Special consideration

How to apply

You can submit the application in editable pdf format with Student Connect or via email to VN Assessment Support at assessment.support@rmit.edu.vn. 

Please ensure you include a personal statement and supporting documentation with your application. 

You must apply within five working days after the assessment date or due date. You can submit your application even if you don’t have the necessary supporting documentation ready – you have up to five working days to provide supporting documents after submitting your application. However, we recommend students gather supporting documents as soon as possible in case there are delays in obtaining them. Be mindful that if you’re applying because of a health condition, your health practitioner may be unwilling to provide supporting documents once you no longer have symptoms.

Exceptions to applications and deadlines

• Late applications (submitted more than five working days after the assessment date or due date) may be accepted if you can provide compelling or compassionate reasons and evidence for submitting a late application. If you submit your application late, it's very important that you explain why in your personal statement and provide supporting documentation as evidence of the compelling or compassionate reasons why you couldn’t submit on time (such as evidence of hospitalisation or recent bereavement).
• Late course withdrawal without academic penalty – You can apply up to one year after you withdraw from a course (or after the course end-date if you didn't withdraw).
• You will not be able to apply for special consideration for courses in which you have received a passing grade.

What happens after I apply?

Your application will be assessed by specialist staff based on your evidence of the unexpected circumstances outside your control and its impact on your performance in an assessment task.

All communication will be via your RMIT student email account, so it's important that you check your email often, read your messages carefully and respond to any requests by the specified date. You can expect at least two emails to:

• acknowledge receipt of your application
• advise you of the outcome of your application.

If your application is incomplete

If your application is incomplete when submitted (e.g. you have not completed the required information in the application form), we'll email you asking for the complete application. If you don’t respond to a request for more information or documents, we may have to withdraw your application. 

Outcome notification

You’ll receive an outcome email up to 10 working days after the notification that your application is complete. The email will state the outcome for each assessment task listed in your application. The standard outcomes are ‘approved’, ‘denied’, ‘cancelled’ and ‘withdrawn’.

If you’re granted special consideration, it’s important that you follow any instructions and recommendations in your outcome email.  Where an outcome requires you to contact the course coordinator by a given date, you must do so otherwise the outcome may be deemed to have lapsed. 

Confidentiality and use of information

RMIT handles all personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Special consideration applications often contain sensitive personal and/or health information. Your information will be kept in confidence in a secure database that is only accessed by members of VN Assessment Support team in the Academic Registrar’s Group, for assessing your application and related purposes. 

Emails in relation to your application may be copied to School staff as part of the process, but will not include details of the circumstances for which you have sought special consideration. 

Where your application raises concerns about your health or wellbeing, or if you apply repeatedly for special consideration in the same teaching period, VN Assessment Support team may ask another support area of the University such as RMIT Counselling and Psychological Services, Equitable Learning and Accessibility or Student Wellbeing (as appropriate) to contact you offering support. This process does not include access to your special consideration documentation. 

Supporting documentation

If you're applying for special consideration, you will need to provide formal, independent documentation to support your application. 

If you don't supply supporting documents, it's unlikely your application will be considered complete. If this happens, we'll contact you by email to advise what documents you need to provide. If you don’t submit the documents within five working days from the date of application submission, your application may be cancelled.  

Fraudulent or misleading information 

Falsifying documents is considered fraud under the Victorian Crimes Act 1958 and is treated very seriously. This includes:

• creating (or allowing another person to create) and providing forged or falsified documents (both medical and non-medical) 
• changing a supporting document provided by another person 
• purchasing fraudulent documents from websites.  

If you’re having problems getting a suitable document, please contact us as soon as possible at assessment.support@rmit.edu.vn to discuss your situation and options. 

The consequences for providing false or misleading information in an application or supporting documentation include, but are not limited to, failure for all or any part of an assessment task, failure of a course, suspension and expulsion. 

You must be aware of your obligations and responsibilities as an RMIT student under the RMIT Student Conduct Policy.

Document requirements

You're required to provide formal, independent supporting documents to evidence the unexpected circumstances outside your control and their impact on your performance in an assessment task.

You have five working days after submitting your application to upload your supporting documents.

Each document must:

• be current, formal, independent and relevant to your circumstances
• be dated and include the name and contact details of the person providing the evidence
• demonstrate the impact these circumstances have had on your ability to complete your studies.

