Grades and academic support

UOW has several specific academic support measures in place for students.

• UOW recognises that all students will be impacted, to some degree, by the transition to online learning. This will be taken into consideration when marking assessments. 
• Academic consideration may be available to support students where there are additional circumstances that affect their academic performance. See FAQ below about changes to Academic Consideration
• Reasonable adjustment – students who have a disability or health condition which may disadvantage them in their assessment tasks, can apply for adjustments to their mid-session and final exams. You can find out more about the process, including how to register for adjustments.
• If you pass a subject but feel your grade does not reflect your full capability, you will have the option to have your mark and grade replaced with 'Satisfactory' on your transcript.
• If you fail a subject, the record of this Fail will not appear on your academic transcript. This is provided you did not fail because of academic misconduct, and you’ve made a genuine attempt at the subject

We have waived a few requirements relating to the Academic Consideration (AC) application process:

• students will not need to provide supporting documentation as part of an AC application,
• we recognise that all students will be impacted, to some degree, by the transition to online learning, and so this will be taken into consideration when marking assessments. This means students won’t have to apply for AC for consideration in the marking of an assessment,
• Students may receive communication or have documentation from their faculty or subject outline about the removal of compulsory attendance. These students will not be required to submit a request for Academic Consideration for attendance.

No. Your Fail grade will not be converted to a Pass or Satisfactory (this also applies to Unsatisfactory and Technical Fail grades). Provided you did not fail because of academic misconduct, and you’ve made a genuine attempt at the subject, the subject will not appear on your final academic transcript at all. It will show on your Enrolment Print as withdrawn, with no mark or grade.

Yes, you will incur debt for the subjects you complete.

Information about financial support measures available for students can be found on the student financial assistance website available here. This website also provides details on several government support measures already in place to help financially support students, including domestic students on a commonwealth supported place (CSP). We continue to encourage students to access the support available to them.

Yes, if you fail a subject because of a finding of academic misconduct, then the Fail grade will appear on your transcript. The Fail grade will also be included in the calculation of your WAM (weighted average mark).

If the subject you failed is a prerequisite for another subject, then you will need to retake it to progress in your course.  Students who may find themselves in this position can contact Student Service for advice on the options available to them.

If you fail a subject but were close to passing, your faculty may offer you a Supplementary Exam as a second chance to pass the subject. You cannot apply for a Supplementary Exam. If you are offered a Supplementary Exam, you will receive a WS for the subject when results are released, and you will receive more information about your exams via SOLS. For more information on the criteria for offering supplementary assessments, visit the Exams website.

Students who are unable to complete their supplementary assessment can apply through Academic Consideration to complete another supplementary assessment at another time. This needs to be approved by your Subject Coordinator. There is no guarantee that a second supplementary exam or assessment will be offered as these are only approved on rare occasions.

The date and time subject results are released are different for each session and are listed on the Exams and Results Key Dates page.

• WS – Withheld Supplementary: If you have been offered a supplementary exam, your grade for the subject will be WS – Withheld Supplementary until after you have completed the exam and your final grades are released. If you pass the subject as a result of the supplementary attempt, your grade will be shown as a PS (Pass Supplementary) with a mark of 50.
  
  
• WD – Withheld Deferred: If you have been granted a deferred exam, your grade for the subject will be WD – Withheld Deferred until after you have completed the exam and your final grades are released.
  
  
• WH – Withheld grade: If you have an additional assessment to complete, your faculty may withhold your result and award a WH – Withheld grade until your results are finalised. There is no official release date for withheld results. Once the faculty finalises your results, the new mark and grade will be available in SOLS.

For deferred and supplementary exam periods, visit the Exam Key Dates page.

If your new grade is a passing grade (P, PS, C, D, HD), and you meet the criteria, a SOLSMail will be sent to you, offering you the opportunity and instructions to convert your grade to Satisfactory.

If your new grade is a fail grade (F, TF, U), and you meet the criteria, you will be withdrawn from the subject three working days after the grade is released and your fail mark and grade will not display on your enrolment record or transcript.

If you are required to take a deferred or supplementary exam, you won’t be eligible to graduate until your final results are released. Once results are released, you can reapply to graduate in the next available conferral round and will be conferred at the earliest opportunity.

