If you are experiencing a medium-term personal difficulty e.g. affecting a Semester/Trimester, which is not related to disability, a Temporary Learning Agreement (TLA) could help you manage your learning.
A Temporary Learning Agreement (TLA) is:
- Not a permanent arrangement
- Not able to offer reasonable adjustments or special arrangements
- Not able to change mode of attendance. You will still need to attend your timetabled teaching and complete your assessments. If your situation means this is not possible you should discuss an Interruption with your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT).
- Available to all students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses, including students at partner institutions.
You will need to meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for a TLA:
- Your personal difficulty meets one (or more) of the University’s acceptable reasons.
- You can provide appropriate professional evidence which demonstrates your difficulties and that they are likely to last for the medium-term or long-term.
- You have raised the issue with your PAT early enough in the academic year that a TLA can make a difference.
Wherever possible, you should complete your assessments within the allotted timeframe. Any delay in completing an assessment or reassessment might delay when you receive your student finance (if eligible), results, or graduation.
Discuss with your PAT the different options available to help you complete your level of study within your current academic year. Plus, there is a range of study support available to help you succeed.
Postgraduate Research Students
If you are on a research course, you should contact graduatecollege@canterbury.ac.uk for information about support options.
Student Route Visa
If you are on a Student Route Visa, a TLA would need to be in line with your visa and the University’s Student Attendance and Engagement Policy and Procedure. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Compliance Team.
Alternatives to TLAS
Before you begin to discuss a TLA with your PAT, check that one of the following isn't more suited to your needs:
A TLA offers additional academic support from your Course Team to help you complete your learning and assessments successfully this year.
Support options include:
-
Academic Support:
Tutorial help and advice on accessing academic writing guidance. -
Extensions/Postponements:
- TLAs cover most types of academic assessments, but not group assessments.
- They apply to assessments due between the TLA start and end dates, excluding any before the start date.
- TLAs can extend coursework deadlines (usually by 14 days) or defer an exam/time-constrained assessment (typically once).
- New deadlines or exam dates are final; missing them may lead to penalties.
-
Assessment Deferrals:
- In rare cases, your Course Director may recommend deferring (re)assessments to the next formal assessment period.
- An assessment or reassessment can only be deferred once (only in extraordinary cases might a second and final deferral of that attempt be agreed
- TLAs can't defer a first assessment into the next academic year or change a reassessment into a first attempt.
-
Academic Support:
Your PAT can connect you with the Student Wellbeing Team or other relevant university departments for further help.
Your TLA will be created with your PAT and will cover:
- The start and end dates of your TLA
- Any assessment extensions or postponements during this period. You can have an extension of 14 calendar days from your original deadline (if needed, and appropriate, a final further 14 day extension may then be agreed)
- Deadlines that cannot be moved and how you’ll be supported to meet them
- The first review date of your TLA
- Support available from your Course Team and recommended resources from other university services (e.g., Student Wellbeing Team, Learning Skills Hub).
If you’re on a Student Route Visa, your TLA must align with your visa and the University's Student Attendance and Engagement Policy. For questions, please contact the Compliance Team.
You'll need to provide evidence to support your Temporary Learning Agreement (TLA). Your evidence should:
- Be in writing and name you (or explain the relationship if it concerns someone else, following the FAQ on third-party data)
- Be recent and relevant to the current academic year
- Clearly demonstrate the difficulty you're facing and its likely duration (medium- or long-term)
- Come from a professional source, dated, and on official letterhead if applicable.
Your evidence cannot be:
- A statement only from a parent, partner, or friend
- Verbal, anecdotal, or dated before this academic year
- Solely newspaper articles, social media posts, appointment cards without details, or photos of over-the-counter medications or personal items.
If you've previously submitted relevant evidence to the University, inform your PAT with details. Note that the University cannot request evidence from outside sources on your behalf.
After you and your PAT draft the TLA, your Course Director will review and approve it if they’re satisfied it meets the procedure.
