Special consideration, adjustments and extensions

Special consideration

Swinburne University supports student success by providing reasonable adjustments to assessment and examination arrangements when unexpected circumstances affect academic performance.

However, please note that personal commitments, such as planned holidays or travel are not considered valid grounds for special consideration.

Lodging an Application for Special Consideration

Before applying, please note the following requirements:

Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in the unit for which you are seeking special consideration.
Application deadline: Submit your application no later than 5.00pm on the third business day after the assessment due date or examination date.
Withdrawal: Applications can only be retracted within two days of submission.
Approval: Submitting an application does not guarantee approval. The outcome will be sent to your Swinburne student email.

Supporting Information and Verification

By submitting an application, you acknowledge and agree that:

Authorised Swinburne staff may access your personal and academic records to assess your application.
Swinburne may verify the information provided, contact relevant practitioners or organisations, and revise or reverse a decision if information is incorrect or incomplete.
You may be required to provide original supporting documents within five business days of a request. Failure to do so may result in your application being rejected.
Incomplete or unsupported applications cannot be assessed. Providing false, altered or misleading information or documents may result in disciplinary action and may constitute a criminal offence.

The table below provides examples of circumstances that may qualify for special consideration, adjustments, or extensions. It also outlines the support available for each situation and the possible outcomes if your application is approved.

Support Options for Different Circumstances

Types of Adjustment Arrangements Available

If you have:	Type of adjustment arrangement you can apply for:
A disability or long-term medical or mental health condition	Equitable assessment arrangement (EAA)
Primary carer responsibility for a family member with a disability or long-term medical or mental health condition	Equitable assessment arrangement (EAA)
An unavoidable cultural or religious commitment that falls on the day of a scheduled exam	Alternate assessment arrangement (AAA)
National or specialist commitments such as elite national-level sports or the defence reserve	Alternate assessment arrangement (AAA)
An illness or other unavoidable exceptional circumstance that affects your preparation for an in-semester assessment task	Extension of time for submission of assessable work (for applications made in advance for an extension of up to 7 days)
Unexpected short-term physical or mental ill-health, such as: sudden and serious illness (e.g. glandular fever, severe asthma or severe migraine) broken dominant hand mental illness, such as depression	Extension (for applications made in advance, for an extension of up to 7 days), or Special Consideration (for all other circumstances and types of assessment)
Other unexpected circumstances outside your control, such as: a serious accident hospital admission unexpected carer responsibility for an immediate family member death of a close family member assault, family breakdown or being the victim of a crime severe disruption of living arrangements financial hardship, such as sudden loss of employment or income	Extension (for applications made in advance, for an extension of up to seven days), or Special Consideration (for all other circumstances and types of assessment)

Special consideration Eligibility Requirements

The purpose of special consideration is to enable you to maintain your academic progress despite adverse circumstances. special consideration is available on the understanding that it will be used sparingly and only where genuine need is proven.

You may be eligible for special consideration if:

You have been hampered to a significant degree, by illness or other extraordinary cause in studying for a unit;
You have been prevented by illness or other extraordinary cause from preparing or presenting for a component of assessment, or part of a component of assessment; or,
You have been, to a significant degree, adversely affected by illness or other extraordinary cause, during the performance of a component of assessment.
You have been adversely affected by illness in the first 60 minutes of an examination.

Examples include:

study hampered by acute illness or condition
prevented from presenting an assessment task by a car accident
prevented from preparing for an assessment task by unexpected flooding in your primary residence
acute illness during the first 60 minutes of an examination
family bereavement during the assessment preparation period

In every case, you must provide documentary evidence to support your application.

Attending assessment and examinations

Please note that unless your medical condition specifically prevents you from attending or sitting an examination or test, you must still attend and sit examinations and tests.

The rules for applying for special consideration also apply to tests or assessments undertaken in test conditions, such as mid-semester tests, and assignment work.

Hurdle Requirements

If you have not met the hurdle requirements for the unit, the university may not consider your application.

Application Deadline

Must be submitted no later than 5.00pm on the third business day after the assessment due date or examination date.

Special consideration in Assessment Application (which includes Special Examination) is available on the website.

Please complete the form and email it to SE Servicedesk (select “Examination” category) within the time frame.

Supporting Documentations

Medical Grounds

If a sudden or severe medical issue or chronic illness affects your ability to sit an examination or submit a major piece of work for assessment, you may be entitled to special consideration.

Special consideration is granted only in exceptional circumstances, and you must provide documentary evidence to support your claim.

There are some non-medical grounds under which special consideration is granted, but all medical claims must include a medical impact statement, to be completed by your professional practitioner and submitted with your application form.

If granted special consideration for an examination, you will be awarded one chance to sit another examination on a different date, which you must be available to do.

If granted special consideration for a non-examination assessment, you may be given an extension, or an alternate assessment, or be required to re-submit an assessment. You will be required to submit this work by the specified date.

Download the Medical Impact Statement form.

Non-Medical Grounds

For non-medical reasons such as the death of a close family member, primary carer responsibilities, or hardship/trauma, you must provide documentary evidence to support your special consideration application.

Some examples include:

a copy of the death certificate of the family member
a funeral notice obtained by the funeral director/company
a statutory declaration form detailing your specific circumstances and the impact this has had on your ability to complete your assessment task
evidence of loss of employment, loss of housing, or being the victim of a crime

Application Outcomes

The possible outcomes of an application for special consideration are:

defer assessment;
grant an extended period for assessment (for applications requiring more than 3 days);
approve special arrangements for assessment;
allow the student to re-do one or more assessment tasks
not granted (a full reason will be provided)

Where special consideration relates to an examination (SPX), approved students will sit an alternative version of the final examination paper.

What Happens if My Application Is Approved?

If your application is approved, there are ONLY 2 possible outcomes:

End-of-semester examinations: You may be required to sit a special examination. If you have already sat the original examination, your original mark will be void, and you must sit the special examination. Failure to attend will result in a zero mark.
Other assessments: If your circumstances affected the preparation or submission of another assessment, you may be given an alternative assessment. Your Unit Convenor (lecturer) will decide the format.

Important: There are no other approval outcomes. You should not lodge an application if you are not prepared to follow this process. You have 2 days to retract an application once it is lodged.

Extensions

If illness or unforeseen circumstances affect your preparation for a non-examination assessment, you may be able to request an automatic extension of up to three calendar days before the due date, including weekends and public holidays.

However, if you require an extension of more than three days or your assessment is not eligible for an automatic extension, you must apply for Special Consideration with supporting documentation, subject to the applicable eligibility criteria. Applications must be submitted no later than 5.00 pm on the third business day after the assessment due date.

Please refer to your Unit Outline to confirm whether your assessment is eligible for an automatic extension.

Outcomes

You will be notified of the outcome of your application for extension via your Swinburne email account: this will include details of the extension granted and a revised deadline which will be documented.

Contact

Please submit to SE Servicedesk (select “Examination” category) should you have any inquiries regarding your application.