Late and Missed Assignment Policy

Secondary credit courses  |  2026–2027

Students are responsible for submitting work on time and demonstrating their learning. USCA responds to late and missing work through clear expectations, support and professional judgment. This policy applies to assignments for evaluation and is read with USCA’s Assessment and Evaluation Policy and current Ministry directions.

1 Expectations and support

Stage	Required action
Set expectations	Teachers explain learning goals, success criteria, due dates, submission methods and possible consequences in advance. Break major assignments into stages and help students plan.
Communicate difficulties	Students notify the teacher before the deadline, or as soon as reasonably possible after illness or an unexpected event. Parents/guardians support planning and communication where appropriate.
Identify the reason	Before deciding a response, the teacher speaks with the student and considers learning needs, accommodations, language needs, illness, family circumstances and barriers to access.
Agree on next steps.	Use an appropriate combination of reminders, conferencing, extra support, staged deadlines, a reasonable extension, supervised completion or an equivalent task assessing the same expectations. Document the revised deadline and, where appropriate, notify families.
Review unresolved work	If work remains missing, refer significant or repeated concerns to the principal. Review supports, contact attempts, available achievement evidence and the student’s circumstances before deciding the mark or credit implications.

2 Deductions and zeros

USCA does not apply a fixed daily deduction, an automatic percentage penalty or an automatic zero when a deadline passes. Ministry policy permits deductions, including a zero where justified, but teachers must use professional judgment and ensure that a deduction does not misrepresent achievement. Consider grade level, maturity, incident frequency, and individual circumstances; record the reasons and supports provided.

A zero for unresolved non-submission requires principal review under USCA’s procedure. Explain the decision and its effect on the course mark to the student and parent/guardian where appropriate. Do not silently exclude missing work or automatically average it as zero; apply current reporting rules when evidence is insufficient. A missed assignment does not automatically mean loss of the course credit.

3 Assessment integrity and current reporting

Excused absences must not lower the attendance-and-participation mark or automatically produce an assignment zero. Maintain required accommodations and offer an appropriate opportunity to demonstrate learning. If answers have been released, consider an equivalent secure task. Required final evaluations and their weights must follow current Ministry rules; refer missed exams and culminating tasks to the principal rather than removing or reweighting them without authority.

Report learning skills separately. Apply the 2026–27 attendance-and-participation criteria independently; a late submission alone is not a substitute for evidence under those criteria. Before final reporting, review the available evidence of curriculum achievement and document any unresolved gaps.

4 Records and review

Keep deadlines, communications, supports, revised arrangements and reasons for any mark consequence in secure assessment records. Students may ask the teacher for an explanation or request principal review. The principal monitors consistent application and reviews this policy annually or when Ministry direction changes.

Principal approval __________________________  Effective date __________  Review date __________

Ministry sources checked October 17, 2026: Growing Success pages 43–44  |  Current Ministry updates  |  Ministry guidance on lat e work