Your personal academic tutor (PAT) can discuss your needs, check if a temporary learning agreement is right for you, explain what evidence you need and develop the agreement with you.

They are available to all students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses, including students at Partner Institutions.

Please note you will need to meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for a TLA:

1. Your personal difficulty meets one (or more) of the University’s acceptable reasons; and
2. You can provide appropriate professional evidence which demonstrates your difficulties and that they are likely to last for a medium- or long-term period; and
3. You have raised the issue with your course early enough in the academic year that a TLA can be of value.

If you are not sure whether you meet these criteria, you should discuss this with your PAT and they can advise you about whether TLA or another form of support is right for your circumstances.

For the full TLA procedure please click here

TLA Support

A TLA means you will be offered additional support by your course to help you succeed in your learning and assessments and to complete them in the current academic year. However, in order for it to be effective it is important you make a commitment to meet any revised deadlines, take up additional support and engage with review meetings.

The support can take a variety of forms:

• Academic support - including tutorial support and advice about how to access academic writing skill guidance.

• Revised assessment deadlines - If you need it, a TLA can agree revised deadlines for (re)assessment that is due for submission from the point your TLA is developed during the academic year the TLA applies to. Please note, not all assessment deadlines can be revised. If a revised deadline is agreed through your TLA, this will be a firm deadline. So, if you do not meet it you will be subject to late penalties as normal.

• Deferral of assessments - A TLA is designed to help you complete all your (re)assessments by the time the Module is considered by a Board of Examiners. In some exceptional cases (where you meet specific criteria) a course may be able to recommend to the Board that a (re)assessment is deferred to the next formal assessment period after that Board. The decision whether to allow deferral of (re)assessment is the Board of Examiners. A TLA cannot however defer first assessment into the next academic year.

• Other types of support - Your PAT will discuss with you other support you might wish to obtain in addition to your TLA, either from the University’s Student Support, Health & Wellbeing Department or another area in the University as appropriate to your circumstances.

Please note a TLA cannot:

• Include retrospective (re)assessment deadlines (i.e. any deadline that was before the point your TLA was developed);
• Offer further attempts for (re)assessments you have already completed/attempted;
• Change the learning outcomes you must achieve through an assessment;
• Change the type (mode) of assessment you are expected to complete for the module (unless an alternative exists in the approved course);
• Agree on reasonable adjustments for assessments;
• Change your module(s) or course/pathway;
• Change your mode of study;
• Make adjustments to professional placements;
• Extend your maximum period of registration on a course or level of study;
• Make adjustments to practice or placement requirements, arrangements or assessments;

Requesting a TLA

You need to discuss and develop your TLA with your PAT to begin with. Once you have developed a proposed TLA, your course Director will need to agree to it.

You will need to provide evidence in support of a TLA which is:

• Written; and
• Recent enough to clearly apply to the current academic year and to the point in time where you are asking for the TLA; and
• Provide enough information to demonstrate the difficulty you are experiencing and that it is likely to last for a medium- or long-term period; and
• Be from a professional source (dated, and on headed paper if appropriate).

Please note: It is not possible for a TLA to be developed where the only evidence provided is verbal or is from a parent, partner or friend.

Your commitment once a TLA has been agreed

Once the Course Director has agreed to the proposed TLA, your PAT will ask you to sign and return the form (electronically) within 3 working days of being sent the final version. It is important that you sign and return the form in that timeframe; if you do not do so, your TLA cannot be implemented.

It is important for your academic success to adhere to the commitments you have agreed in the TLA and ensure that you:

• Meet the revised deadlines agreed in your TLA.
• Engage with review discussions about your TLA, as requested by your PAT and set out in your TLA form.
• Respond in a timely fashion to communications from your PAT/course Director.
• Tell your PAT/course Director (at the earliest opportunity) if you feel you might need additional support or changes to your agreed TLA deadlines/arrangements.
• Tell your PAT/course Director if your circumstances change substantially (for better or worse) so they can discuss with you if a TLA is still the best support route for you.

If you do not meet the above expectations, your course may suspend your TLA until they are satisfied the issue has been resolved or, in some cases, they may determine that your TLA should be terminated if the issue persists.