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Special consideration and arrangements
While you are studying, there may be exceptional circumstances or essential commitments that impact your academic performance. Our special consideration and special arrangements process is here to support you in these situations.
- Eligibility
- When and how to apply
- What happens next
Eligibility
The University expects you to act honestly and with integrity when applying for special consideration and arrangements. Only submit information that is true, accurate and complete. Find out more about your obligations to act honestly.
What are special consideration and arrangements?
We understand that life's unexpected events and your personal responsibilities can sometimes make study challenging. We're committed to helping you through difficult times.
Special consideration and special arrangements can help you if your studies are impacted by:
- exceptional circumstances
- essential commitments
- events outside your control.
If eligible, you may qualify for:
- a replacement test, exam or assessment
- an extension of time
- reweighting or averaging of your marks
- alternate assessment
- new or varied assessment.
The outcome you receive will depend on a number of factors, such as your reasons for applying, the impact to your studies and fairness to other students.
You'll need to provide supporting documents when you apply, to show that you're eligible.
How are they different?
Special consideration
- If you have an illness, injury or misadventure during a semester or at the time of an exam that impacts on your assessment or exam, you can apply to have this taken into account when we consider your academic performance.
- You may also be eligible if you're a carer or have primary parental responsibility for a child who experiences an illness, injury or misadventure.
Special arrangements
- If you have essential commitments or responsibilities and are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams you can apply for special arrangements.
If you think you might be eligible, make sure you're aware of the deadlines. These vary depending on your reasons for applying.
Your supporting documents need to:
- describe what happened in detail
- explain how it impacted your academic performance
- include the dates you were affected
- be truthful and accurate.
Make sure they're:
- in English or translated into English by an accredited translation agency, such as NAATI
- saved as one of these files types: pdf, tif, tiff, gif or png.
Special consideration
Eligibility
You can apply if:
- you attended a funeral of a family member or close friend
- it impacted your ability to undertake an assessment or exam.
Supporting documents
Your documents can include any of the following:
- a current professional practitioner certificate (pdf, 204KB). It's important that you and your practitioner read and understand the instructions provided on the certificate, as we'll only accept documents that meet specific requirements.
- a medical certificate that covers the same information as a professional practitioner certificate. Make sure you ask your doctor to include the degree of impact on your studies as they may not include it otherwise.
- a student declaration. You'll need to include:
- the dates you were impacted
- all the required information we've listed in the student declaration section below
- other supporting documents such as an obituary, funeral notice or funeral program.
We understand it might take some time to gather your supporting documents. In this case, you should still apply by the deadline. We'll accept your application without supporting documents and contact you at a later stage to request them, before finalising your outcome.
You’ll need to provide verifiable medical documents from an Australian practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We’ll only accept:
- in-person consultations
- telehealth consultations if it was impractical for you to schedule an in-person consultation.
Please be aware that we will no longer accept online medical certificates if there was no face-to-face consultation and pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re an international student with an ongoing condition or impacted by long-term circumstances, we recommend you contact an Australian practitioner who can:
- verify any information presented by your regular overseas practitioner
- assess your current condition and its impact on your studies.
You may also wish to consider applying to Inclusion and Disability Services to be assessed for adjustments to your studies.
Backdated documents
A practitioner should only issue a certificate about an illness for a period of time that is clinically justifiable. The Special Consideration Team is not required to accept backdated medical documents unless sufficient evidence is provided that these are clinically justified.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
A dated obituary from a newspaper, a funeral notice or funeral program that includes:
- the full name of the deceased person
- the funeral date.
If you need to travel interstate or overseas for the funeral, you will need to provide supporting documents such as a travel itinerary or statutory declaration for the additional time you are away.
Eligibility
You can apply if:
- you experienced the death of a family member or close friend
- it impacted your ability to undertake an assessment or exam.
Supporting documents
Your documents can include any of the following:
- a current professional practitioner certificate (pdf, 204KB). It's important that you and your practitioner read and understand the instructions provided on the certificate, as we'll only accept documents that meet specific requirements.
- a medical certificate that covers the same information as a professional practitioner certificate. Make sure you ask your doctor to include the degree of impact on your studies as they may not include it otherwise.
- a student declaration if you can't get a professional practitioner certificate or medical certificate due to extenuating circumstances. You'll need to include:
- the reason you can't get a professional practitioner certificate or medical certificate
- all the required information we've listed in the student declaration section below
- other supporting documents such as an obituary, funeral notice or funeral program.
We understand it might take some time to gather your supporting documents. In this case, you should still apply by the deadline. We'll accept your application without supporting documents and contact you at a later stage to request them, before finalising your outcome.
You’ll need to provide verifiable medical documents from an Australian practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We’ll only accept:
- in-person consultations
- telehealth consultations if it was impractical for you to schedule an in-person consultation.
Please be aware that we will no longer accept online medical certificates if there was no face-to-face consultation and pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re an international student with an ongoing condition or impacted by long-term circumstances, we recommend you contact an Australian practitioner who can:
- verify any information presented by your regular overseas practitioner
- assess your current condition and its impact on your studies.
