Special Consideration & Short Extension
We're here to support you when uncontrollable circumstances interfere with your assessment performance or completion.
Choose from two different consideration processes:
1. Special Consideration
When illness or other circumstances beyond your control affect your ability to undertake assessments, you may be eligible to apply for Special Consideration.
Special Consideration assesses the impact of unexpected, short-term events on your ability to complete a specific assessment task. If approved, you’ll get an alternative arrangement to help complete your assessment requirements.
2. Short Extension
Short Extension is an automatic process that allows you to apply for an extended deadline on your assessment without providing supporting documentation, offering immediate approval during brief, life-disrupting events.
Please note: Short Extension is currently only available for certain assessments and courses. Check your course outline or Moodle to see if a Short Extension is offered for your assessments.
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Special Consideration
Short Extension
Availability You can apply for any assessment in any course you’re enrolled in. Not all assessments and courses have a Short Extension available. Short Extensions are pre-determined by the course authority and must be stipulated in your course outline, Moodle page or any other relevant Learning Management System (LMS). Eligibility All students are eligible to apply as long as you meet the Special Consideration eligibility criteria. Where a Short Extension exists for an assessment, all students enrolled in that course during that term are eligible to apply. Duration of extension May vary depending on your circumstances and the period of impact specified by your supporting documentation. 1-7 days (pre-determined by the course authority and stipulated in your course outline). Outcome Will vary depending on the type of assessment and your circumstances. Not all applications are approved. Requests for review are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Automatically approved once the request is submitted. Supporting documentation Mandatory. Not required. Application deadline 3 working days after the assessment due date. Assessment submission due date. No late applications are permitted.
See also
Special Consideration
If you are applying for Special Consideration, you must submit your application as soon as possible within 3 working days of the assessment due date.
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This Special Consideration process is available to all students, except:
- Research candidates: If you are completing a Higher Degree Research program, contact the Graduate Research School (grs@unsw.edu.au) for special consideration requests.
- UNSW Diploma students: If you're studying a Diploma program, seek advice about Special Consideration from UNSW College.
You may be eligible for Special Consideration if your circumstances are:
- Short-term
- Unexpected and beyond your control
- Substantially disruptive to your assessment performance
- Not reasonably foreseeable, avoidable or preventable by you,
and either:
- Occurred during a critical study period for 3 consecutive days, or
- Prevented you from completing or attending an assessment on a specific date or due date.
For assessments eligible for an extension through Special Consideration, the maximum extension available is:
- 14 calendar days for a term
- 21 calendar days for a semester
- 7 calendar days for a hexamester.
If you have already received a Short Extension for the assessment, the days granted will count towards the maximum extension available through Special Consideration.
Once the maximum extension period has been reached, no further extensions can be granted through Special Consideration for that assessment.
If you require more appropriate ongoing support, you may wish to:
- Request support under the Support for Students Policy;
- Apply for an educational adjustment through a learning plan; or
- Apply for fee remission in accordance with the Enrolment and Withdrawal Procedure.
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UNSW’s Fit to Sit rule (outlined above), applies to all timed assessments, including:
Short exams (i.e. up to 24 hrs in length)
Tests (online or in class)
Presentations
Lab assessments.
You must comply with the Fit to Sit rule in addition to having valid circumstances to apply for Special Consideration for a timed assessment.
Fit to Sit timeline
Please note:
- The threshold for approval to waive the Fit to Sit rule is extremely high.
- The University reserves the right to verify all claims and supporting documentation.
- Submitting a request does not guarantee approval.
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You can apply for Special Consideration.
Please note: If you access or sit the exam or any other timed assessment on the scheduled date, you will no longer be eligible for Special Consideration.
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If you feel unwell or are impacted by other circumstances to the point that you cannot continue with your timed assessment, you must:
- Stop taking the assessment before 80% of the scheduled assessment time has elapsed
- Immediately advise a staff member, such as an exam supervisor or Course Authority, before the end of the timed assessment task
- Apply for Special Consideration within 3 working days of the assessment date
- Provide supporting documentation dated within 24 hours of the assessment date.
You will not be eligible for Special Consideration if you continue the assessment beyond 80% of the scheduled time.
