Special consideration

If you’re experiencing difficult or exceptional circumstances that are affecting your ability to prepare for, undertake or complete your assessment(s), we encourage you to apply for Special Consideration.

Before you apply

Special consideration provides one-off adjustments to a specific assessment task/s (including exams) and is applied close to or shortly after the assessment. There are other processes that offer study adjustments that you may want to consider.

Apply for an extension

If you need more time to complete an assessment, your faculty or school may be able to grant an extension of up to 10 business days without requiring you to go through the formal special consideration process. Extension requests through your school/faculty must be submitted prior to the assessment due date.

Register for ongoing support

If your studies are affected by ongoing circumstances such as a disability , health condition, or eligible commitments, registering for ongoing support can provide access to a plan that will determine potential study adjustments.

Ongoing support can be applied to your subjects in advance of assessments. You can still apply for special consideration while registered if you have experienced additional or exacerbated circumstances that have impacted your ability to complete your assessment.

Current turnaround times

As of  Wednesday 12 February 2025, we are assessing applications submitted since Tuesday 12 February 2025.

Your Faculty will provide you with the outcome of your application within approximately 5 business days from the date you applied.

Please note that the faculty outcome stage may take longer or shorter than 5 business days, depending on the specific faculty/school. Response times can vary across different areas of the University.

We aim to process applications as quickly as possible, but some faculties may experience higher volumes or complexities that could impact their turnaround times.

When to apply

You can apply for Special Consideration:

  • Before your assessment due date, if you know in advance that your assessment will be impacted, or
  • Up to four business days after the examination or assessment due date.

Late applications

If something prevents you from applying within four business days, you can still apply, however:

  • You will be prompted to provide a late reason and
  • Your documentation will need to include additional detail to explain what impacted your ability to apply on time, along with all other documentation required for a timely application.

Applications submitted after release of results in the subject will only be considered in exceptional circumstances (eg prolonged hospitalisation).

How to apply

Follow the steps below to apply:

  1. Check your eligibility
  2. Prepare your supporting documentation
  3. Submit an application
  4. Complete your assessment (if your circumstances allow you to do so).

You can also use this Special consideration checklist (DOCX 4.3 MB) to check you have completed the application steps before submitting.

1. Check your eligibility

Eligibility for special consideration is assessed on a case-by-case basis and is guided by the Assessment and Results Policy.

While we can’t guarantee your eligibility until we’ve assessed your application, we encourage you to apply if:

  1. Your ability to undertake, prepare for, and/or complete an assessment task or exam has been impacted by one of the following circumstances:
    • Illness of short duration
    • Hardship or trauma
    • Bereavement
    • Family violence
    • Sexual assault
    • Computer failure or technical issues - apply for special consideration (technical)
    • You are registered for ongoing support and there is an exacerbation of your medical condition or disability, or you require an adjustment beyond what's listed in your Academic Adjustment Plan (AAP).


    Examples of circumstances that are not eligible:

    • Public transport delays
    • Misreading your timetable
    • Personal celebratory events such as weddings or birthdays
    • Work commitments
    • Travel plans (including exchange or study abroad)
    • Anything considered within your control.
  2. You can verify your circumstances and the impact on your studies through recently dated supporting documentation.
  3. You can apply in a timely manner to meet the deadlines outlined under ‘When to apply’, or can provide a valid late reason supported by documentation.

2. Prepare your supporting documentation

You need to attach your supporting documentation when you submit your application. If your documents aren't ready in time, attach a Word document explaining the delay and we can hold your application for up to four business days (see 'How to add documents after applying').

Documentation is essential to help us understand the impact of your situation. It must clearly outline:

  • Dates of your medical or health care practitioner consultation
  • Impacts of the circumstance on your ability to complete or prepare for the specific assessment task
  • Dates and duration of the impact.

If your supporting documentation is not originally available in English, you'll need to provide a NAATI-accredited translated copy.

Please do not upload images of sensitive content

Please do not upload any sensitive images as part of your supporting documentation. Images are not acceptable forms of documentation and are not taken into account when assessing your special consideration application.

Accepted types of documents

  • A Health Professional Report (HPR) form (PDF 153.0 KB) is our preferred document for applications made on medical or psychological grounds.

    This HPR can only be completed and signed by a treating practitioner who can verify a health condition which they are qualified to authenticate. The list of qualified practitioners is available on the HPR form.

