Petition Type: Re-Deferred Exams

Re-deferred Exams

If you had previously requested to defer your final exam and are now unable to write your deferred exam at the scheduled time, you can request to write your deferred exam at a later time through a re-deferred exam petition.

It is important that your request to re-defer your final exam is due to reasons outside of your control, as not all situations are valid reasons to miss a final exam. For example, personal travel plans are not a valid reason, and you should take care to book any travel outside of the deferred exam schedule. However, if you know in advance that you will be unavailable for a deferred exam due to a scheduled surgery, you can submit the petition in advance of your exam.

Remember that you may not be given a further opportunity to complete a deferred final exam.

Deadline to Submit a Re-deferred Exam Petition

Arts & Science courses: The deadline to submit a re-deferred exam petition is usually five business days after the end of the final exam period in which the deferred exam was scheduled. In the case of the December exam period, the deadline is five business days after the University reopens in January. Check the Academic Dates & Deadlines page for other petition deadlines.

UTM and UTSC courses: The deadline to submit a re-deferred exam petition for courses at UTM and UTSC is 72 hours after the missed deferred exam. 

The deadline to submit any supporting documentation is three weeks from when you initiate your request on the online petition system. 

You are encouraged to submit your petition and supporting documentation as soon as possible without delay. 

Personal Statement for Re-deferred Exam Petitions

In addition to the recommendations listed in Preparing a Petition, your personal statement should explain what circumstances caused you to miss or will cause you to miss the deferred exam. It should tell a story of what happened to prevent you from writing the deferred exam or it should clearly explain what unavoidable situation you have planned. 

Try to answer these questions in your re-deferred exam statement:

• Did you seek help from your instructor, advisor or another staff member regarding the circumstances you experienced or will be experiencing around the time of the exam? If not, why not? If so, what happened?
• If the date of the supporting documentation does not match up with the time of absence, explain why. For example, if you are seeking to defer an exam in August but your Verification of Illness or Injury (VOI) form shows that you were absent in July, explain why you do not have documentation dated in August.
• Were your circumstances ongoing? If so, why would other remedies/petitions (such as Term Work Extension or Withdrawal Without Academic Penalty) not be more appropriate?
• Since you had previous opportunity to complete the deferred exam, why were you unable to avail yourself of those? 
• How can you be successful in the exam given the time elapsed between the original completion of the course to now?

Re-Deferred Exam Fees

The fee to re-defer an exam is $70 per course, up to a maximum of $140 per session (for two or more courses). You should pay the fee as soon as possible, as you will not be allowed to write your re-deferred exam until you have paid the fee.

Important reminders:

• You may not be able to write your re-deferred exam if you miss the payment by the deadline listed below. 
• Failure to meet a payment deadline is not considered a valid reason to re-defer an exam. 
• If you are graduating in the Fall or Spring, please make your payment as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact your College Registrar’s Office.
• If you are re-deferring an exam due to a disability and are registered with Accessibility Services, your fee may be waived. The re-deferred exam fees is also waived for religious accommodations.