Applying for special consideration
During your time at University, you might experience circumstances beyond your control that result in you being unable to participate in your studies during a specified period. The University accounts for these circumstances with the Special Consideration policy.
The policy states, “The University recognises that there will be serious misadventure, accident or extenuating circumstances (including sporting and cultural events) beyond a student’s control which are of such severity or gravity that they may impact adversely on academic erformance.” Special Consideration Policy 2010. You can read the full Special Consideration policy on the UWS Policies webpage.
Special Consideration and Academic Integration Plans
Having a disability or chronic medical condition where you already have an Academic Integration Plan (AIP) in place, is not in itself sufficient grounds to apply for Special Consideration. The existence of a chronic condition does not provide a basis to apply for Special onsideration. The AIP can adjust for the effects of the disability or health condition while you are able to manage your symptoms. However, the AIP cannot account for circumstances under which you become unfit for study. It is in this circumstance that a Special Consideration application can be completed.
If you have an AIP, you are eligible to apply for Special Consideration in circumstances where the symptoms of your disability or medical condition significantly increase to the extent that you are unfit to attend class, complete assessment tasks or undertake an exam. Please note that your AIP is not sufficient evidence for a Special Consideration application. You will need to either:
- have your medical practitioner complete Section 5: ‘Medical Certificate’ of the application form OR
- provide additional supporting documentation from your medical practitioner that clearly indicates how your academic performance has been affected during that period
Supporting medical documentation must include the following information:
- the period during which you (the student) were affected, including dates
- verification of the severity or gravity of your symptoms or condition. It should clearly state that your condition/symptoms are severe enough to affect your academic performance
- verification that you were unfit to participate in your University studies during the specified period
- medical practitioner provider number or stamp
It is important to note that in order to maintain your confidentiality, the medical documentation does not need to
disclose your disability, medical condition or symptoms.
Summary
If you have an AIP:
- you are not required to apply for Special Consideration in order to receive your adjustments
- like all students, you can apply for Special Consideration if the issue is not related to your medical condition or disability (e.g. a death in the family/motor vehicle accident)
- you can apply for Special Consideration if the symptoms of your disability/medical condition become worse than can be reasonably accommodated by the adjustments in your AIP
- any application for Special Consideration will require supporting documentation additional to the AIP. It is not sufficient for you to provide a copy of your AIP as evidence for a Special Consideration application
- the supporting documentation does not have to disclose the nature of the disability/medical condition
- applications must be submitted no later than 5.00pm of the second working day after the due date of the assessment task or exam.
If you are applying for Special Consideration for assessment tasks or other unit requirements, you need to submit the ‘Special Consideration During Teaching Session’ form, located under the ‘Assessment’ heading on the student forms webpage.
If you are applying for Special Consideration for an exam, you need to submit the ‘Final Examination Special Consideration Application’ form, located under the ‘Exams and results’ heading on the student forms webpage.
