Application for Special Circumstances

Special Circumstances Application

Special Circumstances is a process for students who are wishing to obtain a Fee Refund and Grade annulment of a unit(s) they have failed or withdrawn from post census within 12 months of the final teaching day, due to circumstances beyond their control. It is a government legislated process guided by the Higher Education Support Act 2003, Division 36.

Important:

  • Applications must be submitted within 12 months of the final teaching day for the relevant trimester.
  • A separate application must be submitted for each trimester if applying for multiple trimesters.
  • You must have failed or withdrawn from the unit(s) you are applying for.

If you have questions about withdrawing after the census date, please contact the Student Engagement team at StudentCentral@acap.edu.au

Assessment Criteria:

Applications will be assessed based on:

  1. Whether the circumstances described meet the criteria for special circumstances; and
  2. The documentation supporting the application for special circumstances.

Lodgement of this form does not automatically result in approval of the application.

Applications without supporting documentation will not be considered.

If you have any questions, please contact the team at specialcircumstances@acap.edu.au

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

What circumstances are considered “special circumstances”?

Special circumstances are defined as circumstances that:

  • Are beyond your control in that they are not due to your action or inaction, either directly or indirectly – and are unusual, uncommon or abnormal
  • Make their full impact on, or after, the census date, and
  • Make it impracticable for you to complete the unit requirements and continue with your studies.
All of the above criteria must have been met in order to apply.

Special circumstances may include, but are not limited to:
  • Medical – where your medical condition only became known after the census date or your medical condition existed prior to census date, continued past that date and deteriorated to the extent that you are unable to continue your studies.
  • Personal/Family/Relationship – due to unforseen personal/family/relationship reasons that are or were beyond your control, you are unable to continue with your studies, for example, a marriage breakdown; or a member of your family suffers from a severe medical condition and after the census date, you were required to provide full-time care; or a member of your immediate family, partner has died after the census date and you were affected to the extent you were unable to continue with your studies.
  • Employment-related circumstances* -For example, after the census date, your employment status or arrangements change unexpectedly due to circumstances beyond your control, and you were unable to complete your studies.

    Note: Students required to be engaged in active service (e.g. ADF Reserves, Bushfire and SES services), will be considered under this category.

*Note: Students required to be engaged in active service (e.g. ADF Reserves, Bushfire and SES services), will be considered under this category.

What does supporting documentation mean?
Your application will be considered on its merits in conjunction with the supporting documentation you provide.

Your supporting documentation should:
  • Come from a professional directly involved with the circumstances such as your doctor, counsellor or employer
  • Provide enough verifiable detail for the College to make an informed decision regarding your case including dates and severity
  • Be independent, for example, not written by a parent/partner/spouse/relative or friend.
  • Be in an official format, for example, medical certificate or government documentation.
What happens to my application once it has been lodged with the College?
The College will assess your application and you will be notified of a decision within 30 working days from the date of receipt.
If the application is successful, the College will arrange for re-credit of any relevant FEE-HELP debt or refund of tuition fees paid up-front.
If applicable, the College will annul any relevant academic result such as a Withdrawn fail, Fail or Fail no submission.

Can I appeal the decision if I am not happy with it?
If you are not satisfied with the decision, you may appeal the decision using the Non-academic Grievances and Appeals Policy and Procedure, addressing the
appeal to the General Manager.






Withdrawing After the Census Date

As an international student, you must have submitted either a post-census deferral application or a reduced study load application before submitting a Special Circumstances application.

If you have any questions regarding deferral or reduced study load applications, please contact the International Team at international@acap.edu.au . 

Please note that approval of a deferral or reduced study load application does not automatically result in approval of a Special Circumstances application.

Applying for Failed Units

You may submit a Special Circumstances application for failed units without lodging a deferral application or reduced study load application.




Year which the special circumstances apply to (write as a number e.g 2025):
Students must apply for Special Circumstances within twelve (12) months of the relevant Trimester. Your application falls outside of this time frame and as such, cannot be considered at this time.
If there is a genuine reason that has prevented you from submitting this application within the 12 month time frame, you may submit an application at the appeal level by completing the online Complaints and Appeals form available HERE. You can also find the Student Complaints and Appeals Policy and Procedure here: https://www.acap.edu.au/pages/policies-procedures/.

Note: If applying for more than one trimester please complete separate forms for each.

Note: If applying for more than one study period please complete separate forms for each.
Please briefly provide details of the special circumstances in the space provided, and ensure that you address all three of the following:
  1. How your circumstances were beyond your control AND
  2. How your circumstances made it impractical for you to complete the requirements of your unit(s) of study AND
  3. How your circumstances did not make their full impact on you until after the census date.
Unit name
I wish to apply for consideration of special circumstances for the following units:

Supporting Documentation

To support your application, you will need to provide/attach documentary evidence from a doctor, counsellor, employer or other independent member of the
community, which states:
  1. The period of the special circumstances, that is, when they began and ended (if they ended) AND
  2. If not evident from the documentation, how the circumstances made it impractical to study AND
  3. When it became apparent that you could not complete the requirements of the unit(s) of study.

The health and safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance.

If you find that this process is triggering, please visit our webpage here for details on College counselling services and alternative wellbeing services; remembering to call 000 if it is an emergency.

For the health and safety of our staff assessing these applications we ask that you include a trigger warning for any documents that may contain confronting information, and that you do not submit graphic images or videos as part of your application.

Documentation can include a certificate or report from a medical professional, a Statutory Declaration, or any evidence that supports your request.


I wish to apply for re-credit of FEE-HELP balance or a refund of up-front payment and annulment of academic results due to special circumstances.

I understand that:
  • If I knowingly make any false or misleading statements, I may be liable for disciplinary action.
  • It is my responsibility to provide the College with sufficient documentation to support this application
  • The decision to approve or not approve the application will be made based on the supporting documentation I have provided.
  • It is my responsibility to retain a copy of the completed application and any supporting documentation submitted to the College as the application and attached documents will not be returned.
  • I consent to the College verifying the authenticity of any document submitted as part of this application.