The Student can reveal that the number of extensions granted increased by 119 per cent between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic year and has increased by 380 per cent over the last four academic years.
In September 2024, the University of Edinburgh announced a new extension policy in which students are automatically granted three four-day extensions to use throughout the academic year, replacing the previous system where extensions had to be applied for and approved.
A new Exceptional Circumstances policy, where evidence must be provided to be approved, was also announced to replace the previous Special Circumstances system.
A Freedom of Information request by The Student showed that the number of extensions granted has been steadily climbing for the last four academic years.
The number of granted requests of current students or students who left the university within the last year rose from 9,057 in the 2021/22 academic year to 19,865 in 2023/24, spiking dramatically to 43,484 in 2024/25 with the implementation of the new policy — a 380 per cent increase over the last four years.
The number of Exceptional Circumstances granted increased by 18 per cent between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic year. In the last four years, the number has grown by 352 per cent.
In a survey conducted by The Student, 70 per cent of students said that they prefer the new extensions system.
A further 80 per cent said that they believe students abuse the use of extensions and special circumstances, using them for purposes other than unforeseen circumstances such as bereavement, illness, or mental health struggles.
Some students praised the system for helping to “level the playing field” for students who don’t have evidence of the difficulty they need the extension for, while others believed it was a positive that there is no longer an unlimited number of extensions.
However, another student criticised the system for being “too open for abuse and penalising honesty.”
Multiple students described knowing many people who used extensions for “time management purposes” rather than unforeseen circumstances.
One student argued: “the changes seem to have been motivated by the desire to relieve admin work for university offices (and cut costs), however that comes at the expense of a fair system for all students.”
Another student noted that the automatic extensions remove the university’s welfare responsibility, saying: “there should be check ins on why you have used them.”
Another student commented: “I think the educational disadvantages of an overly liberal extensions system — even for disabled students — are underdiscussed.”
Recent news reports have found that increasing numbers of students have been awarded first-class degrees, rising to nearly 30 per cent of graduates at UK universities in the 2024/25 academic year. In the 2006/7 academic year, less than 13 per cent of students achieved a first-class degree.
Questions have been asked as to whether this is a result of students working harder, or first-class degrees being easier to get than in previous years.
Image by Leah Collins for The Student.