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Change your course
- Before you apply
- Allowable transfers, upgrades/downgrades and early exits
- Internal course application
- Change streams
- Change course for research students
Allowable transfers, upgrades/downgrades and early exits
New fee and completion rate requirements for course transfers
New tuition fees and completion rate requirements have been introduced for certain students who seek an allowable course transfer (including course upgrades and downgrades) or internal course transfer. These changes impact students in Commonwealth-supported places, and students who defer part or all of their student contribution to HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP.
Read our Job-ready Graduates Package page to understand what these changes mean and how they’ll impact your studies.
The simplest way to change degrees is by transferring to a course allowed by your faculty or school. This might include:
- upgrading your award course
- taking an early exit, if you’ve met the requirements of a lower award course
- downgrading, if you still need to complete the requirements of a lower award course
- transferring from a combined degree into a single degree.
Eligibility
You can see what courses are allowed by your faculty or school in Sydney Student. Go to ‘My studies’, ‘Course details’, ‘Request course transfer’ then select ‘continue’ to view the options available.
If no options are available, or your chosen course is not available, you'll need to submit an internal course application to change your course.
If your course permits, you may have the opportunity to take an early exit or downgrade your course. For example:
- if you are undertaking the Master of Environmental Science, you may choose to receive a lower award, such as the Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate in Environmental Science
- if you are undertaking the Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Advanced Studies, you may choose to change to the Bachelor of Commerce.
If you wish to take an early exit, you will need to check the handbook from the year you commenced your course to make sure you've met the requirements for the lower award course. If you haven’t met the requirements, you may be able to apply for a downgrade instead and continuing studying the lower award course.
If you are a student visa holder, you won't be able to downgrade to a course with a lower Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level. Instead, once you’ve met the completion requirements of a lower award course, you may apply for an early exit from your current course and be granted the lower level award.
If you are a postgraduate coursework student and your course permits, you may have the opportunity to upgrade your course.
For example, if you have met the requirements for the Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science, you may be able to upgrade your studies to the Master of Environmental Science.
Be aware that coursework time limits apply for completion of your award program. This commences from the start of the first component of your embedded program (from the commencement of your Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma, for example).
When to apply
If you are a coursework student you need to apply for a transfer after the release of semester results. You can apply up to two weeks before the next semester starts, but we recommend you apply as soon as your results are released.
Application deadlines:
- for Semester 1 - 3 February 2023
- for Semester 2 - 14 July 2023
This gives us time to process your application, and ensure it is finalised by the census date. After the deadline has passed, we will only assess applications for early exits.
If you are a research student, you need to submit your application before the next research period starts. You should apply as early as possible to ensure your application can be processed.
If you submit your application after census date, your transfer will not take effect until the following semester or research period.
If you are a postgraduate coursework student and want to upgrade in the current semester, you will need to apply as soon as possible after your semester results have been released and well before the last day to add units of study. You cannot apply to upgrade if the shorter award course has already been conferred. If you've received your testamur, you'll need to return it before you can be admitted to the upgraded program, which can delay the commencement of the next stage of your studies.
How to apply
You can apply for an allowable transfer in Sydney Student (go to ‘My studies’, ‘Course details’, then ‘Request course transfer’).
You will need to select the course you would like to transfer to, provide a reason for your request and upload any supporting documents.
If your course permits, you can apply for an early exit. When applying for your allowable transfer, include this in the reason for your request.
If you were unable to apply in Sydney Student
If you experienced problems or errors when you tried to apply in Sydney Student, first check:
- when to apply - you won't be able to request changes outside these dates
- whether the change you're trying to make is:
- an internal course application. Some internal course applications need to be made through Find a course
- a stream change. Read how to apply to change your stream.
If you're still experiencing problems, you can submit a request through the course management form.
What happens next
You can view the status of your application or cancel your request in Sydney Student (go to ‘My requests’).
Once we have assessed your application we will email you with an outcome.
If you requested an early exit, we will check that you have met the requirements for the lower award. You will receive an approval email and there is nothing further you need to do. You will receive a completion letter once we have confirmed you are eligible to graduate.
If you’re transferring course and will continue your studies at the University, once approved we will send a separate email with a Variation of Enrolment offer. You need to review this offer, and follow the instructions in the email to accept or decline the offer in Sydney Student. You will need to respond to your offer within 5 working days.
Steps to enrol
Once you have accepted your Variation of Enrolment offer in Sydney Student, we will email you with instructions to enrol in your new course.
- Enrol in your new course through Sydney Student (go to ‘My Studies’ then ‘Enrolment’).
- An application for credit for the course you are transferring out of will be automatically generated. If you're eligible and granted credit, you'll need to accept or decline the credit offered in Sydney Student. This will then be applied to your new course. Be aware of your new course resolutions when accepting credit, as you may want the flexibility to complete a certain major or units of study in your new course. See Credit for previous study for more information.
- An application for credit for the course you are transferring out of will be automatically generated. If you're eligible and granted credit, you'll need to accept or decline the credit offered in Sydney Student before it can be applied to your new course. Be aware of your new course resolutions when accepting credit, as you may want the flexibility to complete a certain major or units of study in your new course. See Credit for previous study for more information.
- We need to issue you with a new eCoE. We can only issue your eCoE once any credit has been applied to your new course. We will email you once your eCoE is ready. If you have any questions, contact us at esos.compliance@sydney.edu.au
- Once we have emailed you with your new eCoE, you will need to enrol in your new course through Sydney Student (go to ‘My Studies’ then ‘Enrolment’).
Last updated: 17 January 2023