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You are not eligible for Special Consideration.
An exception may be considered only where there is clear evidence that you were unable to make a reasonable judgement about your fitness to undertake the assessment.
Are you or someone you know experiencing gendered violence?
Help is available for you and fellow students if you have been affected by, witnessed, or are supporting someone experiencing sexual assault, relationship violence, coercive control or sexual harassment.
The Gendered Violence Response Team (GVRT), made up of specialist mental health clinicians, can offer support, information, safety planning, or simply have an informal chat about your options. They can connect you with services for academic adjustments and provide guidance on reporting incidents. You can also report anonymously using the Gendered Violence portal.
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Providing clear and complete documentation will help us assess your application based on your individual circumstances.
To support your application, provide all relevant supporting documents that clearly show:
- What happened – The circumstances that affected you.
- When it happened – The relevant dates and how long you were affected.
- How it affected you – The impact your circumstances had on you and your ability to complete the assessment.
Requirements for medical circumstances
- Submitting medical certificates
You may ask your doctor or allied health professional to complete the Professional Authority Form (PDF) as supporting documentation. Alternatively, you may provide other eligible medical documentation that meets the Special Consideration requirements. - Online medical certificates
In line with the Assessment Allowances Instructions, medical certificates issued online will not be accepted without confirmation that a real-time telehealth consultation took place by phone or video.
The medical certificate must be issued by a practitioner registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Certificates based only on an online questionnaire or form, without a real-time consultation, will not be accepted.
UNSW may verify online medical certificates or supporting evidence to confirm the authenticity of the documentation and whether it meets the relevant requirements.
For further information, see Special Consideration Guidelines.
- Overseas medical documentation
If you are in Australia during the period your medical circumstances occur, you must provide verifiable documentation by an AHPRA-registered healthcare practitioner.
Overseas medical documentation may be considered where you had reasonable grounds for being outside Australia (e.g. UNSW-approved exchange, study abroad, placement, competition or field trip). In these cases, you must provide:
- Evidence of your overseas location
- The original medical document
- A NAATI-certified English translation.
UNSW may contact the issuing practitioner or medical practice to verify the documentation.
Where supporting documentation is not in English, you must provide both the original document and a NAATI‑certified English translation. UNSW will not arrange translations on behalf of students. Documentation that is not translated in accordance with UNSW requirements may not be accepted.
Please note: If you provide falsified documents in support of your application, it will result in one of a range of penalties, from failure in the course to suspension or exclusion. In some cases, the matter could also be reported to ICAC.
Check our list of circumstances and required supporting documents.
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Submit your application through the Special Consideration portal no later than 3 working days of the assessment due date.
A late application may be considered in exceptional circumstances. If you are applying later than 3 working days after your assessment, your documentary evidence will need to include additional and adequate information to explain how or why you couldn’t apply on time.
If you encounter log-in issues or need help applying through the portal, please see our step-by-step guide. If you need further support, head to our frequently asked questions about Special Consideration before contacting specialconsideration@unsw.edu.au.
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1. Click on ‘Special Consideration’ in myUNSW under ‘My Student Profile’, then log in to the Special Consideration portal on myUNSW.
Troubleshooting: If you're receiving an invalid user ID/password error message, you must reset your password via Identity Manager before attempting to log in again.
2. Click the ‘New Application’ tab and complete the Student Declaration.
3. Enter your contact details and assessment information along with your supporting documentation.
You can add further documentation to an application you have submitted if the status of that application is:
Submitted
Decision Made - On Hold
Decision Made - Document(s) added.
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1. Select your application on the My Applications page.
2. Scroll down to Further Documents Upload and upload your additional documents.
Please note: Once your application has been processed, you will not be able to add further documentation. Please review your outcome for further information.
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The Student Case Review Team will assess the information and evidence provided in your application, usually within 3-5 working days. UNSW’s procedures ensure that the information you provide is kept confidential.
Important note
Do not wait for your Special Consideration Application to be approved before submitting your assessment. If an extension is approved, it will be applied from the original due date (and is normally equivalent to the period of impact outlined in your documentation).
Keep working on the assessment and submit it when you believe you have completed it to a satisfactory standard.