Additional information and requirements

• Where your supporting documentation is in a language other than English, you must provide an English translation. 
• Photographs and videos, e.g. of a family gathering, funeral or other event, should not be submitted as evidence in place of official documentation. Photographs and videos of a graphic nature, e.g. of a person, medical condition/injury, accident or other event, will not be accepted under any circumstances. 
• Please ensure documents are uploaded directly to your application and are in a readily accessible format. Unfortunately, we are unable to access documents that are uploaded to a cloud-based service such as Microsoft SharePoint or OneDrive and then provided as a link. 
• Retain original copies of all documents. We may request an original document if it’s needed to assess your application. 
• Different documents may be required depending on the reasons for your application.  
• Please note we do not accept statutory declarations in support of applications. A statutory declaration is a form of self-statement, albeit one witnessed by another person. It does not constitute formal, independent supporting documentation of your circumstances to establish grounds for special consideration. Detailed guidance on acceptable supporting documentation for a range of circumstances is provided below. 
• We also do not accept patient declarations in support of applications made on medical grounds, as they usually do not express the medical opinion of a health practitioner that you were ill or detail their professional assessment of the type and level of impact of your circumstances on your ability to complete the assessment/s.

Outcomes of applications for special consideration include (but are not limited to) the following. All outcomes are detailed in Section 46 of the Assessment and Assessment Flexibility Policy. 

• Equivalent assessment: Your course coordinator decides the form of equivalent assessment task. 
• Deferred assessment: An opportunity to sit the assessment at a later date. 
• Extension of time: If you've applied for an extension, continue to work on the assessment and submit it as soon as you can, even if you haven't yet received your outcome. 
• Late course withdrawal without academic penalty: There are some circumstances in which it may not be possible to approve assessment adjustments and therefore. Late course withdrawal without academic penalty is the only available outcome. 
• Cancelled outcome: Your application may be cancelled if:  
  • it’s submitted late 
  • the requested supporting documentation is submitted late, or not at all. 
• Review opportunity 

You may request a review of the cancellation no later than five working days after the outcome is sent to you. Send your request and supporting documents to assessment.support@rmit.edu.vn. Late requests won’t be accepted. 

You’ll be notified of the review outcome within 20 working days. The reviewer's decision is final. 

You're unable to appeal to the University Appeals Committee when your request for special consideration has been cancelled – see section 4.8 of Assessment Processes for more information. 

• Denied outcome: Your application may be denied if: 
  • you were absent from required learning activities because of circumstances that were within your control 
  • you misread the details or instructions for an assessment or forgot you had to submit/sit an assessment
  • an electronic file of your work becomes corrupt, or your hard drive is damaged or affected by viruses, and you haven’t kept a back-up of your work, e.g. on an external hard drive, Cloud or USB 
  • you went on holiday during the relevant teaching period or at a time when you might reasonably be expected to be available for an assessment 
  • you were managing the workload from other RMIT course/s 
  • you were managing activities arising from voluntary representation as a member of a club or society 
  • you experienced IT-related problems that could have been prevented, avoided or the effects minimised by reasonable diligence 
  • you describe and document other circumstances that aren’t unexpected or outside your control. 
    

If your application is denied, the reasons for this will be provided in writing. 

• Appeal opportunity 

You may be eligible to appeal a denied special consideration outcome to the University Appeals Committee. You need to apply within 10 working days from the date of the outcome email and meet the grounds of appeal stated in section 7.25 of Assessment Processes. Late appeals will not be accepted. 

To submit an appeal, follow the instructions on the Appeals webpage. 

• Withdrawn outcome: Your application may be withdrawn if: 
  • you’ve submitted a duplicate application, i.e. an application for the same course, assessment type, weighting and date/due date that’s already detailed in a previously submitted application 
  • you enrolled late into a course or program (this is not grounds for special consideration because when your school accepts your late enrolment they are then required to make arrangements for you to catch up on any missed work - contact your course coordinator or program manager if you need advice) 
  • you’re requesting an extension of time up to 7 days in advance of the assessment due date - in this case, apply for an extension of time 
  • what you’re seeking is not available as an outcome of a special consideration application 
  • you have an allegation or finding of misconduct at RMIT. If there’s no final finding of misconduct you can reapply 
  • you are requesting a further opportunity to complete a micro-credential after failing all permitted attempts to complete it 
  • you are applying for special consideration to resubmit a previously completed assessment in order to obtain an opportunity to achieve a higher grade 
  • you are applying on the grounds of dissatisfaction with your learning environment
  • the circumstance you've described is not a matter for special consideration, and is best addressed via another appropriate university process (e.g. the formal complaints or appeals process). 

There is no review or appeal opportunity available for a withdrawn application outcome. 

Note: While an application may be approved, outcomes provided are subject to change. If we receive relevant information that leads to the outcome being changed, we will notify you of a revised outcome. 

The following outcomes are not available: 

• an increase in the mark you achieved in an assessment 
• a transfer or increase in the weighting of other assessment tasks so that the assessment task affected by adverse circumstances is no longer required 
• supplementary assessment
• the resubmission of an assessment.