Census dates

Every subject offered by the University has a census date. It’s important to be aware of your subjects’ census dates and how they impact your enrolment, fees and academic record.

What is a census date?

The census date is the last date you can withdraw from a subject, withdraw from your course, or apply for a leave of absence without remaining liable to pay for the subject, and without it appearing on your academic transcript and statements.

The census date is also the very last date you can be enrolled in a subject. However, it is recommended that you enrol before the teaching period begins, and finalise your subject enrolment before the last self-enrol date.

When does a census date take effect?

All census dates refer to Melbourne’s observed time zone. An action is determined to have taken place after the subject’s census date if it occurs on or after 00.01am of the day following the census date.

How to check your census dates

Always check the census date for each of your subjects as it can vary between subjects.

There are three ways to check your census dates:

my.unimelb – displays the census date for each subject you are enrolled in . To check your census dates, visit the Current Enrolments page in my.unimelb.
Handbook - census dates are in each subject entry under 'Dates and times'
Fee statements - your current Student Invoice and Statement of Liability show the census dates for your enrolled subjects with fees due.

How census dates impact enrolment changes

Enrolment change	By the census date	After the census date
Enrol in a subject	It is recommended that you enrol before the teaching period begins, however you can enrol via your Study Plan up until the last self-enrol date. In limited circumstances you can get assistance to enrol after the self-enrol date and before the census date.	It is not possible to enrol after the subject census date.
Withdraw from a subject	Subject fee is cancelled (not payable) No grade recorded Subject is removed from your academic transcript and statements If you withdraw from all your subjects or have no study load for the half year period, you need to apply for leave or deferral. See further information on withdrawing from all your subjects. Commonwealth Supported students - The subject does not count toward Student Learning Entitlements or completion rate requirements.	You can withdraw up until the last day to withdraw without fail Subject fees remain payable Grade recorded (see subject withdrawal for more information) Subject will appear on your academic transcript and statements You cannot re-enrol in the subject (either by yourself or via an Enrolment Variation form) after withdrawing Commonwealth Supported students - Subject may count towards your Student Learning Entitlement and completion rate. See below for more information.
Withdraw from your course	Fees are cancelled No grades recorded Course will not appear on your academic transcript and statements	Fees remains payable Grade recorded (see subject withdrawal for more information) Subject will appear on your academic transcript and statements Commonwealth Supported students - Subject may count towards your Student Learning Entitlement and completion rate. See below for more information.
Take a leave of absence	Subject fees are cancelled No grades recorded Leave of absence noted on your academic transcript and statements	Cannot apply for a Leave of Absence. Simply withdraw from all your subjects (see second row of this table).
Defer my offer (commencing students)	Refer to the Defer my offer page for eligibility and requirements.	After the earliest subject census date for any of your subjects in your first semester of study has passed, you will no longer be eligible to apply to defer. Refer to the Defer my offer page for more information.

Requirements for Commonwealth Supported students

If you are in a Commonwealth Supported Place or in an Australian Full-Fee place and are accessing a HELP loan, there are Australian Government eligibility criteria that you must meet to maintain Commonwealth support. These include Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) and completion rate requirements introduced from 1 January 2022 that relate to your enrolment and academic progress. These apply to subjects you are enrolled in after their census date.

Find out more

Commonwealth Supported Place students

Your census date is also the last date to pay your student contribution amounts upfront, or if eligible apply for HECS-HELP to defer your fees. Due to recent changes to Federal Government legislation that affects how the University of Melbourne reports to the Government, the payment due date for the mandatory student contribution is 2 weeks before the census date. Your enrolment will be cancelled if you do not pay mandatory student contributions or apply for HECS-HELP by the relevant census date.

Australian fee-paying students

If you are eligible and want to defer your fees, you must apply for FEE-HELP before the census date. If your subject’s census date has passed, you cannot defer the subject’s fee to FEE-HELP and you will need to pay the fee upfront.

More information about fees

Need help with your subjects?

Submit an online enquiry to Stop 1 and we'll get back to you within 10 business days.

Submit an enquiry