Permission to use someone else's personal data as evidenceIf you are asking for a TLA because of a difficulty someone close to you is experiencing and you intend to provide evidence belonging to that person, in most cases you must ensure you have their permission to share their personal data (e.g. medical letters or legal documents) with the University as part of the TLA process. These requirements apply to any living individual over the age of 18. They do not apply to documentation relating to deceased individuals. Providing permission for a living individual’s evidence to be supplied to the University as part of the TLA process is necessary to ensure you, and the University, are meeting the legal General Data Protection Requirements. You will need to supply a form with your evidence; if the form is not provided then the University cannot consider that person’s evidence. If you are the person’s legal guardian, for example their parent, you will not need to provide their permission, but you will need to confirm to your PAT that you hold legal guardian status. If you are concerned about asking the person to sign the permission form, or they are unable to do so, you should consider providing any evidence you have which relates to you only. If you are unsure what to provide you can discuss this with your PAT. |
If your Course Director approves your TLA, your PAT will send you the final version for your confirmation. You must accept the TLA and your responsibilities within seven working days for it to be implemented.
To ensure the TLA successfully supports you, you need to :
- Commit to the revised deadlines and take up any additional support offered
- Engage in review meetings as requested by your PAT
- Understand the TLA process and your responsibilities. Ask your PAT if anything is unclear
- Consider the impact of extensions or postponements on your academic results, progression, funding, and visa requirements
- Respond promptly to communications from your PAT or Course Director
- Inform your PAT/Course Director if your circumstances change or if you need further support or adjustments.
If you do not meet these expectations your TLA will be reviewed and possibly terminated.
As you approach the end date of your TLA, your PAT will schedule a review to discuss closing the agreement.
Once your TLA ends, your PAT will confirm its completion and notify the course staff. You'll then be expected to submit any remaining assessments according to the normally expected deadline.
If, during your TLA:
- Your situation improves and you no longer need support, contact your PAT to agree on an earlier end date. Your PAT will explain any assessment implications and notify the Course Team.
- You need more time due to ongoing circumstances, reach out to your PAT as soon as possible. If you are asking for an extension/postponement (or further extension/postponement) you must do so before the assessment deadline.
- You decide you need to interrupt, you will need to request a change to study.
If you're struggling to meet your TLA commitments, your PAT will contact you to discuss how to re-engage. It's crucial to respond and participate in these discussions as failure to do so may result in your TLA being terminated or referred to another university procedure.
If you have questions or concerns about a TLA decision, start by discussing it with your PAT or Course Director to understand why the decision was made. If the issue remains unresolved, you can request a review of the following decisions:
- The Course Director or Faculty Panel has not approved your draft TLA
- The Course Director has rejected your request to extend the TLA end date
- The PAT has declined your request for an additional extension or postponement of an assessment in your TLA
- The Course Director has rejected your request for a TLA deferral recommendation to the Board of Examiners
- Your TLA has been terminated.
TLA review requests will only be considered if they meet one of the following criteria:
- There is evidence the decision did not follow the TLA procedure
- New evidence is available (that could not have been provided earlier) and may have affected the decision.
Next steps:
- To request a review, submit a TLA Review Request form to exceptionalcircumstances@canterbury.ac.uk within ten working days of receiving the decision.
- For assistance with the TLA review request, contact the Students' Union Advice Centre at advice@ccsu.co.uk.
- More information on the TLA Review Process can be found in Section 14 of the TLA Procedures.
- For concerns about other aspects of your TLA, use the Student Complaint Procedure.
- For issues related to a Board of Examiners decision, an assessment not submitted/attempted before your TLA was created, or an assessment already agreed upon by the Board of Examiners, use the Academic Appeal Procedure.
Can I have a Temporary Learning Agreement with/for:
If you have a TLA in place you could make an Impaired Performance Exceptional Circumstance request if you believe an additional short-term issue, unrelated to your TLA reason(s) impacted your performance in an exam or time-constrained assessment.
You cannot however use the Exceptional Circumstance to further extend or postpone an assessment already extended/postponed through your TLA. If you are worried you cannot meet a TLA deadline then you should contact your PAT to discuss this, before your TLA deadline.
Your PAT will consider a request for a further extension of a TLA deadline, but will only agree to this if you meet the criteria to do so. If they do not agree, the you will need to submit/attempt your assessment on the currently agreed date.
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