Guidance for Students on Obtaining Medical Evidence 

Guidance for students on obtaining medical evidence from the Medical Centre or Cheltenham Road Surgery for use when requesting mitigating circumstances has been issued. 

• Mitigating circumstances can be requested via a Helpzone or Senior Tutor for unforeseen ill health having an impact on your ability to study / submit assessed work.
• You should plan for unforeseen circumstances when deadlines are due. Sore throats and viruses are common and your GP is unlikely to provide a medical certificate in these situations. Once a year (only) you can use an MC1 to claim a 48 hour extension for these purposes
• The NHS is not contracted to issue medical certificates (sick notes) for the University of Gloucestershire.  This is private work for doctors; your GP can therefore charge an administration fee for issuing one.
• The Medical Centre and most surgeries won’t charge you for a sick note if you have a significant illness or if there is a good reason (e.g., imminent exam).
• The Medical Centre generally only issues sick notes for the University for illnesses that are likely to last more than a week or if you are unwell and about to have an exam or miss an assessed presentation.  No notes are given for missed lectures, with the exception of Category A modules.
• Your GP will not be able to provide a medical certificate for symptoms you report to them; they will need to confirm your ill-health based on their own observations / investigations / judgement.
• Sick notes are unlikely to be backdated (unless there is evidence you were unable to attend your surgery prior to your visit).  Please do not ask the doctor / nurse for a retrospective note as they will not have the evidence that you were ill.
• Should you be unable to attend your surgery due to your ill-health, you should attend as soon as you are able (and give reasons why you were unable to attend previously).
• If you are requesting mitigating circumstances due to mental ill-health, such as stress or depression, you will need to show you have sought medical help, counselling or professional support over several weeks before a supportive note from the relevant professional can be considered.
• Procedures for Mitigating Circumstances are separate to the reasonable adjustments made for disabled students. Adjustments to study for ongoing ill-health reasons should be arranged in advance via the Disability Advisers (01242 714541 or disability@glos.ac.uk.) However, disabled students should not be asking for extensions through the MC process on top of arrangements already made by the Disability Advisers based on the same evidence.