Applying for removal of course
If special circumstances prevent you from completing or passing a course, you may be eligible to remove your academic penalty and/or financial liability.
If your application for removal of course is successful:
- the course may not count towards your completion rate
- you may have your SLE (Student Learning Entitlement) re-credited
- your financial liability and/or academic penalty may be removed
- your finalised grade may be changed.
Domestic students: please note it is not possible to remove a SA-HELP debt, even if your HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP debt are removed due to special circumstances.
Refer to the Removal of Courses Due to Special Circumstances Procedure for more information.
3. How to apply
You can apply online to request a removal of course.
Apply online
Submit a request to have your academic penalty and financial liability removed. You will be notified of progress via your UQ student email account.
Make sure to include your supporting documentation.
If you're having trouble submitting the form, check:
- all required fields are completed
- no error messages are displayed on the form
- you are using a Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser.
Late applications (after 12 months)
Late applications will only be accepted if you can demonstrate it was not possible to apply within 12 months due to circumstances beyond your control, and that you applied as soon as these circumstances were resolved.
Late applications must:
- be submitted via the online complaints portal
- provide your reasons and supporting evidence for not applying on-time, and information to establish your special circumstances.
Outcome
The outcome of your application will be posted in the "My Requests" section of your my.UQ Dashboard. An email will also be sent to your student email account.
Appeals
If your application to remove a course is refused, you may be able to apply for a review by a more senior decision maker.
Simply disagreeing with the decision is not an acceptable reason for a review. You will need to demonstrate, with supporting documentation, how you meet the special circumstances criteria. You must also:
- provide new information to support your request that was not previously available (if there are reasonable grounds to believe this information may impact the correctness or fairness of the decision), and/or
- prove there are reasonable grounds to believe the initial decision did not comply with the relevant University policies and procedures, or where relevant, with the Higher Education Support Act.
You must submit your appeal through the online grievance/appeal system within 28 calendar days of the date on the Notice of Decision.
If you have any questions or need to provide additional information for your appeal, email studentgrievance_appeals@uq.edu.au.
Up until census date, it is still possible to withdraw from course(s) without academic penalty or financial liability.