Special consideration

Introduction

In some situations, a student may be unable to attempt, or require additional time to attempt, an assessment task listed in a unit of study outline. Requests for arrangements other than those specified in unit of study outlines will only be considered in three circumstances

Illness or misadventure (Special Consideration)
Cultural, religious, national defense, legal or sporting commitments (Special Arrangements)
Ongoing illness or disability (Personal Learning Plan, administered by Disability Services).

Special Consideration for EXAMS: Students must submit a completed Special Consideration Form and appropriate supporting documentation to the SIO within one week. Students should generally not attempt an examination if they are not well. Any student who attempts an examination will only receive special consideration in cases of very serious illness.

Any approved application for Special Consideration for a final exam will require that the student sits a further test. The original exam script will be destroyed upon approval of the application. The original exam will not be marked, and no additional marks will be given.

ASSIGNMENTS/ESSAYS/OTHER ASSESSMENTS: Special Consideration will NOT be approved if a student does not apply for Special Consideration before the due date of the assignment (except where the circumstances prevented earlier provision). Students who are ill in the week before an assignment is due must see a doctor and submit a Special Consideration Form to the SIO BEFORE the due date of the assignment.

Special Arrangements

Under a limited set of circumstances (including religious, cultural, legal, birth/adoption, sporting or defence or emergency service), students may be granted special arrangements for assessments and examinations - see the Special Arrangements section in this manual

Disability Services

Disability Services can provide information and assistance for students with a disability

Special Consideration

University policy

The University policy on Special Consideration is contained in the Assessment and Examination of Coursework document.

Faculty policy

Special Consideration requests will be approved provided that:

A student submits a completed Special Consideration Application Form, including supporting documents in the form of a Professional Practitioner's Certificate (PPC) or evidence of misadventure, to the SIO within the required time frame. Police reports and funeral notices are acceptable documentation for cases of misadventure; AND
For an assessment task requiring attendance at the University at a particular time (e.g. presentation or exam): If the student did not attempt the assessment (or left within the first 15 minutes of an exam), and their PPC indicates that they were moderately or more severely affected on the day of the examination; OR If the student sat the exam, and their PPC indicates that they were very severely affected on the day of the examination; OR
For an assessment task not requiring attendance at the University at a particular time (e.g. essay, case study): The student's PPC indicates that they were at least moderately affected for at least three days in the week prior to the due date for the assessment task and the student applies for special consideration before the due date of the assessment task (except where the circumstances prevented earlier provision).

Special Consideration requests will NOT be approved in the follow situations:

An application is made after the assignment is due or an assessment has taken place (except where the circumstances prevented earlier provision)
An application is submitted more than one week after the due date of an exam.
A student has attempted an exam EXCEPT in cases of very serious illness.
Adequate standards of documentation are not met;
Occasional, brief or trivial illness of one or two days' duration that occurs one week or more before an assessment is due or exam undertaken;
Workload from other units of study, except where the request for special consideration is made within the first three weeks of semester;
Employment where the request for special consideration is made less than four weeks before the date of assessment (see Special Arrangements). Some exceptions may be made for part-time students who can demonstrate (with a letter from their employer on official letterhead) that they have been required to assume unanticipated additional workload soon before the date of an assessment;
Illnesses and misadventures that have prevented students from acquiring a Pass level of knowledge/skills (including all illnesses/misadventures resulting in the student missing six weeks or more of lectures or tutorials);
Computer-related problems, except where a police report is provided indicating that burglary or calamity has resulted in the loss of a computer and backups from the students' place of residence (it is assumed that students keep regular back-ups of their work, so theft of a laptop is not grounds for special consideration).

If an application for Special Consideration is not approved, late penalties for an assignment or mark of zero for any exam not attempted will apply.

Marks will not be adjusted as a result an application for special consideration. The Faculty does not award additional marks or change marking standards as the result of an application for special consideration. It is Faculty policy that marks will not be adjusted either through scaling or special consideration, but that students be given the opportunity to complete work when well, either through a further test or an assignment extension.

Students may appeal the decision of the Special Consideration Panel in accordance with the Faculty's Appeals process.

The rules

If an application for Special Consideration is approved, the following form of consideration will be granted:

Assessment	Action taken by student	Consideration that will be granted by Panel
Assignment	Will submit after due date/time but before closing date	Grant extension for duration of illness
Assignment	Will submit after due date/time and after closing date	Alternative assessment to be offered
Final exam	Did not attend OR became too ill to complete exam after exam commenced (within the first 15 mins of exam) OR experienced very serious illness on exam day	Further test
Further test	Did notattend OR became too ill to complete exam after exam commenced (within the first 15 mins of exam)OR experienced very serious illness on exam day	Second further test
Second further test	Did not attend - this is third exam that the student has missed	EITHER: Grade of Absent Fail ( for repeated short-term illnesses) OR grade of Discontinue (Not to count as Fail) for ongoing serious illness or misadventure
Class test / mid semester test	Did not attend OR became too ill to complete exam after exam commenced (within the first 15 mins of exam)OR experienced very serious illness on exam day	Reweight to final exam (unless further test specified on BlackBoard)*
Regular test	Did not attend OR became too ill to complete exam after exam commenced (within the first 15 mins of exam)OR experienced very serious illness on exam day	Reweight to other regular tests attempted *
Optional assignment or test	Did notattend OR became too ill to complete exam after exam commenced (within the first 15 mins of exam)OR experienced very serious illness on exam day	None
Tutorial	Did not attend	Reweight other tutorials
Tutorial written work	Not submitted	Reweight other tutorials
Group presentation	One participant missing during presentation	Impact of illness/misadventure on group to be noted during marking
Group presentation	One participant sick during preparation and presentation	Group - As above. Ill student - alternate individual assessment to be offered
Written group assignment	One participant sick during preparation	Impact of illness/misadventure on group to be noted during marking
Group assignment / presentation	One participant sick during preparation and presentation	Group - As above. Ill student - alternate individual assessment to be offered.
Holistic seminar participation study (Long term project where required participate during other presentations or classes dealing with case study)	Where participation one off	Treat as for missed assignment
	Where regular	Treat as for missed tutorial
All other assessment not listed		Alternative assessment to be offered

*mid-semester and in-class exams will be generally be reweighted. UoS Coordinators may, however, require that students complete a further test. If there will be a further test, this will be specified on the 'Announcements' page in BlackBoard.

Steps to follow

The student completes a special consideration form (available from SIO or the Student Centre website). including attaching supporting documentation. In cases of illness, the Professional Practitioner Certificate (PPC) attached to the special consideration form must be completed by a medical practitioner. Original documentation in support of the application is required. The only exceptions are for death certificates and police report

The student lodges the completed application for Faculty units of study with the SIO. Any requests for a unit of study being completed through another faculty must be submitted at that Faculty's office.

The SIO checks the application to ensure that a student's documentation is adequate and if so, will sign both the original form as well as the student's own copy to confirm lodgement of the application. Please Note: The onus is on the student to make a copy of their application before submitting it to the SIO. The SIO will not make copies of the student's application.

The SIO forwards the student's form and supporting documentation to the Special Consideration Panel.

The Panel assess the evidence provided in the application and decides if special consideration is to be granted. The student will be advised of the Panel's decision by email within ten working days of submission of a complete application.

Faculty of Economics and Business