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In exceptional circumstances, for students who are unable to complete an NEA unit in Year 10 as planned, you can request to defer their submission until January of the following year.
A deferral allows students to defer their submission until January of the following year if they are unable to complete an NEA assignment as planned for the summer series in Year 10 due to exceptional circumstances.
It will give more time than an extension and should enable work to be completed by the end of the academic year for submission in the next series (January).
This deferred submission uses the same set assignment that was intended for Year 10, for example, submitting the January/June 2025 assignment in January 2026.
You may consider requesting a deferral for more serious and long-term situations. These include:
If your request for a deferral is granted, it will enable students to continue to work on their current assignment, up to the end of the summer term and submit it in the January series of the next academic year, which is not normally permitted.
In all cases, you must first consider if requesting an extension to the June series mark submission deadline of 15 May is sufficient – typically an extension of 5–10 days can be given, depending on the situation.
A deferral will only be granted in exceptional circumstances when there has been a significant loss of assessment time that cannot be mitigated by an extension.
You must request a deferral before the mark submission deadline for the June series, 15 May.
Before requesting a deferral, make sure:
You’ll follow the same process as applying for an extension by submitting a request via Special Consideration Online, which is accessed via Interchange:
A confirmation email will be sent with instructions to withdraw the entry from the June series and enter the student again in the following January series. Your June entry fee will be refunded.
The deferred submission should be submitted to your moderator as normal if it is selected in the January series sample.
The deferral will be approved for submission in the following January series only. If a student is impacted by further disruption, please contact us for advice.
Note: Grade boundaries are set each series and apply to all submissions in the series, including deferred submissions.
We will work with you on the next steps for the student. This may include granting a standard extension for the series.
Please see our blog explaining the options available to support you and your students when completing NEA.