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The Student Case Review team assesses your eligibility for Special Consideration and advises you of the outcome of your application.
Where Special Consideration is approved, the relevant School or Course Authority determines the appropriate arrangement. Possible arrangements may include:
- An extension to the submission due date
- A supplementary examination where a final examination was missed
- An alternative assessment
- Aggregating or averaging marks from other completed assessments
- Reweighting the affected assessment to other assessments.
In exceptional or complex circumstances, the Course Authority may consider another appropriate arrangement.
The Student Case Review team does not determine, and cannot change, the arrangement that is set by the School or Course Authority.
An alternative or further assessment opportunity is not always available, particularly where previous arrangements have already been provided for the same assessment. This will be assessed by the Course Authority based on the specific circumstances.
Please note: Applying for Special Consideration does not automatically mean that you will be granted an additional assessment or awarded an amended result. A poor record of attendance or performance in a course may be considered when assessing your Special Consideration application, regardless of illness or other circumstances affecting a final examination.
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If you have genuine grounds to contest an outcome, you may request a review of the outcome of a Special Consideration application no later than 3 working days from the application outcome date.
Requests for a review must be made in writing, clearly setting out the grounds for the review. Ensure that you:
- Read the instructions and complete all sections of the Special Consideration Review Form
- Prepare any additional supporting documentation not previously submitted with the Special Consideration application
- Submit your completed review form and supporting documentation to specialconsideration@unsw.edu.au with the subject line of your email as:
Review: [Student Name], [zID], [Course Code], Term
It is your responsibility to include all relevant information and supporting documentation in one email. Sending multiple emails may delay your review or result in information not being considered together.
Once submitted, please wait for the Case Reviews team to contact you. There is no need to send follow-up emails, as this may delay the processing of your review.
If your review request is submitted more than three working days after the application outcome, you must also provide documentation demonstrating extenuating circumstances that prevented you from submitting it on time.
Review requests submitted without a completed review form may be closed without assessment.
Only one review request per application will be considered by the Student Case Review team. If you are dissatisfied with a review outcome, you may lodge a student complaint in accordance with the UNSW Complaint Management and Investigations Policy and Procedure.
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Important student responsibilities
Applying for Special Consideration is an official UNSW process. It means you have responsibilities you must be aware of under the UNSW Student Code and the Special Consideration Student Declaration.
Short Extension
Not all courses or assessments have the option for a Short Extension. If you are requesting a Short Extension, you must submit your application by the assessment's due date and time. Follow the steps below to submit an application.
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Not all courses or assessments offer Short Extension. Check the availability of Short Extension in your Course Outline or Moodle.
If Short Extension is not available, you may consider applying for Special Consideration instead.
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You can submit your application for Short Extension from the start of the Term or Hexamester until the assessment's due date and time. No late applications will be accepted.
All Short Extension requests must be submitted using the portal below.
If you encounter log-in issues or need help applying through the portal, please see our step-by-step guide. If you need further support, head to our frequently asked questions about Short Extension before contacting specialconsideration@unsw.edu.au.
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1. Log into the Short Extension Student Portal.
2. Select 'Request for Short Extension' after you're logged in.
3. Enter your course code in the search bar and click 'Search'.
Note: Where a Short Extension is not available, the portal will return no search results and refer you to Special Consideration.
4. Review the list of eligible assessments for Short Extension in the course you searched and select 'Apply Now' for the assessment you want to apply for.
5. Review your application details and select 'Confirm', then click 'Yes' to submit your application.
Use the term codes below to ensure you submit your application under the right Academic Term:
6. Check 'View Submissions' in the Short Extension Student Portal for a confirmation of your Short Extension for that particular assessment.
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The outcome for Short Extension requests is always APPROVED. They do not vary as your Course Authority has already pre-determined the outcome.
The length of extension for your requested assessment is stipulated in your Course Outline or Moodle.
If you require a longer extension on your assessment or a different outcome due to your circumstances, look into applying for Special Consideration instead.
ℹ️ Quick reference:
Need help with Special Consideration or Short Extension?
Read frequently asked questions first, then contact specialconsideration@unsw.edu.au if you need further assistance.
