Refunds and remissions

You may be eligible for a refund of tuition fees paid towards a study session if you paid more than you needed to, or if you formally withdrew from the subject (or course) or applied for leave of absence before the census date of the session.

To request a refund, you can:

• Log in to My Student Admin and enter your bank account details under the Personal tab
• Log in to My Student Portal using your student login details, and submit an online enquiry via Ask UTS with the Fee/Scholarships category.

Refunds are usually paid via an electronic funds transfer (EFT). Please allow up to 2-3 weeks for your refund to be processed, once your request is received.

If you are no longer enrolled in a course at UTS and do not have access to My Student Portal you can submit an Ask UTS public web form with the category Fees/Scholarships and include your full name, date of birth, Student ID number, the course you were enrolled in, and your address while studying at UTS for identity verification. 

Read more about Tuition fee refunds due to overpayment for international students.

To be eligible:

1. Your subject(s) must have a ‘Fail’ or ‘Withdrawn/Fail’ or ‘Withdrawn’ grade result recorded against your academic record; and
2. Your application must have supporting documentation that demonstrates that you were impacted by special circumstances.
3. If you are applying for the removal of a financial penalty, your application must be submitted within the time limit.

Your application must be submitted either within 12 months of the date you withdrew from the subject(s), or within 12 months from the end of the teaching session in which you were enrolled in the subject(s):

• For all Autumn and Spring sessions, this is the last day of the final assessment period;  
• For all other sessions, this is the day when the formal classes end.

Please check the academic year dates for the relevant session dates. If you were enrolled in the subject(s) for a previous year, you can select the relevant academic year through the UTS Handbook Archives to find the relevant academic year.

This time limit applies to all teaching periods, as defined by the Higher Education Support Act 2003. 

An application will only be considered outside of these time frames if independent supporting documents provided demonstrate why the application could not be made within the above time limits. This is at the University's discretion, and subject to approval. 

Special circumstances are those that are generally considered to be unusual or uncommon, and were not able to be foreseen prior to the census date.

You must be able to demonstrate, with independent supporting documentation, that the special circumstances that apply were:

1. Beyond your control

i.e. a situation occurred that a reasonable person would consider is not due to your action or inaction and for which you are not responsible. This situation must be unusual, uncommon or abnormal. 
  
Please note:  lack of knowledge or understanding of the HELP scheme and relevant deadlines are not considered to be beyond your control. 
 

2. Did not occur or make their full impact on you until on or after the census date

i.e. your circumstances occurred:

• before the census date, but worsened after that day; or
• before the census date, but the full effect or magnitude did not become apparent until on or after that day; or
• after the census date. 
   

3. Made it impracticable for you to successfully complete the requirements for the subject(s)

i.e. you couldn’t undertake the necessary study required, attend sufficient lectures or tutorials, or meet other compulsory attendance requirements in order to meet course requirements.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Documentation from a doctor, counsellor, employer, active service or faculty must clearly indicate:

• the details of the circumstances
• the date your circumstances first began
• whether your circumstances changed after census date, and if so, the date/date range they changed and to what extent
• how your circumstances impacted your ability to study
• the date it became apparent that you could not continue your studies.
• the documentation must be on official letter
• the documentation must be signed and have date of issue
• medical documents must have both the AHPRA Practitioner Registration Number AND the Medicare Provider Number 
• file format must be PDF and file size must not exceed 10MB.
• multiple files can be uploaded.

General:

• A personal statement or statutory declaration alone, outlining your circumstances is not sufficient evidence to have your application approved.
• Do not submit any graphic images as your supporting documentation.
• If registered with UTS Student Services Unit (SSU), please request and collect all of your supporting documentation and submit it with your application.
• UTS will not obtain documents on your behalf from third parties (e.g. medical centres).  However, we may verify the documentation provided with your application with the issuing authority. Disciplinary action may be taken if false or misleading documentation is submitted

Steps to take:

1. Log into the UTS Student Portal using your student email address and select Ask UTS to create an enquiry.
2. Select Submit a Remissions/Refund due to Special Circumstances Form.
3. Read the instructions and fill in all required fields. Select the course and session, and add all of the subjects that you are applying for within that session. (You can apply for one study session at a time. If you need to apply for subjects in more than one study session, submit a new application for each session.)
4. Add your supporting statement and upload your supporting documents. (Your application can't be assessed without supporting documents).
5. Click Submit.
6. You will be notified of the outcome of your application via an email to your UTS student email address. 

Please combine multiple subjects for the same session in one application, but submit only one application per session.

Steps to take:

1. If you’re no longer a UTS student, and are withdrawn from your course, you need to register for My Student Portal using your personal email address. Then, log in to the UTS Student Portal and select Ask UTS to create an enquiry.
2. Select Submit a Remissions/Refund due to Special Circumstances Form.
3. Read the instructions and fill in all required fields. Select the course and session, and add all of the subjects that you are applying for within that session. (You can apply for one study session at a time. If you need to apply for subjects in more than one study session, submit a new application for each session.)
4. Add your supporting statement and upload your supporting documents. (Your application can't be assessed without supporting documents).
5. Click Submit.
6. You will be notified of the outcome of your application via an email to the email address you used to log in. 

Please combine multiple subjects of the same session in one application, but submit one application per session. 

Steps to take:

1. If the census date has already passed, you must first apply to withdraw from the subject(s). If you’re still enrolled in the subject(s), your application will not be assessed.
2. After you have applied to withdraw from the subjects, you can submit your application straight away. Log into the UTS Student Portal using your student email address and select Ask UTS to create an enquiry.
3. Select Submit a Remissions/Refund due to Special Circumstances Form.
4. Read the instructions and fill in all required fields. Select the course and session, and add all of the subjects that you are applying for within that session. (You can apply for one study session at a time. If you need to apply for subjects in more than one study session, submit a new application for each session.)
5. Add your supporting statement and upload your supporting documents. (Your application can't be assessed without supporting documents).
6. Click Submit.
7. You will be notified of the outcome of your application via an email to your UTS student email address. 

Please combine multiple subjects of the same session in one application, but submit one application per session.

If special circumstances do not apply to you, but you still believe you have a genuine case where your ability to continue studying was affected by circumstances beyond your control, you may apply for withdrawal without academic penalty only.

Please note: The Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) is non-refundable for students who withdraw after the census date, and any SA-HELP debt incurred will not be remitted, regardless of circumstances.

The Student Complaints Resolution Office (SCRO) is responsible for capturing information about complaints and helping to resolve them. You can lodge your complaint by submitting the complaints form on the student portal. 

The university is not empowered to use this procedure to reconsider or change decisions made by the Delegate or Review Officer.

However, you may use this process if you believe there is been an error in administration in relation to their application. You can read more about Making a complaint.

If your appeal is unsuccessful and you still disagree with the review decision, you have the right to appeal to the Administrative Reviews Tribunal (ART) within 28 days from the date you received the appeal outcome.  

The university will forward all documents relating to your case. If you have any additional documentation you should include this in your appeal to ART.

You will be provided with further information about this process at the time you are notified of the review decision.

You can visit the Administrative Review Tribunal website to learn more.