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Home / Your studies / Study abroad and exchange / Apply: how to apply for overseas study / Apply for academic approval

Apply: how to apply for overseas study

Overview
Apply online
Apply for academic approval
Next steps and applying to your host institution

Apply for academic approval

The academic approval process ensures that you’re studying units that fit into your course requirements and that you can continue to progress successfully through your studies.

If we approve a unit, you will receive a conditional mobility credit approval stating that you will receive credit at the University of Sydney on the condition that you complete that unit successfully. This is called an academic approval letter. It is an individual assessment based off your specific circumstances.

If you're planning to participate in semester or short-term exchange, or short-term non-exchange, read about:

who should apply for academic approval
how to apply
things to consider when choosing your units
when to apply.

If you're planning to go on a BYO, third-party provider, or internship program, find out how you can apply for academic approval.

Who should apply

Semester exchange

Short-term exchange

Short-term non exchange

Semester exchange

If you’re planning to go on semester exchange, you’ll need to follow these steps to apply for academic approval for the units you study overseas. This is a mandatory step for your program.

Short-term exchange

If you’re planning to go on short-term exchange, you’ll need to follow these steps to apply for academic approval for the units you study overseas. This is a mandatory step for your program.

Short-term non exchange

If you’re planning to go on short-term non-exchange, you can choose whether or not to apply for academic approval for the units you will study overseas, but it's not mandatory.

If you intend to apply for credit on completion of the program, or you think there’s a chance you may apply for credit at some point in the future, you should follow these steps to apply for academic approval in advance. This will give you an assurance that you'll receive credit if you successfully complete the approved units.

If you complete a short-term non-exchange program and do not have prior academic approval, you can still apply for credit on completion of the program, however we cannot guarentee that your credit application will be approved.

How to apply

Understand your course requirements

When choosing overseas units, it is important to understand the requirements and structure of your course and major(s).

See your handbook
To help understand your course structure, you should consult the relevant handbook for your course.

See your degree plan and endorsement conditions (semester exchange only)
When we endorsed and nominated you following your semester exchange application, we outlined the conditions you need to meet to be eligible for overseas study. This includes any units you need to complete the equivalent of at your host university. We also uploaded a degree plan to Sydney Student to help you select units. If there are multiple versions of your degree plan, refer to the most recent one. View this information in Sydney Student (go to ‘My requests’ then ‘View degree plan’).

Review the course catalogue at the host institution

Review what's offered at the host institution by checking the course catalogue on their website and reading their unit of study outlines.

Select your units in Sydney Student

View your overseas study request in Sydney Student (go to 'My requests'). Here you can choose to 'Select units of study'.

When you’re selecting units to apply for approval, you can either select from a list of pre-assessed units or elect an alternative unit and upload a detailed unit of study outline.

Before selecting units, make sure you've read our guidance on things to consider.

Pre-assessed units

These are subjects that have already been assessed for mobility credit by our academics and with a credit outcome already determined. You can use the list to see which units have already been assessed for the institutions that interest you.

Before selecting from this list you’ll need to check that the unit is:

the right level for your course – either undergraduate or postgraduate
offered at the host institution during the session you plan to study, according to the host institution’s course catalogue.

Applying for other units

If you upload outlines for new subjects, you'll need to provide unit outlines with all the information about that unit, so that we can assess whether these can be given credit first. You'll find more information about unit outlines in things to consider.

Review your unit outcomes

Once your units have been assessed, you’ll receive an email asking you to review the outcomes in Sydney Student. You’ll be able to view and download an academic approval letter that lists the units which have been approved and the credit you’ll receive at Sydney if you successfully complete these. Your academic approval letter may include further instructions about your study and how many units you’ll need to complete. You need to follow these instructions.

In Sydney Student, you’ll also be able to see any units that were not approved, and the reasons why.

Things to consider when choosing units

General tips

You cannot study a subject at your host institution that you’ve completed at Sydney
The content should be academic in nature and like the content taught at Sydney
The assessment regime should be like the assessment regime for similar subjects at Sydney e.g. 60% exam, 20% 1000-word essay, 20% quizzes might be approved, 100% class participation does not meet Sydney’s academic standards
If the subject was offered at Sydney, you’d be allowed by the rules in your handbook to study it.
Undergraduate students can only study units assessed at an undergraduate level and postgraduate students can only study units assessed at a postgraduate level.
Certain units can’t be studied on exchange, and this will be in your endorsement conditions or academic approval outcome. Units you’ll need to study at Sydney include:
- Some degree core units
- Capstone and interdisciplinary project units
- 4000-level advanced studies and honour units.

Professional degrees and accredited subjects often have special restrictions or limits, and this will be in your endorsement conditions or academic approval letter.

Requirements if you upload a unit outline

If you apply for academic approval by uploading host institution unit outlines to Sydney Student, your outlines need to be:

in English or for language studies and culture units, either in English or the relevant language - if your outlines need to be translated, it is your responsibility to arrange this. We will accept an outline translated by you if you provide both the translated version and the foreign language version. We may verify your translation during the academic approval process.
in PDF format – if you’re providing outlines for more than one unit, make sure they’re in separate PDFs.

If your host institution does not have a PDF version of the relevant unit outline (for instance, if the unit information is provided via a website or student portal), you must:

Copy the information from the relevant course website into a text document, along with the relevant URL.
Review the document. It is your responsibility to ensure the PDF uploaded can be clearly read by our academic assessors and contains all relevant information.
Save the document as a PDF and upload it to your Sydney Student mobility application.

This ensures there is a stable copy of your course information on record so approved units can be credited to you on your return from exchange.

Unit outlines need to provide the following information:

Assessments
Including the topic, type, title, weighting and due date(s).
Weekly schedule
A weekly breakdown of learning activities and topics.
Enrolment rules
Such as pre-requisites that must be met before you can enrol.
Teaching staff
Contact information for your unit coordinator, lecturers, tutors and faculty contact(s).
Learning outcomes
What you will be able to do and understand at the completion of the unit. Learning outcomes are linked to graduate qualities.
Unit information
Including prescribed readings and additional costs alongside academic integrity, special consideration and work health and safety information.

See our unit outlines page for more detail on what information your host unit outlines should include.

If you’re having problems finding complete unit outlines from your host institution:

contact your host lecturers or host exchange adviser - if a subject does not have an outline, you’ll need to ask the lecturer to email you the information, and you’ll upload the lecture’s response to Sydney Student.
contact Sydney Abroad for assistance.

How many units to choose

Short term exchange and short term non-exchange

You can choose to study between 6 and 12 University of Sydney credit points provided you have room in your degree. We’ll advise you of the exact number of units you’ll need to study in your academic approval letter.

You can find general guidance on the credit load at host institutions in the Global Mobility Database (go to the landing page for the host institution and click the Academics tab).

We recommend selecting up to double what you need in case some units aren’t available at your host institution. For example, if you plan to study 2 subjects at your host institution, you can select up to 4 subjects in Sydney Student.

Semester or year-long exchange

Most students will study the equivalent of 24 University of Sydney credit points on exchange. The number of host credits and subjects varies between institutions.

For some institutions, there will be a range for credit. If you see a range for your host institution, you need to study the upper limit. For example, if you see 12 – 15 credits, you should study 15 credits. It’s important you get this right – you could receive a Fail grade if you don’t study the required credit points. Don’t confuse this with what your host institution states is a full-time load for its students, as this does not apply to you.

We recommend selecting up to double what you need in case some units aren’t available at your host institution. For example, if you’ll study 15 credits on exchange, you can select 30 credits worth of subjects in Sydney Student.

You can edit your basket in Sydney Student at any time by adding new units you’d like assessed, however you can only delete units you don’t want to study after they’ve been assessed.

The table below summarises the credit load and number of subjects for each country. It is to be used as a guide only.

Country/region	Full-time semester study load (credit points)	Typical number of courses
University of Sydney	24
China	18	5-8
South Korea	18	5-8
Europe	30 (ECTS)	3-8
Israel	15	4-5
Japan	14	5-7
Latin America	20	5-6
New Zealand	60	4
Scotland	60 (SCQF)	3
South Africa	72	2-4
UK	60 (CATS)	3-6
US/Canada	15	4-5

How units will be credited to your degree

If you're approved for semester, year-long or short-term exchange, every subject you study will count towards your degree credit points.

If you’re approved for a short-term non-exchange program, you can decide whether to apply for credit for your units when you return.

In most cases, we advise students to do electives while on overseas study as these tend to be more flexible and more likely to be approved for study. Some students will study non-electives overseas. If this applies to you, it will be in your academic approval letter and, for semester exchange students, your endorsement conditions.

If you are approved to study subjects towards your specialisation, program, major, minor your academic approval will contain specific information about how the units will fit into your degree. This table provides a general explanation about how mobility credit could fit into your degree requirements.

Assessment outcome	How it will be credited
Specified equivalent Sydney unit eg. GOVT3644 - Political Campaigning	You’ll receive credit as though you studied the unit at Sydney. However, if you’ve already studied the unit at Sydney, you won’t be able to study it on exchange.
Unspecified unit with code eg. ENGL3U01 – Unspecified Senior Credit (English)	Depending on your degree, this may count as an elective or selective towards your program, major or minor if you have space in your course
Unspecified unit without code eg. BUSS3U01 – Unspecified Senior Credit (Business)	Depending on your degree this may count as an elective and could be used towards a Faculty credit point requirement eg. BUSS3U01 – Unspecified Senior Credit (Business) counts as an elective from the Business School.

When you'll receive credit for short-term non-exchange

If you would like to receive credit for your non-exchange, you will need to go through the process of applying for credit for previous study. It's important to consider this when choosing your units, as it may impact the decisions you make. Due to processing times, you may not receive credit before the start of the semester following your short-term non-exchange program.

Pre-requisite waivers and reduced study load requests will not be processed for reasons that short-term credit has not yet been granted.
It is highly recommended that you only use short-term non-exchange study to complete elective components of your degree.
You should not undertake a non-exchange program in your final semester so as not to disrupt your progression through your degree.

When to apply and when you'll receive an outcome

We’ll email you once academic approval applications are open for your program.

The information below covers important details relating to the academic approval timeline, including the deadlines to apply.

Semester exchange

Short-term exchange

Short-term non-exchange

Semester exchange

When you can select units

You can select your units once you have access to:

your host institution’s course catalogue for the semester you go on exchange, and
detailed unit outlines if the units you’d like to study aren’t in our pre-assessed list.

If you are undertaking year-long exchange and have access to the information, you can choose to apply for approval for a full year’s worth of units before you start exchange or you can apply at a later date for your second semester units.

Deadline

You should aim to have all your units selected in Sydney Student at least 2 months prior to the start of semester at your host institution’s census date.

We will assess late additions, however can’t guarantee that they’ll be approved for credit.

When you'll receive your outcome

You should receive an initial outcome within 15 working days after you've selected your units in Sydney Student.

You need to contact us at least 2 weeks before your host institution’s census date if you did not receive an outcome or if you need to change the units you selected.

Short-term exchange

When you can select units

You can select your units once you receive an email inviting you to apply for approval for your study abroad units in Sydney Student.

Make sure you add all units you would like assessed in your initial submission. If you add new units after you have been issued an academic approval it is unlikely we will be able to provide you with another academic approval.

If you have decided to change your majors/minors/specialisations, you'll need to do this before you choose units as we may not be able to provide you with a new academic approval if you make enrolment changes.

Deadline

You need to add units of study within 10 working days of the invitation to add email.

If you do not add units within 10 working days your application will be withdrawn.

Units added after this date will not be assessed unless all your units have been rejected for mobility credit or your institution has cancelled units of study.

If circumstances beyond your control prevented you to submit your units within the relevant timeframe, you will need to send us an enquiry with supporting evidence.

When you'll receive your outcome

We aim to provide you with an outcome within four weeks from the date you receive an invitation to add units. However, during busy periods it may take longer.

Short-term non-exchange

When you can select units

You can select your units once you receive an email inviting you to apply for approval for your study abroad units in Sydney Student.

Deadline

You need to add units of study within 10 working days of the invitation to add email.

If you do not add units within 10 working days your application will be withdrawn.

Units added after this date will not be assessed unless all your units have been rejected for mobility credit or your institution has cancelled units of study.

If circumstances beyond your control prevented you to submit your units within the relevant timeframe, you will need to send us an enquiry with supporting evidence.

When you'll receive your outcome

We aim to provide you with an outcome within four weeks from the date you receive an invitation to add units. However, during busy periods it may take longer. While we endeavour to complete all requests for academic approval, we will not guarantee you'll receive an outcome by the specific dates required by you or host institutions.

If you haven't received your outcome, you'll need to make your own decisions about whether to proceed with application, payment and enrolment in a short-term mobility program. To avoid any risk of not being granted credit, we do not recommend you make any financial commitments for a non-exchange program until you have been provided with academic approval for the units you have requested to study.

BYO, third-party provider and internship programs

How to apply for academic approval

If you’re applying for academic approval for a BYO, third-party provider or internship program, you’ll need to add unit of study outlines to your application in the Global Mobility Database.

Before choosing your units, read our general tips on choosing units and requirements if you upload a unit outline sections for more information about selecting units and outlines.

After we’ve assessed your units, we’ll send the outcome to you by email.

You’ll need upload the outcome to your application in the Global Mobility Database. This is a mandatory step in the process.

Deadline

You’ll need to submit your application in the Global Mobility Database by the deadline we give you.

How many units you'll study

If you’re approved for the program, we’ll advise you of the exact number of units you’ll need to study in your academic approval letter.

When you'll receive your outcome

We cannot guarantee if you will receive an outcome before the start of your program. This is because the University does not have visibility of program dates for BYO, third party and internship programs.

Applying for credit

You can apply to receive credit towards your Sydney degree for your subjects, but it’s not mandatory. If you intend to apply for credit, or you think there’s a chance you may apply for credit at some point in the future, you must apply for academic approval before you commence your study.

Read our Global Mobility Database for information on how to apply for these programs.

Last updated: 27 October 2023

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