Use the Disability Service How-To Guides to access SITS and generate a list of students in your module with LENS-based accommodations that permit flexible assessment deadlines. 

Use the IT Services guidelines to apply 'Due Date Accommodations' in Blackboard Ultra to the students on your list. This will allow these students to submit their assessments after the deadline. 

Group Assessments: When students with accommodations are in a group, all students in that group inherit the accommodation. Therefore when a student in a group has a LENS-based accommodation that permits flexible submission deadlines, all students in the group will get a one-week extension to the submission deadline for the group assessment. 

Further information on assigning groups in Blackboard is available here. 

Notify relevant students in one or more of the following ways that they have been automatically given a one-week extension to the submission deadlines for all assessments associated with their module/s. Note: Students do not need to submit any documentation in support of the extension. 

• Module coordinators can issue a blanket Blackboard announcement or an email to all students on the module to advise them that any students who have LENS-based accommodations that permit flexible submission deadlines are entitled to a one-week extension for all assessments for that module, and that this extension has been applied automatically. This might be the most practical method of communicating the information to students when there are a larger number of students on a module entitled to this accommodation. A template communication to send to all students on a module is available here.
• Module coordinators may alternatively contact students individually who have LENS-based accommodations that permit flexible submission deadlines to notify them that a one-week extension has automatically been applied to all their assessments for that module. This way of notifying students might be most suitable where there are only a small number of students on a module entitled to this accommodation. A template communication to send to individual students is available here.
• Schools may also or alternatively wish to issue a blanket communication to all students in their school to advise them that students who have LENS-based accommodations that permit flexible submission deadlines are entitled to a one-week extension for all assessments for modules to which they are registered, and that this extension has been applied automatically. A template communication to all students in a School is available here.

If a student with a LENS-based accommodation that permits flexible assessment submission deadlines is part of a group, the group will be entitled to a one-week extension on their assessment if it is practical to accommodate it. Module coordinators should notify all members of a group that, in accordance with the Late Submission of Assessments (Extension) Policy, they have a one-week extension to the submission deadline for the group assessment. The students in the group should not be informed of the reason for the extension as this may result in a breach of data privacy for the student in the group who has the reasonable accommodation. Further information on GDPR responsibilities with regard to LENS reports can be found on the Disabilities Service website. A template communication to all students in a group is available here.

The policy allows non-application of the automatic one-week extension only where it is not “practical” to do so. If, for legitimate academic reasons, it is not possible to apply the automatic one-week extension (e.g. coursework deadlines close to examination boards, or a volume of extensions that would make marking deadlines unmanageable), the module coordinator must contact the student to explain the situation. In these cases, staff should consider alternative arrangements, such as allowing the student to begin work on their assessment earlier or identifying other practical accommodations. A template email to students advising them that it is not possible to grant an extension to the submission deadline for an assessment is available here. A template communication to students when an extension is not possible is available here.

Clicking the “Due Date Accommodation” box permits students to submit work anytime after the deadline without their submission being flagged as late in the gradebook. Therefore, module coordinators must manually check after a week that all those students that are entitled to the extension have submitted their assessments within the extended deadline. Assessments submitted after the one-week extension should treated as late and will be subject to the late-submission penalties outlined in Section 6.6 of the Late Submission of Assessments Policy.

You may wish to email your lecturer or module coordinator ahead of the submission deadline to:

• Remind them that your LENS report includes "Flexible Assessment Deadlines", which means you are entitled to an automatic one-week extension on assessment deadlines.
• Confirm the new due/submission date for an assessment with your lecturer/module coordinator.
• Establish how you can communicate with them in case of any queries.
• Briefly explain your accommodation if you wish — this helps build understanding and rapport.

Send your email a few days before the original deadline.

Your lecturer should acknowledge your email and adjust the due date for you, if they haven't already done so, typically using Blackboard Ultra’s Due Date Accommodation setting. 

A template Communication from student to module co-ordinator or the person responsible for extensions is available.