Ongoing circumstances and Special Consideration for IEAP students

Special Consideration is designed to support students with short term disruptions or exacerbations.

If a student experiences ongoing circumstances such as chronic illness/disability or carer commitments, we recommend you explore support options such as reasonable adjustments offered through Accessibility Services at Student Wellbeing.

For students who are registered with Accessibility Services, reasonable adjustments may be eligible towards your studies and consequently the instances in which you would need to apply for Special Consideration are simplified.

If you are not already registered, contact the Accessibility Service at Student Wellbeing to seek support.

For other ongoing/long-term circumstances, such as financial distress or accommodation concerns, we suggest referring to our FAQ page for advice on when and how to apply.

Changes to the application process from S1 2024

If you are submitting a Special Consideration application to use your IEAP extension provision, you no longer need to attach your IEAP as a PDF when applying. This change takes effect on Friday 8 March.

Download our guide to submitting a Special Consideration request to use your IEAP extension provision, or learn more below.

You will no longer be required to upload a copy of your Macquarie IEAP as evidence when applying for an extension on tasks that fall under the written assessment category.

When can I use my IEAP extension?

You can apply for your IEAP extension for written assessments only.

The following assessments tasks are not covered under this recommended adjustment:

  • short written tasks
  • in-class/online tests
  • exams/supplementary exams
  • presentations
  • group work activities
  • weekly tasks
  • PACE/placement
  • take home assignments and exams
  • class attendance
  • clinical and practical assessment tasks.
What happens after I have applied for Special Consideration to use my IEAP extension?
  • The Special Consideration Team will review your IEAP extension request and will endeavour to respond within five working days.
  • While you wait, continue to work on your assessment task, as you wait for the notification of the outcome of your request. This will be sent to your Macquarie University email address, as soon as practicable.
  • If you do not hear a response prior to the due date, it is expected that you work towards submitting the assessment task on the due date aligned with your IEAP.
    Note: You can submit your assessment either before, or on the approved extended due date.
  • Take note of any specific submission instructions that were sent to you in the Special Consideration outcome email.

Applications for IEAP students

You may already be registered with Student Wellbeing due to ongoing/long-term circumstances such as: chronic illness/disability or carer status. If you are already registered and are seeking to apply for Special Consideration, check our IEAP FAQs below to assist you:

Your IEAP will stipulate the steps you need to take to activate your adjustments (when necessary).

If you have 'planned extension adjustments' for individual written assignments listed on your IEAP, you are required to inform the university that you would like to use the assessment and for which assessment. Students should inform the university they wish to use the extension provision by submitting a Special Consideration application via AskMQ.

Supporting evidence requirements vary based on your reason for applying.

If you have an adjustment for planned extension listed on your IEAP and you wish to use that extension, you will need to request this via the AskMQ Special Consideration form under the event category of 'Planned extension with IEAP adjustment' but you do not need to attach any evidence to your application.

If you are unable to complete an assessment task due to other impacts separate to that of your IEAP or experience an additional disruption, you will need to provide valid forms of supporting evidence. For example, a medical certificate for an illness.

Your IEAP can only be used to request one extension per assessment task. After this, you will need to provide other valid forms of supporting evidence.

Important: An IEAP planned extension provision can be applied towards eligible assessment types only, please refer to your IEAP for details as to which assessments are covered by your IEAP.

Planned extension adjustments cannot be used for missing quiz/tests/exams or to request extra time to complete a quiz/test/exam.

If you are unable to sit a quiz/test/exam at the scheduled date/time, you will need to apply for special consideration, providing evidence relating to the disruption that has prevented you from sitting the quiz/test/exam.

Extra time for tests, quizzes, or exams will be applied as per the listed adjustments on your students IEAP (eg. 25% extra time) – you do not need to submit a special consideration request to have your extra time adjustments applied.