How to apologize for late work in college (with email template)

Well, here you are after missing a deadline on an assignment in college and you want to tell your professor that you are sorry about turning it in late.

This is really thoughtful of you and an apology can go a really long way. If you write a good enough apology, maybe your professor won’t penalize you for turning it in late in the first place.

And even if they won’t do that for you, at least you can let them know you really care about their class.

I can help you because I was a professor for 15 years and I received A LOT of late assignments from students. And I also got a lot of emails from students regarding their late work that included lots of excuses.

I will tell you what strategies worked the best because all excuses aren’t equal. However, it isn’t just about the excuse but more about your sincerity.

And let’s face it, you might not even have a good reason why you missed the deadline anyway. But here you are. And now you want to politely tell your professor you are sorry.

You don’t want to make a bad impression.

In this article, I am going to go over ways to apologize for your late work. But don’t worry, I have another article that helps students understand when professors accept late work and how to ask.

READ MORE : How to ask you professor to accept late work

READ MORE : How to ask for a makeup assignment

How do you politely apologize for a late submission

When a college student has to turn in work late, it is considerate for them to tell their professor why they’re submitting it late and apologize. I think it’s best that students follow my email template on how to explain their situation and say they’re sorry for submitting it late in the first place.

I have an email template to help you apologize to your professor for your late assignment. But let me go over a few things first.

You might wonder if you even need to apologize in the first place. Yes, I think you should send a quick email to let your professor know you are sorry.

This is because your professor will think that you care about your education and their class. And as a former professor, I got a lot of late assignments and very few emails from students saying they’re sorry.

But when I did get an apology, I knew the student was serious about the class and their coursework, and it let me know just how much they appreciated my course.

You might wonder what’s in it for you. Well, your professor might choose to remove your late penalty. Or at the end of the semester, they might raise your grade just a bit.

At the very least, they will know you appreciated them accepting the assignment.

Alright, enough about that. Let’s get into telling them.

Email template saying you’re sorry for late work

Dear Professor Smith,

I wanted to send you an email explaining my late work. Recently, I had to submit a few assignments late. I know that this likely inconveniences you because of the late grading and I apologize. But I also wanted to let you know that this late work is not a reflection of me or my abilities. I had some personal issues that I had to deal with and this caused me to fall behind in all my classes. I am caught up and I am working to prevent the same issues in the future because I care about your course and my education. I just wanted to let you know that I do care about your class and my late work has nothing to do with my excitement for this course.

Sincerely, your student

Okay, this is an email template of how to ask your professor for forgiveness on your late assignment.

Your professor will think that you care a lot about your education, and they may even cut you some slack. What I like about this email is that you aren’t asking for anything from your professor.

Instead, you are letting them know how sorry you are and that you are really trying.

Now, what are you waiting for, go email them now!

READ MORE : How to ask for an extension or makeup assignment

FEATURED POSTS YOU’LL LOVE