The below email was sent to St Chad’s College students via email on 1 May 2024.

A number of you have already been in touch about the Serious Adverse Circumstances (SAC) process. You may have been in touch for support from College during the year, or this might be the first time you’re contacting us about your situation. Either way we are happy to help!

So, what are SACs?

SAC stands for Serious Adverse Circumstances which are exceptional personal circumstances, outside of your control, that have prevented you for either acquiring or demonstrating the skills, knowledge or competencies required to meet the learning outcomes associated with an assessment that contributes to the qualification for which you are studying notwithstanding your best efforts, in consultation with your academic department and College, to mitigate those circumstances.

What does a SAC form require of me?

The SAC form provides a mechanism for you to inform your department of your Serious Adverse Circumstances. Your SAC will be considered by a small committee in your department. The committee will read the information provided in your form and make a judgement about a ‘SAC grade’ according to the impact of the SACs reported on the form. It is really important that you submit your form by the deadline published by your academic department! A helpful step-by-step guide to completing an SAC can be found here.

Where can I get help to complete a SAC form?

In Chad’s! Jeanna, Charlie or Victoria are available to support you through the process of submitting an SAC form. Meetings with Jeanna and Charlie can be booked online here, or to meet with Victoria, please drop her an email to victoria.h.brown@durham.ac.uk. If you would prefer to send an email rather than book online, you can do so by emailing chads.support@durham.ac.uk. There really is nothing too big, too small, too scary or taboo and we are happy to provide feedback on your SAC form statement!

Is more information available?

Yes! There is lots of information including some really helpful FAQs on the University’s webpages here. Please read through the information in this email and on the University’s webpages carefully and if you have further questions, book a meeting with Jeanna, Charlie or Victoria.

SAC form top tips

• If you have experienced multiple circumstances (that have impacted you adversely) but have been distinct and separate from how they’ve impacted you (or the assessments they’ve affected) then you may need to submit multiple forms; this will allow the process to distinguish between the issues and rate them separately so they can consider their impact on your performance in the relevant assessments.
• REVIEW YOUR DEADLINES from your department(s) – these should be available on LearnUltra or sent to you by email from your department. You will need to ensure that your form is complete and submitted before the deadline. If you are studying modules from multiple departments (which have all been affected) then you will need to submit the form by the earlier of the deadlines. If you are a Combined Social Sciences, Liberal Arts or Natural Sciences student you will also need to check the deadline for this parent department.
• You can select any/all assessments that have been affected – you are expected to do so honestly, so please select the things you consider to have been impacted by your serious and adverse circumstances.
• Statement section – the most important part of the form is your account of your own circumstances. The crucial aspects of this are the facts of what has happened/been happening, AND the impact on you (your time, functioning, mental health, wellbeing, motivation, etc.) This will help your department’s SAC Scrutiny Sub-Committee to make a judgement on the severity of your own unique circumstances and enable them to communicate this to the Board of Examiners when considering your marks for progression or degree classification.
• If you would like feedback on your form from a member of the College student support team (Charlie and myself are reviewing SAC forms) then please draft a copy of the form on the Banner Self Service system, select that you want it to be ‘visible to College staff’ and email us at chads.support@durham.ac.uk to let us know that you wish us to view it. We will do our best to review your draft as soon as possible and respond to your email with any feedback. You must do this before submitting the form and in good time before your departmental deadline(s) so that we can get back to you with time for you to make any changes you wish before you submit the form via Banner Self Service.
• If you are having any issues with the process (LearnUltra/Banner Self Service platforms) please contact CIS directly for help (see guidance pages).
• When submitting a form please ensure that you have completed the whole form and each step to ensure that the form has submitted successfully. You should receive a confirmation that you have submitted the form, but your department will not acknowledge receipt.