I don’t think I’ve ever said no to an extension request from a student, but I always ask “What are your plans to catch up?”. I can give students an extension but what I can’t do is stop time. I wish I could – that would be a wonderful superpower. All an extension does is give the student permission to hand in their assignment late. But whilst they’re taking an extra week to write their essay or analyse their data, all the other students are cracking on with the next week of studying. When the student finally hands in their assignment they are already a week behind with the reading and learning. Unless they can somehow compress 2 weeks learning into 1 (or 3 into 2 or whatever) they’re going to need an extension on the next assignment, too. And the next one. But they can’t have an extension on the exam or the end of module assessment, so sooner or later time will catch up with them. That’s what I mean by a double-edged sword.

It’s not the end of the world. I help my students to make catch-up plans when they are behind. I advise them what parts of the module are vital and what parts are skimmable or skippable. I help them make realistic plans to ramp up their study hours temporarily whilst avoiding burnout. Sometimes I recommend they submit an incomplete assignment and push on with the reading, because there just isn’t time to do a thorough job of it and still get good marks in the next assignment or the exam. I explain to them that they may have to come to terms with lower grades than they hoped for when illness or other circumstances mean they aren’t able to study as thoroughly as they otherwise would.

If you’re my student you can always have an extension if you need one. But don’t be complacent about extensions. If a week has passed in which you did no studying (because of illness, or a family crisis, or a busy week at work, or any other reason) then that week has gone and you can’t get it back. You can (probably) still submit your assignment but you are somehow going to have to work extra hours to catch up, or else you are going to have to skip some of the reading and take the hit to your grades. One way or another you are at a disadvantage compared to if you hadn’t needed the extension.

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