Students are required to pass more than 50% of credit points (in a study period) to satisfy course progress requirements. When results are released, student records will be checked against course progress requirements. Students will be sent notifications via SOLS regarding their course progress status and any actions they may need to take. Learn more about course progress.

To demonstrate a genuine attempt at a subject, a student must score a final composite mark of 35% or higher for that subject.

If you fail a subject, your fail grade will be visible for three (3) working days after results are released. This is to allow students the opportunity to review their grades and determine if they would like to appeal.

After these three (3) days, you will be withdrawn from the subject. This will ensure that your fail grade does not appear on your academic record.

*Fail grades will only be removed provided you did not fail as a result of academic misconduct and you’ve demonstrated a genuine attempt at the subject.

You will receive a SOLSMail message, recording the fail mark and grade and confirming that you have been withdrawn from the subject in a session impacted by COVID-19.

To have the option to convert your grade to Satisfactory, you must have;

• Passed the subject (scored a final mark of 50% or higher); or
• Been awarded a Pass Supplementary (PS) after successfully completing supplementary assessment requirements.

There are a small number of exceptional circumstances where a grade conversion cannot be applied. These include (but are not limited to) students enrolled in:

• 400-level or honours level subjects
• Graduate Medicine
• Higher Degree Research
• subjects exempted due to accreditation or registration requirements
• sessions outside of those outlined below.

If you fall into one of these exception categories, you will need further advice about how these support measures relate to you. Please contact Student Central for advice.

If you meet the criteria, you will be sent a SOLSMail after results are released offering you the opportunity and instructions to convert your grade to Satisfactory. You will have 1-2 weeks following the release of results to apply for a grade conversion. The exact timeframe will be listed in the SOLSmail.

No. Once a grade has been converted to Satisfactory, it cannot be reversed.

Subject grades that are converted to Satisfactory are not included in your overall WAM calculation. Your WAM calculation is based only on subjects where a final mark or grade has been applied.

So, converting a subject grade to Satisfactory (thus removing it from the WAM calculation), then gives greater weight to your other subject grades in calculating your WAM.

Before applying to convert your grade, you can check our online WAM calculator to see what impact a change of grade to Satisfactory will have on your WAM.

You should also consider the number of subjects you choose to convert to Satisfactory. If you are aiming for an award of Distinction, at least 50% of your credit points must be graded with marks and grades. If more than 50% of your credit points are graded as Satisfactory, you will not be eligible for Distinction, regardless of your WAM.

Our online WAM calculator allows you to input your subject results and credit points to calculate your weighted average mark.

Provided you did not fail as a direct result of academic misconduct, and you have made a genuine attempt at the subject, that subject will not appear on your final academic record at all. It will show on your enrolment record as withdrawn, with no mark or grade. You cannot get a refund for a subject that is withdrawn in this way.

You are still entitled to request a review of your mark or grade even though these adjustments are in place. To request a review you must:

1. Contact your Subject Coordinator as soon as possible after results have been released.
2. If you are still dissatisfied with your mark or grade after having received feedback from your Subject Coordinator, you may lodge a formal request for a review with the Head of School within ten (10) working days after results have been released.
3. Under certain circumstances, you may lodge an appeal against the outcome of the formal request.

Request a formal review of a mark or grade

For further information see the Coursework Students Academic Complaints Policy.

Honours students undertaking 400-level or Honours-level subjects during the specific sessions outlined above are not eligible for satisfactory grade adjustments and are required to maintain their marks for those subjects.

Honours students enrolled in non-honours subjects may be eligible to apply for satisfactory grade adjustments. However, this is specific to each faculty and course as some subjects may have accreditation or registration requirements.

Please contact Student Service for information and advice about how these measures relate to you.

UOW's grade changes apply to 2021 subjects* running in Spring Session, Trimester 2, Trimester 3 and other 2021 non-standard sessions.

*Some subjects are not eligible for grade adjustments due to accreditation or registration requirements.

If you have a question that is not answered in these FAQs, please call our Student Service on +61 2 4221 3927 (9:00am - 5:00pm AEST, Monday to Friday), or email askuow@uow.edu.au