You may also wish to consider applying to Inclusion and Disability Services to be assessed for adjustments to your studies.
Backdated documents
A practitioner should only issue a certificate about an illness for a period of time that is clinically justifiable. The Special Consideration Team is not required to accept backdated medical documents unless sufficient evidence is provided that these are clinically justified.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
A dated obituary from a newspaper, a funeral notice or funeral program that includes:
- the full name of the deceased person
- the funeral date.
If you need to travel interstate or overseas for the funeral, you will need to provide supporting documents such as a travel itinerary or statutory declaration for the additional time you are away.
If you have an ongoing condition or ongoing carer responsibilities we recommend you register with Inclusion and Disability Services, so you can receive any necessary ongoing adjustments.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that:
- an illness or injury was experienced by:
- you
- a child that you have primary parental responsibility for
- a person for whom you are a carer.
- it impacted your ability to undertake an assessment or exam.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach one of these documents to your application:
- a current professional practitioner certificate (pdf, 204KB). It's important that you and your practitioner read and understand the instructions provided on the certificate, as we'll only accept documents that meet specific requirements.
- a medical certificate that covers the same information as a professional practitioner certificate. Make sure you ask your doctor to include the degree of impact on your studies as they may not include it otherwise.
- a student declaration if you can't get a professional practitioner certificate or medical certificate due to extenuating circumstances. You'll need to include:
- the reason you can't get a professional practitioner certificate or medical certificate
- supporting documents that provide evidence of why you can't get a medical certificate or professional practitioner certificate
- all the required information we've listed in the student declaration section below.
Ongoing conditions
If you're applying in relation to an ongoing condition, your supporting documents should explain the dates your assessment will be impacted. For example, the date when your assessment was first impacted and the date you expect to be able to complete your assessment.
You’ll need to provide verifiable medical documents from an Australian practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We’ll only accept:
- in-person consultations
- telehealth consultations if it was impractical for you to schedule an in-person consultation.
Please be aware that we will no longer accept online medical certificates if there was no face-to-face consultation and pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re an international student with an ongoing condition or impacted by long-term circumstances, we recommend you contact an Australian practitioner who can:
- verify any information presented by your regular overseas practitioner
- assess your current condition and its impact on your studies.
You may also wish to consider applying to Inclusion and Disability Services to be assessed for adjustments to your studies.
Backdated documents
A practitioner should only issue a certificate about an illness for a period of time that is clinically justifiable. The Special Consideration Team is not required to accept backdated medical documents unless sufficient evidence is provided that these are clinically justified.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
If you have ongoing carer responsibilities we recommend you register with Inclusion and Disability Services.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that:
- an unforeseen accident, mishap or personal misfortune was experienced by:
- you
- a child you have primary parental responsibility for
- a person for whom you are a carer.
- it impacted your ability to undertake an assessment or exam.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach these documents to your application:
- a student declaration
- any other documents that support your claim (for example an eviction notice, police report or evidence of a natural disaster).
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
The notice needs to include:
- official landlord (if applicable) or residential agency letterhead
- your full name
- date of terminated tenancy
- signature from appropriate representative
- representative phone number
- date the notice was created.
This is produced by the police and should include:
- your full name
- a claim number or charge sheet
- a signature from police
- a police phone number
- the date the report was created
- the date the incident occurred.
If your application relates to a police matter, but a police report is unavailable, include the COPS event number in your statutory declaration. This is evidence a matter has been reported.
A copy of a public record such as a weather report or online media coverage.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that:
- you experienced a technology-related problem which could not have been prevented, avoided, or minimised by your reasonable diligence
- it impacted your ability to undertake an assessment or exam.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach these documents to your application:
- a student declaration that clearly outlines the nature of the technical issue, when it occurred, and what you did to try to resolve it
- any other documents that support your claim such as:
- a screenshot or photo of the error with timestamp
- an email from the unit of study coordinator confirming the issue
- ProctorU chat log with timestamp
- an email to or from Canvas tests with timestamp
- a Shared Service Centre ticket.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
Special arrangements
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because you have Australian defence force or emergency service commitments (including Army Reserve).
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach an official letter from your brigade or unit to your application.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because of the birth of a child or adoption of a child.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach a signed certificate to your application.
A signed certificate should be on an official letterhead from a medical practitioner/midwife/relevant adoption agency stating:
- expected date of birth/adoption
- either the period of time when your ability to study or complete assessments will be limited, or when you expect you'll be able to complete your assessments or return to your study.
If you have ongoing carer responsibilities we recommend you register with Inclusion and Disability Services.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams due to responsibilities as a carer.
You may qualify as a carer if you provide personal care, support and assistance to another person who needs it because they:
- have a disability
- have a medical condition (including a terminal or chronic illness)
- have a mental illness
- are frail and aged.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach one of these documents to your application:
- a current professional practitioner certificate (pdf, 204KB). It's important that you and your practitioner read and understand the instructions provided on the certificate, as we'll only accept documents that meet specific requirements.
- an official letter from an NDIS provider or appropriate professional practitioner.
- a student declaration. If you have any additional documents that support your claim, you should include these with your student declaration.
The document(s) you attach will need to the explain nature of your carer responsibilities and the impact on your ability to undertake the assessment or exam.
You’ll need to provide verifiable medical documents from an Australian practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We’ll only accept:
- in-person consultations
- telehealth consultations if it was impractical for you to schedule an in-person consultation.
Please be aware that we will no longer accept online medical certificates if there was no face-to-face consultation and pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re an international student with an ongoing condition or impacted by long-term circumstances, we recommend you contact an Australian practitioner who can:
- verify any information presented by your regular overseas practitioner
- assess your current condition and its impact on your studies.
You may also wish to consider applying to Inclusion and Disability Services to be assessed for adjustments to your studies.
Backdated documents
A practitioner should only issue a certificate about an illness for a period of time that is clinically justifiable. The Special Consideration Team is not required to accept backdated medical documents unless sufficient evidence is provided that these are clinically justified.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because of a compulsory legal absence (such as jury duty or court summons).
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach:
- a copy of the legal notice
- a student declaration explaining your situtation.
This can be a:
- Summons
- Subpoena
- Court order
- Notice of selection for jury duty.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because:
- you have employment of an essential nature to you
- your employment would be jeopardised
- you have little or no discretion with respect to the employment demand.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach an official letter from your employer to your application.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because of essential religious commitments or essential beliefs (including cultural and ceremonial commitments).
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach an official letter from your imam, pastor, rabbi or equivalent spiritual or community leader that includes the dates you'll be absent from study.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because:
- you have primary parental responsibility for a child
- the child has experienced an illness, injury or misadventure and it's unavoidable or compulsory that you provide care.
Misadventure is an unforeseen accident, mishap or personal misfortune.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach one of the following to your application:
- a current professional practitioner certificate (pdf, 204KB). It's important that you and your practitioner read and understand the instructions provided on the certificate, as we'll only accept documents that meet specific requirements.
- a student declaration with any additional documents that support your claim.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
You’ll need to provide verifiable medical documents from an Australian practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We’ll only accept:
- in-person consultations
- telehealth consultations if it was impractical for you to schedule an in-person consultation.
Please be aware that we will no longer accept online medical certificates if there was no face-to-face consultation and pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re an international student with an ongoing condition or impacted by long-term circumstances, we recommend you contact an Australian practitioner who can:
- verify any information presented by your regular overseas practitioner
- assess your current condition and its impact on your studies.
You may also wish to consider applying to Inclusion and Disability Services to be assessed for adjustments to your studies.
Backdated documents
A practitioner should only issue a certificate about an illness for a period of time that is clinically justifiable. The Special Consideration Team is not required to accept backdated medical documents unless sufficient evidence is provided that these are clinically justified.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because you have cultural, political or union commitments.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach an official letter from the organising body to your application.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
Eligibility
You'll need to show that you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams because you have sporting commitments representing the University of Sydney, your country, or your country's state/province.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach an official letter from the organising body to your application.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
Eligibility
If you're not eligible under any other criteria, you may be eligible for special arrangements if you are unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams for a reason that is beyond your reasonable control.
We have the discretion to approve applications on a case-by-case basis depending on your reasons.
Before you apply, read the list of circumstances that are not eligible for special arrangements.
Supporting documents
You'll need to attach sufficient and relevant supporting documents to your application. These will vary depending on your circumstances and you may need to include more than one document. Your documents should explain your reasons for applying and demonstrate why you were unable to meet assessment requirements or attend exams. Some examples of documents include:
- an official letter
- a student declaration.
An official letter from an appropriate representative written on an official letterhead, that includes:
- your full name
- the details of your unexpected commitments, including start and end date
- the impact on your ability to study
- a physical signature and phone number of an appropriate representative
- the date the statement was created.
In the student declaration you should describe:
- the misadventure, illness, injury, or special circumstances that you experienced and for how long
- how this impacted on your ability to attend classes or complete assessments.
Make sure you read the template carefully before you sign it. There are serious consequences if you make a dishonest declaration.
Circumstances where you're not eligible
You're not eligible if the circumstances are reasonably foreseeable, avoidable, or within your control. For example:
- public transport and traffic delays
- predictable emotions such as nervousness and stress associated with assessments
- personal events such as birthdays, moving house, weddings or travel plans
- minor ailments or illness where you are still capable of completing assessments
- balancing your other study load
- misreading or misunderstanding your timetable, academic plan, official University communication, or unit of study outline
- an exam clash. Find out what to do if you have an exam clash
- any other type of study-related clash. You'll need to contact your unit of study coordinator, listed in the unit of study outline
- information and communications technology problems that you could have prevented, avoided or minimised by your reasonable diligence. These include:
- uploading assessments or exams in the final minutes of the upload period
- loss of your work because you haven't saved copies or backups in multiple locations.
Other ways to get help
There's a range of other options available to get the help, support or flexiblity you need. One of these options may be more suitable for you, or you may consider them alongside a special consideration or arrangements application.
If you have ongoing responsibilites as a carer, read our Student carers page.
Last updated: 15 August 2024