    If you cannot provide an HPR form, please provide:

    • A medical certificate or supporting letter on official letterhead from an accredited treating health practitioner which must include the impact on your ability to prepare for and/or undertake the assessment task, including duration.

    If you have tested positive for COVID-19, the documentation requirements are the same as for a health or medical circumstance. Please see the COVID-19 FAQs for students for more information.

  • The University recognises that bereavement can impact all areas of life including academic performance, and is committed to supporting students that are experiencing grief and loss.

    In order for your application to be assessed the follow documents are required:

    • A death notice/newspaper obituary/funeral notice, or death certificate and
    • A Statutory Declaration stating your relationship with the deceased person

    Or:

    • A Health Professional Report (HPR) form (PDF 161.6 KB) (PDF 153.0 KB) or medical certificate or supporting letter in your name, acknowledging relationship and impact. This document must be completed by an accredited health care professional, registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency or accredited Australian Association of Social Workers (such as a medical doctor, psychologist or social worker).

  • If you’re registered for ongoing support and your assessment(s) is impacted by eligible commitments, you can provide one of the following documents:

    • Carer responsibilities
      An official Centrelink document or a letter from a health professional to verify the dates of carer responsibilities and the impact on your assessment(s). A carer is recognised in accordance with the Carers Recognition Act 2010 and the Carers Recognition Act 2012 (Vic).
    • Defense reservist or emergency services volunteer
      A signed letter on official letterhead from relevant organisations outlining the specific dates of your duties and obligations.
    • Elite athletes
      Your registration with the University of Melbourne Elite Athlete Program recognising you as an elite athlete, along with a letter from your sporting organisation confirming the specific dates which will impact your ability to undertake a specific assessment(s).
    • Elite performers
      A letter of support from your eligible performance organisation outlining the dates of your performance obligations and confirming the impact on your specific assessment task(s).
    • Religious/cultural observance
      A signed letter on official letterhead from your religious congregation or cultural authority outlining the nature of your observances, specific dates, and impact on your assessment(s).

  • Refer to special consideration (technical) for more information.

  • We understand that the documentation you can provide may depend on your situation. We encourage you to provide any documentation that can verify an impact on your ability to complete an assessment task(s).

    Here are some examples of accepted documents:

    • Signed police reports or court orders or court documents
    • A Statutory Declaration (however this cannot be for applications on medical or health grounds)
    • Documentation from the Safer Community Program
    • Notification from emergency services organisations such as Country Fire Authority (CFA).

  • You can upload additional documents through the special consideration portal by clicking on your application if it's showing one of the following statuses:

    • Unassessed
    • In Progress
    • Awaiting Documents
    • Review
    • Review in Progress
    • Review Assessment

    You will not be able to provide additional documents if your application is showing as:

    • Pending Outcome
    • Withdrawn
    • Complete.

Documents not accepted

    • Medical test results or prescriptions
    • Medical certificates if you have not had a consultation with a Medical Practitioner either in person or via a telehealth appointment
    • Photos of your medication or injury
    • Statutory declarations for health or medical circumstances
    • Letters of reference or support from University or College staff (unless from the Health Service or Counselling and Psychological Services where you have an existing client relationship)
    • An Academic Adjustment Plan (AAP).

3. Submit an application

You will be directed to an application form where you can fill in your details and attach your supporting documentation.

Apply now

Login issues for Special consideration and Ongoing Support applications

If you are experiencing issues logging in to submit your Special consideration or Ongoing Support application, please follow these steps:

  1. Reset your password at https://accounts.unimelb.edu.au/
  2. Wait 30 minutes for the new password to synchronise.
  3. After this time, you should be able to log in successfully.

If you can’t login after trying the above steps, contact Student IT for further assistance.

4. Complete your assessment

Your welfare is more important than your studies. Only complete your assessment or sit your exam where you can do so without further compromising your health or the health of other people.

Submitting your assessment or sitting your exam while you’re waiting on your special consideration outcome won’t impact your application, but it will allow your work to be assessed. Extensions will be granted from the assessment due date (not the date you submit your application or receive the outcome).

When will I receive an outcome?

We aim to provide you with an outcome of your application within five business days.

There are two stages of processing your application:

  1. Eligibility assessment. Your application is initially assessed by Student Equity and Disability Services to determine eligibility based on the criteria outlined in the assessments and results policy. If eligible, your application will continue to the next stage.
  2. Determine appropriate outcome. If deemed eligible your faculty or school will provide you with an outcome, however the turnaround time for this stage can vary.

