Withdrawing from a course or program
When you withdraw from a course or program, there can be academic, financial and visa consequences.
The date you withdraw determines if you are financially liable for a course and if there are any academic penalties. If you’re experiencing overwhelming health or personal problems, consider withdrawing immediately to avoid any unnecessary penalties.
In some instances, you may be able to complete your course with the help of academic adjustments such as:
If special circumstances prevented you from completing or passing a course, even with adjustments, you may be eligible to remove your academic penalty and/or financial liability. To learn more and check your eligibility, see applying for removal of course.
Before you withdraw
Before you withdraw from a course or program, check:
Support and advice
Before withdrawing from a course or program, please seek advice and check the available resources and support.
Check our general advice for helpful information and who to talk to:
Domestic students
As a domestic student, you don’t need approval from the University to withdraw from your program. You can simply drop your courses through mySI-net.
Before you withdraw from any courses:
- ensure you understand how your program progression may be impacted.
- consider deferring or interrupting your studies. If you withdraw from your program before passing any courses, you will lose your place and have to re-apply for admission.
- speak to someone from Centrelink if you receive Austudy, ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance or other payments from the Australian Government.
- check the terms and conditions of any UQ scholarships you hold to understand the impact of reducing your study load or withdrawing from your program.
Who to contact
Domestic undergraduate students
If you're in your first semester, email Admissions (admissions@uq.edu.au) for advice.
Domestic postgraduate coursework students
Who you should contact depends on how you applied for the program:
- if you applied online to UQ, contact your school or faculty for advice
- if you applied through QTAC, email Admissions (admissions@uq.edu.au) for advice.
International students
Temporary change to international student transfer period
The Australian Government has temporarily extended the overseas student transfer restriction period from 6 months to 12 months, effective from 2 October 2026 to 30 June 2027.
For more information about how these temporary changes may affect your eligibility to transfer to another provider, refer to the Factsheet for students and the National Code Standard 7 requirements.
Some UQ publications may not yet reflect these temporary changes. For transfer requests processed between 2 October 2026 and 30 June 2027 (inclusive), UQ will assess requests in line with the current Australian Government requirements, including the temporary 12-month transfer restriction.
If you wish to transfer from UQ to another education provider, you must have completed 12 months of your principal program or meet one of the circumstances in which a release may be granted.
Withdrawing from your program or a course, or reducing your study load may affect your student visa eligibility.
If you are on a student visa, seek advice from your faculty before taking any action to withdraw from a course or program. We also strongly recommend contacting the Department of Home Affairs.
We are required by law to notify the Department of Home Affairs when an international student withdraws from their program and your visa may be cancelled as a result. If you are in Australia on a student visa, you will have 28 days to:
- leave Australia
- enrol in an alternative program, or
- apply for a different visa.
If you want to transfer to another Australian education provider, you may need UQ’s approval for a release. You'll need to meet certain criteria for this to be approved by UQ. Read the International Student Withdrawal and Release Procedure before applying.
If you withdraw from your program after census date, you will remain liable for fees in that semester. If you withdraw before census date in your first semester of enrolment, an administrative charge for late cancellation of enrolment will apply.
Who to contact
Seek advice from your faculty before dropping a course or withdrawing from your program.
Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students
There are no academic penalties for HDR students who withdraw. ‘Financial liability’ refers specifically to course fees, and you will not need to repay your scholarship.
If you withdraw, you will still be able to apply for re-admission at a future date.
Who to contact
You do not need your supervisors' permission to withdraw, but we encourage you to discuss your options with your advisory team.
You can also contact Student Central for advice about your options and the withdrawal process.
If you've been experiencing stress, anxiety, depression or other problems, Student Central offer confidential and free counselling for UQ students both online and face-to-face.
Important university dates
The date you withdraw determines whether you are financially liable for the course and whether any academic penalties apply.
Make sure you’re aware of these key dates before withdrawing:
- Census date – this is generally the last date to drop courses without financial liability
- Last date to withdraw without academic penalty
- First day of the exam period
- Finalisation of grades.
To find important dates, check:
- Semester 1, Semester 2, or Summer Semester
- UQ College programs (check your specific program)
- Research Quarters (for HDR students)
- Teaching periods
- Semester exam dates.
If you're enrolled in a flexibly scheduled course, log in to mySI-net and click on the Enrolments tile to view the key dates (e.g. start, end and census date). The last date to withdraw without academic penalty will be the same as the census date.
How to withdraw
You may receive financial liability or academic penalties, depending on when you withdraw.
Withdrawing from a course
Before Census date
If you withdraw from a course on or before census date in a standard semester, it is deleted from your record and will not appear on your studies report or official transcript. You won’t face any academic penalty and you won’t be financially liable for any course fees.
Log in to mySI-net and select 'Enrolments' to withdraw from your course.
After Census date
You will be financially liable for courses you withdraw from after the census date. Depending on when you withdraw, this could also result in an academic penalty. Select where you are in semester to see how to withdraw and what penalties may apply.
Before making any decisions, we recommend you contact your faculty or school for advice.
On or before the last date to withdraw without academic penalty
You can withdraw from your courses without academic penalty:
- A grade of ‘W’ will be listed next to the course on your studies report.
- This won’t be listed on your official academic transcript.
You will be financially liable to pay the course fees, either upfront or through a HELP loan.
Log in to mySI-net and select 'Enrolments' to withdraw from your course.
After the last date to withdraw without academic penalty
You can withdraw from your course up until the first day of the exam period.
You will be financially liable for the course fees, either upfront or through a HELP loan, and will receive an academic penalty:
- a grade of ‘K’ will be listed on your studies report and your academic transcript
- for the purposes of calculating your grade point average, a ‘K’ is a zero.
Log in to mySI-net and select 'Enrolments' to withdraw from your course.
After the first day of the exam period
Once the end of semester exam period has started, you will no longer be able to withdraw from courses.
You will be awarded a grade based on any assessment you have completed and will be financially liable for the course.
After the finalisation of grades
It is not possible to withdraw from courses after the finalisation of grades, and the opportunities to change final grades are limited. In certain circumstances, you can:
From a course scheduled flexibly or in an intensive teaching period
The last date to withdraw without academic penalty will be the same as the census date. If you withdraw after this date, you will be financially liable for the course fees and receive an academic penalty.
As these courses do not typically have end of semester exams, you can withdraw up to the last day of the course/teaching period.
Log in to mySI-net and select 'Enrolments' to withdraw from your course.
Withdrawing from a program
In some circumstances, deferring or interrupting your studies may be a better option than withdrawing from a program. To discuss deferring, interrupting your studies or withdrawing:
- talk to staff in your faculty
- contact Student Central for advice.
If you're ready to cancel your enrolment and withdraw from your studies completely:
- Undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students: log in to mySI-net and select 'Enrolments' to withdraw from all your courses.
- HDR students: learn about how to withdraw online.
- International students: submit an online request to withdraw from your program.