Exclusion

Undergraduate students

As an undergraduate student, you may be excluded from the university and have your enrolment discontinued if you do not meet the minimum rate of progress (MRP).

To satisfy the minimum rate of progress, undergraduate students must gain no less than 50% of the credit points for the subjects in which they have enrolled in since the commencement of their course.

Postgraduate coursework students

As a postgraduate coursework student, you may be excluded from the university if you fail to meet the minimum rate of progress (MRP) as specified by your Faculty Board:

• UTS Business
• UTS Design, Architecture and Building
• UTS Education
• UTS Engineering
• UTS Information Technology
• UTS Law
• UTS Arts and Social Sciences
• UTS Health
• UTS Graduate School of Health (formerly Health GEM)
• UTS Science
• UTS Transdisciplinary Innovation

You may be excluded from a course and have your enrolment discontinued if you fail to complete course requirements within the maximum time prescribed.

The maximum time to complete a course shall not be greater than 50% more than the normal completion time (unless otherwise stated). Periods of approved leave of absence or suspension from the course are not counted and will be in addition to the specified completion time. Where credit recognition has been granted, the maximum time may be reduced.

The Responsible Academic Officer determines the maximum time for students with recognition of prior learning.

Faculty Board specify subjects where re-enrolment is not permitted after two failures in the subject. Students who fail these specified subjects twice (or equivalent/substantially similar subjects), are liable for this sanction. Where a student is unable to complete a course as a result of being refused permission to enrol in a subject, the student will receive an X2F (Exclusion - Re enrolment refused) sanction.

Where a student is unable to complete a course as a result of being refused permission to enrol in a subject, the student will be excluded from further study for a period of at least one academic year and may not apply for or enrol in any subjects or courses of study at UTS during the period of exclusion.

Students who fail a subject for the third time are liable for this sanction. It prevents further enrolment in the subject.

If your request for permission to re-enrol is refused, you may receive an X3F (Exclusion - Re enrolment refused) sanction.

Where a student is unable to complete a course as a result of being refused permission to enrol in a subject, the student will be excluded from further study for a period of at least one academic year and may not apply for or enrol in any subjects or courses of study at UTS during the period of exclusion.

You will receive a notice of exclusion to your UTS email address.

The notice will also be sent to your external email address if you have provided one under Contact Details in My Student Admin.

It's important to check your emails regularly. Failure to read notices or correspondence from the university will not be accepted as a reason for being unaware of your exclusion.

Yes. The sanction applied will depend on the reason for exclusion. For more information on the various exclusion sanctions, please see Progressions sanctions: coursework students.

Active sanctions can be viewed in the Personal tab of My Student Admin, under Sanction Details.

Your appeal against exclusion must be submitted within 20 working days of the date of notification of exclusion.

Your notice of exclusion will provide specific instructions for how and when to submit your appeal. Please read it carefully and reach out to the UTS Student Centre if you have any questions or concerns.

Important: you need to lodge an appeal even if you have submitted other applications, including request for a review of a result, course transfer, course withdrawal, leave of absence or any application for remission, refund or withdrawal from subjects without academic penalty.

Your name
Student Number
Date

To the Director, Student Administration Unit
University of Technology Sydney

I wish to appeal against my exclusion from the course ______ on the following grounds.

Mitigating Circumstances

Outline what affected your performance. Describe what effects these circumstances had on your performance. Be specific. You need to show that the cause of your academic difficulties is your personal circumstances and not your ability. If you feel embarrassed about mentioning personal details, you may seek help from a University counsellor or other professional authority to help you in providing documentation.

Change in circumstances

Show how your situation has changed or how you intend to improve your circumstances, so that your future study will be successful, for example lowering workload, moving back or away from home, a better paying job, working less hours etc.

Yours sincerely,
Signature

You can submit any documentation which will demonstrate the circumstances you described in your statement. This may include things like:

• Medical certificates or letters from a health practitioner
• Documents relating to hospital admissions, legal matters or court documents, or police reports
• Emails between yourself and subject coordinators or other UTS staff who provided you with advice during your studies.

If you require assistance with your appeal against exclusion, you should contact the UTS Students' Association. The Students' Association may refer you to counselling & support services if necessary.

There are several support services available for UTS students who need a helping hand:

• UTS Counselling Service is available for confidential counselling to help with a wide range of personal, psychological, study-related and administrative difficulties.
• The UTS Accessibility Service is available to discuss health/disability related access requirements.
• The UTS Student Centre can provide initial advice and assistance with most administrative matters in person, over the phone or via Ask UTS.
• Academic concerns can be discussed with your course adviser, subject coordinator or faculty Academic Liaison Officer.

If you’re an international student and you do not appeal or your appeal is unsuccessful, you’ll be reported to the Department of Home Affairs. This may result in the cancellation of your visa.

If you have any questions about the reporting process, contact UTS International.

For more information on visa cancellation, contact the Department of Home Affairs (opens external site). 

You will receive an acknowledgement email once your appeal is accepted for review.

The appeal will then be referred to your faculty for consideration. Faculty will commence assessment within 15 working days, however it can take up to 6 weeks to receive the final outcome.

It’s important to check your email regularly for the final appeal outcome, or other queries relating to your appeal.

Note that you will not be able to make any changes to your enrolment (course/subject withdrawal, subject enrolment, acceptance of offer/admission to new course) while your exclusion sanction(s) are active.

You will receive notice of your appeal outcome to your UTS email address and to your external email address, if you have provided one under Contact Details in My Student Admin.

If your appeal is successful, your exclusion sanction(s) will be lifted and you will be able to continue with your studies at UTS. Students who’s exclusion was due to not meeting the minimum rate of progress (MRP) will be placed on academic caution for the next half year of study.

To help you get back on track, Faculty may provide advice or conditions for your ongoing enrolment, for example a reduced study load. Please read this information carefully, as not following Faculty advice may be taken into account if future decisions about your academic progress need to be made.

If your appeal is unsuccessful: