The University is committed to providing the support and advice you need if you encounter academic or personal challenges in completing your studies.
Academic progression is the way we describe the progress you are making towards completing your degree requirements.
To assess your progression, we look at how well you are meeting the essential academic requirements laid out in the policy, the requirements of your award course, and the units of study you take as each semester passes. We also look at how well you are progressing in your studies in relation to the maximum allowable limit you have for completing your course.
There may be a range of reasons why you'd have difficulty meeting progression requirements at different times during your studies.
This is why we have a process to help us identify students that might be encountering issues with their progression as early as possible, so that we can reach out with the advice and support they need to get back on track with their studies.
At the end of each teaching period, there are a range of indicators we use to work out if a student may need academic advice or other support for their learning.
The progression process is outlined in Part 15 of the Coursework policy 2014
We may identify you as needing support if:
If you meet one or more of these indicators, we’ll send you a notification of being placed on a stage of the academic progression register.
The first time you meet one or more of these criteria, we will email you to let you know, outline where you are falling behind and offer support to help you get back on track
You’ll be encouraged to talk to an academic advisor and complete a questionnaire to help you identify what may be impacting your studies.
If you continue to not meet progression for a second time (meeting one or more of our indicators again), you may progress to stage 2.
This is another opportunity to access the support you need to get your academic progress on track. It’s important you follow the steps in your email to access the available academic advice and support so you don’t progress through to stage 3.
At this stage, you will be asked to ‘show good cause’ to continue your enrolment in your award course.
This means submitting a written submission to your faculty or school to give a reason and provide evidence of why you were unable to meet your progression requirements over time.
Your student representative organisation can provide advice and support when preparing a show cause submission:
If you are an undergraduate student, contact the SRC’s Caseworker Help service
If you are a postgraduate student, contact SUPRA’s Postgraduate Advocacy Service
Your show cause notification will include information on what you need to provide in your letter, how to submit it through Sydney Student and the deadline for when you need to make your submission. The main purpose of your show cause letter is to:
You may want to submit documents with your show good cause letter to show how your circumstances have impacted on your academic progression.
These might include:
Once you have submitted your letter, the Associate Dean of your faculty or school will make a decision on whether you have shown good cause, based on the explanation and evidence you’ve provided.
Formal decisions on show cause are often not made until after the start of the next semester, due to the tight timelines surrounding results and holidays. It is important to keep checking your student email account for your show cause decision and any actions you may need to take.
If the Associate Dean decides you have shown good cause they will:
If they decide you have not shown good cause, then they have two options. They can:
exclude you from your award course for two years.
If you are allowed to re-enrol, and you do not meet the academic progression requirements in the next semester, you may be asked to show good cause again.
Unfortunately, if we do not accept the reasons and plan put forward at the Stage 3 show cause stage, then you will be excluded from re-enrolling in your course. We will email you to notify you of this decision.
To be excluded means that you will not be permitted to re-enrol in your course or any other course at the University for at least four consecutive semesters (two calendar years).
If you are in international student this is likely to affect your student visa status, and we are obliged to inform the appropriate government department about any exclusion. For any questions about your visa requirements you can contact the international compliance team at student.compliance@sydney.edu.au
If you’re excluded from your course or don't believe the conditions imposed on your re-enrolment are reasonable, you can submit an appeal to your faculty.
The email you receive with your decision will include information on how to appeal. Read more about our Academic appeals process.
If you’re appealing against an exclusion decision, you should continue to attend any classes you’re enrolled in while your appeal decision is pending. Even if we make the decision to exclude, we do not immediately cancel your enrolment because of your right to appeal.
After two years, you can apply to return to the same award course, as long as it is still offered by the University. Readmission is not automatic and is at the discretion of the Associate Dean of the faculty or school.
In your application you will need to show that during your period of exclusion you have taken steps to support your future academic progression. This could include steps you have taken to strengthen your skills, such as studying or work experience, or steps you’ve taken to address any personal circumstances that previously prevented you from meeting progression requirements.
If you are a student looking to be readmitted into either the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science or the University of Sydney Business School, you will need to complete this readmission application form.
