Providing a bit of breathing space
From Session 1 2026, some assessments may be eligible for a Short Extension.
A Short Extension will enable you to request an additional 3 calendar days to complete an eligible assessment. No reason or evidence is required. Short Extensions are designed to give you a little more breathing space to complete your work, empower you to manage your study and life commitments and to support your overall wellbeing.
Unit Guides are your definitive source for assessment information. Your unit guide will show you whether a task is eligible for a Short Extension with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
The Service Connect Portal has a Short Extension form that will only show any eligible assessments. You can view your units in this form and see which, if any, of your assessments are eligible for a Short Extension.
If your assessment is eligible, you can apply for a Short Extension any time during the session, as long as you:
- submit your request through the official request form before the original due date and time
- haven’t already submitted your assessment
- have not already received a Short Extension, IEAP Extension or Special Consideration for that assessment task.
Once the due date passes, the option to request a Short Extension is no longer available.
You can only receive one Short Extension for each eligible assessment task.
Applying for a Short Extension is easy. If your assessment qualifies, the extension is approved instantly, with no need to provide a reason or documents.
Follow these simple steps:
- Log in to the Service Connect portal
- Go to ‘My Request Forms’, click on ‘Managing my Assessments, Exams & Results’ and select Short Extensions
- Pick the eligible assessment/s and submit your request.
- You will get an immediate confirmation and an email with the details of your extension. Approved extensions will also be shown in the Service Connect under ‘My Requests’.
No. You can apply for Short Extensions for more than one eligible assessments in a single request form.
You will receive an email to your MQ student email address advising of your extended due date. If you have requested extensions for multiple assessments within one form, you will receive separate emails for each assessment task.
It is important to note that a Short Extension is for 3 calendar days, not 3 business days. The calculation of the extended due date includes weekends and public holidays where relevant.
If you have an IEAP, you can still choose to apply for a Short Extension for eligible assessments. However, you cannot combine an IEAP extension with a Short Extension.
If you have an IEAP, it will usually be recommended that you use the extension already approved in your IEAP by selecting IEAP Extension in the Special Consideration form in the Service Connect Portal.
If you prefer, you can apply for a Short Extension of up to 3 calendar days using the Short Extension form instead. This is separate from your IEAP, and cannot be combined with your IEAP.
To summarise:
- You can use either your IEAP extension OR a 3-day Short Extension
- You cannot combine an IEAP extension with a 3-day Short Extension
Yes. If you experience a short-term, serious and unavoidable disruption impacting your ability to complete an assessment, you can apply for Special Consideration after requesting a Short Extension.
However, it is important to note that, if an assessment extension is approved as part of the Special Consideration outcome, the new due date will be calculated from the original assessment due date, not the Short Extension date.
Yes. You are expected to submit your assessment before the extended due date. If you submit an assessment after the extended due date late penalties will be applied. The late penalties will be calculated from the extended due date.