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Student Visa Holder Study and Enrolment Loads

Student Visa Holders must strive, at all times, to complete their studies within the completion date as specified on their Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

This means you are required to enrol in 60 credit points in each compulsory semester.

If you are considering studying less than 60 credit points in a semester, you will need to have approval from a Student Success Adviser, before you withdraw from any units.

All requests are assessed by Student Success and are considered in line with the Enrolment loads for International Students policy

Please note that students in their first semester are generally not permitted to reduce their study load.

If you do not have approval to reduce your study load, you may not be provided with an extension of your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

For your reduced study load request to be considered, you must meet compassionate or compelling circumstances eligibility requirements.

Compassionate or compelling circumstances refers to verifiable unexpected or exceptional personal or medical circumstances beyond your control that affect your course progress, wellbeing, or study, including but not limited to:

  • serious illness or injury, or the onset or acute flare-up of a medical or psychological condition, illness, or trauma, where medical evidence states that the Student was unable to attend classes or otherwise participate in Course activities;
  • the death of, or an onset or acute flare-up of, a medical or psychological condition, illness, or trauma affecting, a close family member, friend or similar;
  • major political upheaval or natural disaster in the student’s home country, when this has directly affected the student’s studies, or their ability to pay for tuition costs or personal living expenses;
  • a critical or traumatic event that affects a student’s ability to undertake or complete a course, such as incidents that may cause physical or psychological harm, or involvement in or witnessing of a serious accident, or witnessing or being the victim of a serious crime;
  • inability to begin studying on the course commencement date due to delay in receiving a visa;
  • where the Student has failed occasional units throughout the course, but has not done so poorly as to be picked up by the university’s academic progression interventions, and accordingly no Intervention Strategy has been developed; or
  • where the university was unable to offer a co-requisite or prerequisite unit, or the student has failed a co-requisite or prerequisite unit, and therefore faces a shortage of relevant units for which they are eligible to enrol.

Any application based on compassionate or compelling circumstances must be accompanied by sufficient verifiable supporting documentation that demonstrates the impact and outlines why a reduced study load is required.

The university may specify types of documentation that may be required to support your application, this may include but is not limited to:

Reason for ApplicationTypes of supporting documents needed
Serious illness or injury for self or close family member

Medical Certificate and / or medical documentation completed by a treating Medical Practitioner or other approved health professional that follows the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Guidelines - this can also include hospital admission and discharge papers, but excludes pharmacist certificates, prescriptions and online instant medical certificate provider.

If the student is already a client of ECU Psychological Counselling Support, a signed statement on relevant official letterhead from ECU Psychological Counselling Support outlining impact and period over which the student is unfit for study.

Letters/documents must detail the necessity for the reduced study load together with the recommended number of unit and be less than 3 months old.

The provider should be searchable (using the Look up a practitioner tool at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).

Mental health reasons

Medical Certificate and / or medical documentation completed by a treating Medical Practitioner or other approved health professional that follows the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Guidelines - this can also include hospital admission and discharge papers, but excludes pharmacist certificates, prescriptions and online instant medical certificate provider.

If the student is already a client of ECU Psychological Counselling Support, a signed statement on relevant official letterhead from ECU Psychological Counselling Support.

Letters/documents must detail the impact and necessity for the reduced study load together with the recommended number of units and be less than 3 months old.

The provider should be searchable (using the Look up a practitioner tool at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).

Recent bereavement of close family members such as parents, grandparents, siblings, spouse and dependents.

Obituary, death, or funeral notice as advertised on newspaper/internet/funeral home website, statement on official letterhead from funeral home or death certificate*

statutory declaration or other evidence confirming the relationship to the impacted family member, friend or service animal may also be required if the deceased does not share the same family name as the student.

If the student is already a client of ECU Psychological Counselling Support, a signed statement on relevant official letterhead from ECU Psychological Counselling Support.

Letters/documents must detail the impact and necessity for the reduced study load together with the recommended number of units and be less than 3 months old.

*it is acknowledged that copies of death certificates may take some time to obtain. Students are encouraged to submit their request with all the appropriate supporting documentation that they have available at the time and discuss with a Student Success Adviser.

Pregnancy/Postnatal care

Medical Certificate and / or medical documentation completed by a treating Medical Practitioner or other approved health professional that follows the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Guidelines - this can also include hospital admission and discharge papers, but excludes pharmacist certificates, prescriptions and online instant medical certificate provider.

Letters/documents must confirm:

  • Expected date of delivery

Circumstances of care/complications (if relevant)

A traumatic experience such as involvement in, or witnessing a serious accident; witnessing or being the victim of a serious crime; and family and domestic violence circumstances.