When you have successfully submitted your application you will receive an acknowledgement email with the application number for your reference.

We will then notify you:

  • When your application has been assessed for eligibility
  • If deemed eligible, to confirm your application outcome once it has been determined.

We may also contact you if we need more information or documentation to assess your application.

There’s been a change to the results process for special assessments which you need to be aware of if you’re granted Special consideration. Information on the Special and supplementary assessment page has been updated to reflect this change.

Last updated: 12 Feb 2025

Possible outcomes

If your application for special consideration is successful, you may be offered an assessment adjustment, such as:

  • A deferred assessment
  • An extended period for assessment
  • Special arrangements for assessment
  • Additional assessment
  • Resubmission of assessment
  • Adjusted relative weighting assigned to components of assessment where this does not affect learning outcomes or academic standards (applies to shorter assessments only, ie up to 25% weighting)
  • An authorised late withdrawal from the subject.

There are some things Special consideration can't offer:

  • Adjustment of a mark for an assessment task, or the overall subject mark will not be granted (except where a re-weighting is permitted under policy).
  • Change subject delivery mode or exam format (ie change from in-person to online)
  • If you take an alternate assessment or exam, the mark from the alternate assessment replaces the mark from the original assessment. We are not able to revert to the original assessment mark, even if it is higher.

Privacy

  • SEDS is collecting and processing your personal information for one or more of the following:

    • To determine eligibility for Special consideration and/or Registration for ongoing supports
    • Inform available outcomes available for Special consideration
    • Develop and implement Academic Adjustment Plans (AAPs) when registering for ongoing support including alternative exam arrangements and accessibility supports
    • Inform reporting and planning activities including for government funding reporting requirements, and to improve student services in relation to Special consideration and Registration for ongoing supports (non-identifying information only).

  • We will process your personal information as necessary for our legitimate interests, in accordance with applicable privacy laws, and only under the following circumstances:

    • For the purpose for which it was collected; or
    • A related purpose which you might reasonably expect; or
    • Where you have consented to the processing; or
    • If we are required or permitted to do so by law.

    We collect your personal information directly from you. In some cases, we source some information (e.g., your subject enrolment details and results) from the University’s student database, and if required we will validate curriculum and assessment details with the relevant faculty.

    We will only share your personal information with the University of Melbourne staff members who are directly involved in the assessment of your application and in determining the appropriate outcomes. The information may also be made available to authorised staff in your Faculty to aid in determining special consideration outcomes, and also with the centrally organised exams team when it involves alternative exam arrangements (AEAs) including accessibility adjustments when registered for ongoing support.

    Where relevant, sharing of your Academic Adjustment Plan (AAP) with others such as academic staff will be done with your consent. If you choose not to share your AAP, this may limit what adjustments can be made.

    There may be some instances where your personal information may be transferred outside of Victoria or Australia (for example, where providers are located internationally or use a cloud-based system with servers based in international jurisdictions). We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the interstate or overseas transfer of personal information is in accordance with our privacy obligations as outlined in the University’s General Privacy Statement.

    If you choose not to provide requested information, it may mean that your application is deemed ineligible and/or cannot be approved and implemented by SEDS, faculties or other services or programs at the University.

  • Refer to the University’s General Privacy Statement or other privacy statements for general information about how we process and protect personal information, including:

    • Our lawful basis for processing personal information;
    • Collection, use and disclosure of personal information;
    • Accuracy, security and storage of personal information;
    • Retention and disposal of personal information;
    • Your individual rights; and
    • Applicable privacy laws.

    Your rights

    You may request access to, or correction of, your personal information we hold, or exercise your individual rights as applicable under relevant privacy laws, unless this would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or would contravene the University’s other legislative obligations.

    If the lawful collection of your personal information is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of our processing of your information prior to you withdrawing your consent.

    Privacy contacts

    For further information you can contact us at Equity and Disability Support equity-disability@unimelb.edu.au.

    For further information about how the University manages personal information, and for details of how to make an enquiry, lodge a complaint, or to contact the University’s Privacy and Data Protection Officer, please refer to our Privacy webpage, view the University's Privacy Policy or contact privacy-officer@unimelb.edu.au.

    Last updated:  Wednesday 16 August 2023

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