, you must report this to an invigilator as soon as possible, and not after you leave the test centre. This will help to make a record of the circumstances. If possible, request a case reference number.

Even if the issue affects a group of candidates, you should still submit your own individual mitigating circumstances application.

Timeframes for mitigating circumstances claims

SQE1

• You must submit your claim by 16:00 GMT within five working days after the relevant booked assessment (for SQE1, each FLK is classed as the “relevant booked assessment”).
• You will receive your SQE1 results on the same day as all other candidates:
  • If you have passed SQE1, your claim will be automatically rejected, since the circumstances will not be deemed to have materially and adversely affected your marks or performance in the assessment.
  • If you have not passed SQE1, you will be notified of your results on the results day. You will be advised at the outset of your claim when the outcome of your mitigating circumstances claim will be sent. This date will be approximately 2-3 weeks after receipt of your results. If the booking window for the next SQE1 is open, you will be able to make a booking for a resit pending the result of the claim at no cost and without obligation. Therefore, you will know that you have a space without incurring further cost and can decide whether to proceed to resit at that next sitting once you know the outcome of your mitigating circumstances claim.

SQE2

• You must submit your claim by 16:00 GMT within five working days after your last assessment station (depending on your timetable, your last station could be an oral or written station).
• You will receive the result of your mitigating circumstances claim on the same day that you receive your SQE2 results.

SQE1 and SQE2

No claims accepted outside of the timeframes detailed above will be considered. If you are out of time to make a claim, you would need to consider whether you have grounds on which to submit a first stage appeal. This would need to be in line with paragraph 4.5 of the Mitigating Circumstances Policy and the SQE Appeals Policy.

How to submit a claim

To submit a claim, log in to your candidate account and complete the mitigating circumstances form.

We will send you an email with a copy of your claim form attached within 30 minutes of submitting it. If you do not receive this email, please contact equality.quality@kaplan.co.uk to make sure your claim has been received.

Evidence

It is your responsibility to provide all supporting evidence for your claim. As each case is considered individually, we cannot advise on specific evidence required.

Examples of evidence that could support your claim:

• Illness: Medical certificate detailing the diagnosis, dates when the illness started, and its duration
• Bereavement: Death certificate, proof of relationship, and evidence of the effect on you (e.g. medical evidence as described above).

Please note that these are examples and not a definitive list of required evidence.

Outcomes of a mitigating circumstances claim

Claim accepted

SQE1

• The attempt will be discounted (i.e. it won’t count towards your three attempts to pass SQE1).
• For the avoidance of doubt, a mitigating circumstances claim cannot lead to the increase or adjustments of your marks. Therefore, a candidate that has failed will need to retake the relevant assessment.
• A refund of the assessment fee in accordance with the SQE Terms and Conditions.

SQE2

• The attempt will be discounted (i.e. it won’t count towards your three attempts to pass SQE2).
• Even though SQE2 comprises 16 individual assessment stations, SQE2 is a single assessment of competence.
• You will not be permitted to retake individual assessment stations.
• In exceptional circumstances, where the claim for an assessment station has been accepted, and further statistical analysis of your performance across all stations provides evidence that you could have passed had the event not occurred, the one directly impacted station will be removed and your mark recalculated based on 15 stations. This could result in you passing SQE2.
• A refund of the assessment fee in accordance with the SQE Terms and Conditions.

Claim rejected

Your results would stand, and your attempt would be recorded on your candidate account.

Learn more: Mitigating circumstances policy

Learn more: Mitigating circumstances FAQs