Police reports, court documents, insurance claims, employment separation letters or eviction or rental notices. ​​​​​​​

Medical Certificate and / or medical documentation completed by a Medical Practitioner or other approved health professional that follows the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Guidelines - this can also include hospital admission and discharge papers, but excludes pharmacist certificates, prescriptions and online instant medical certificate providers.

If the student is already a client of ECU Psychological Counselling Support, a signed statement on relevant official letterhead from ECU Psychological Counselling Support.

Letters/documents must detail the impact and/or necessity for the reduced study load together with the recommended number of units and be less than 3 months old.

Major political upheaval or natural disaster in your home country requiring emergency travel or has impacted your wellbeing and studiesSupporting evidence relevant to the request being made will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Academic progression status and/or failed unitsMeeting with  Student Success is required whereby appropriate study load and support needs will be discussed.

For other circumstances not listed above, you should seek guidance from a Student Success Adviser.

Circumstances that don’t qualify for a Reduced Study Load

  • inability to pay fees
  • stress, anxiety, or homesickness associated with adjusting to life in Australia
  • normal stress or anxiety associated with examinations or coursework
  • dislike of the available elective units, including major electives
  • planning to study additional units in a future teaching period, such as Summer School
  • studying fewer units to improve your Weighted Average Mark
  • avoidable timetable clashes
  • late enrolment without verifiable reasons that were beyond your control for the late enrolment
  • employment reasons or routine employment

When is this application not required?

  • If you are in your final semester and have less than 60CP remaining to complete your course
  • Your enrolment load has been restricted by ECU to 45CP or less, due to your academic progression. If your enrolment has been restricted, you should  meet with Student Success to discuss your enrolment load and study supports available to you.
  • You have limited units available due to course structure and pre-requisite requirements. If your study load is limited due to course structure, you need discuss your available and recommended units with the Student Hub before finalising your enrolment to receive necessary approvals.

Whilst you are in Australia, you are permitted to enrol in off-campus units according to the following guidelines:

  • You must be enrolled in at least one on-campus unit in each of the semester 1 and 2 study periods; and
  • The total proportion of off-campus units enrolled in during your course must not exceed one third (33%) of the total units or equivalent required for your course completion.

If you are not able to meet both of the above criteria, you should seek immediate assistance from a Student Success Adviser at the Student Hub.

Note: If you have left Australia and are now studying offshore, you must advise us immediately so that we can update your records accordingly.

International students are expected to complete their course within the duration stated on their Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE). If you are approved to reduce your study load, it is possible that you may not be able to complete your course in the timeframe of your current CoE and Student Visa.

In the future, you may therefore need to apply to extend your current CoE to apply for a new student visa before your current visa expires. Your course duration and CoE can only be extended in certain circumstances.

To learn more about your requirements please contact the Department of Home Affairs.

If you have compassionate or compelling reasons as stated above, which are impacting your ability to study full time (100%) you can request to reduce your study load percentage (75%, 50% or 25%).  You will need to complete the online Variation to HDR Candidature form, and discuss the circumstances with Student Success for this to be approved. You may also need to provide documentation to support your request, as detailed above.

If Student Success approve your request, the Variation of Candidature needs to be approved by your Supervisor.

If your request is due to academic reasons, this can be discussed as part of your progress report with your Supervisor.  If your Supervisor recommends a reduced study load, this can be included within your Progress Report.

As a result of varying your study load, an extension to your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) may be required in the future.

You can apply to reduce your study load once you have enrolled, up to the week before exam period. You should apply as early as possible. If you’re approved to reduce your study load, the outcome will depend on when you applied.

  • If you apply before the Financial Census date, you will be withdrawn from your selected units without financial or academic penalty.
  • If you apply after the Financial Census date, but before the Academic Census date, you will be financially liable for the unit and will receive a grade of ‘Withdrawn’ (W). Your grade will not count as a fail on your transcript and does not affect your Weighted Average Mark (WAM).
  • If you apply after the Academic Census you will be financially liable for the unit and will receive a grade of ‘Withdrawn Fail’ (WF). You will receive a fail grade for the unit and it will affect your Weighted Average Mark (WAM).

You must remain enrolled in a full-time study load until you receive a response to your application.

You can apply for Reduced Study Load on the forms page by scrolling down to the Enrolment related forms section and selecting Application for Reduced Study Load

All applications must include up-to-date supporting documentation, which must be in English. Without this documentation, your application will be delayed or refused.

An overseas medical certificate issued in a language other than English needs to be translated into English by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).

If providing documentation from a doctor, counsellor or psychologist, this should be from your regular treating practitioner. ECU's preferred documentation for medical or health concerns is the Medical/Health Professional Assessment form.

If you have not accessed the service previously, the ECU Student Health Service and Psychological Counselling Support may not be able to provide you with supporting documentation as they will not know your personal or medical history.

 

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