Deferring, withdrawing or taking leave

UTS College holiday breaks

If you’re a diploma or graduate certificate student, you’ll get some time off for a holiday after each exam period. Holidays aren’t permitted during the semester.

If you’re a UTS Foundation Studies student, you’ll get a break after completing each semester of study. Holidays aren’t permitted during the semester.

English language leave

If you’re an English language student, you can apply for 10-weeks of leave when you’ve completed 20-weeks of continuous study. Your 10-week leave period needs to coincide with the start of a 10-week English Language Teaching (ELT) term. You must request permission to take this leave..

Check out the Academic Calendar page for holiday break dates.

Homestay

If you’re a student under 18 years of age living in UTS approved accommodation and wish to travel during the recognised holiday periods, please discuss your plans with the UTS College Accommodation Team.

Working during the holidays

From 1 July 2023, if you are an international student, you s are entitled to work up to 48 hours every two weeks while your program is in session. Check the Department of Home Affairs website for further information.

Leave of absence

If you’re a full-time English language student, there may be some circumstance where you need to take a Leave of Absence. This may be because you need to return to your home country or have an issue where you are unable to continue studying, and therefore a break from your studies is necessary.

Eligibility

Only full-time English language students who have completed 20-weeks of continuous study are eligible for a Leave of Absence.

Your leave request will only be considered if:

• Overall and during the current term, your attendance has been over 80%,
• You’re on track to reach the required level of English to progress to your diploma or degree studies, and
• A break is deemed to be in your best interest.

How to apply, deadlines

To apply for a Leave of Absence, please contact your English program Student Success Adviser for help or contact AdvisersEnglishLanguage@utscollege.edu.au. You will need to complete an Application for Leave for English Students form.

Leave application form for English students.   

Student visa impact

Depending on how long your break is, your student visa may be impacted. Please seek advice from the Department of Home Affairs on the potential impact on your visa if you take leave.

Deferral is when you postpone enrolment or re-enrolment in your program for one semester. You may defer or suspend your studies for a variety of reasons.

Eligibility

You have the option to defer your program for a semester if there are compassionate or compelling reasons. As an academic student, you must apply before Census Day (which is Friday of week-4 of each semester).

How to defer, deadlines

If you need to defer your studies, you must first contact a Student Success Adviser. You can then submit an Application to Defer form to the Student Centre. Please submit your form two weeks before you wish to start your leave.

Grounds for deferral or suspension:
You may apply to defer or suspend you studies on the grounds of compassionate or compelling circumstances.

‘Compassionate or compelling’ circumstances are generally circumstances beyond your control which affect your course progress or wellbeing. Some examples include:

• Serious illness or injury, where a medical certificate states that you weren’t able to attend classes,
• Bereavement of close family members such as parents or grandparents (a death certificate should be provided, where possible),
• Major political upheaval or natural disaster in your home country requiring emergency travel,
• Where the registered provider couldn’t offer a prerequisite unit, or you have failed a prerequisite unit and are now only eligible to enrol in a limited number of relevant units,
• A traumatic experience, which could include:
  • being involved in, or witnessing a serious accident, or
  • witnessing or being the victim of a serious crime which has affected your mental or physical wellbeing (supported by police or psychologists’ reports).

 

UTS College can also defer or suspend your studies. Reasons include:

• Compassionate or compelling circumstances (as above),
• You’re under 18 years of age and refuse to maintain approved care arrangements,
• You are missing,
• You have medical concerns, severe depression, or other psychological issues which lead to concern for your wellbeing,
• You’ve engaged or threaten to engage in behaviour reasonably believed to endanger yourself or others; or
• You’re at risk of committing a criminal offence,
• You’re found to have committed academic or non-academic misconduct,
• You haven’t paid the required fees.

 

It’s important that you only interrupt your studies when you have approval. If you take leave without approval your name will still appear on the class list. This means you’ll be marked absent for the time you’re away. If you’re an international student, this will affect your attendance, student visa, and fees. Scholarship holders need written permission from their government before a leave application can be considered. Please refer to Department of Home Affairs regulations for more about your visa conditions. Depending how long your break is, your visa may be cancelled. If this happens, you’ll need to apply for a new visa.

Student visa impact 

If you hold a student visa, you’ll need to extend it to cover your deferral or suspension. Please seek advice from the Department of Home Affairs on the potential impact on your visa if your enrolment has been deferred.

Grounds for withdrawal

Grounds for withdrawal : 

You are an international student and

• You’re no longer interested in studying, or your personal and/or financial circumstances prevent you from continuing with your studies,
• You’ve been granted a release by your principal education provider (UTS for students enrolled in package courses where your visa covers both UTS College and UTS courses) to transfer to a course offered by another provider,
• You’re a domestic student who has decided to leave your course for personal or financial reasons, or you wish to enrol in a course offered by another education provider.

 

See Withdraw or Transfer (Full-Time-English) Application Australia. 

How to withdraw 

If you wish to withdraw, you’re subject to the UTS College terms and conditions contained in your offer letter. For more about this, please contact the Student Centre. 

If you withdraw, you’ll need to return your student ID card, pay any outstanding fees including library fines, and return all library resources to the library.

Domestic students  

As a domestic student, you’ll need to complete an Application to Withdraw (Domestic Student) form. Whether or not you’re using FEE-HELP, you can withdraw from your studies by notifying the Student Centre in writing on or before the census date. If you withdraw after the census date, academic and financial penalties will apply to any subjects you’ve enrolled in for the semester.

International students withdrawing to return home  

Your first step is to contact a Student Success Adviser before submitting the Application to Withdraw (International Students) form. If you’re a full-time English student, you’ll need to complete the Application to Withdraw / Transfer (Full Time English Courses) form. Please seek advice from the Department of Home Affairs about the potential impact on your visa if your enrolment has been suspended or cancelled.

International students withdrawing to study with another educational provider in Australia

You’ll need to apply for Release with a valid offer letter from the new provider. Please contact the  Student Centre before submitting the Application to Transfer to Another Provider (International Students) form.

If you’re an international student, Department of Home Affairs regulations require UTS College approval if you intend to enrol at another institution after withdrawing from UTS College. There’s more information about this (Regulation 8206 Change of Provider) on the Department of Home Affairs website.

Department of Home Affairs regulations don’t usually permit you to change to a program of a lower Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) level. This is important because failure to comply with immigration rules will lead to cancellation of your student visa. This may result in you returning overseas.

If you’re an international student, there are some situations where you may be required to return overseas after withdrawing. Where approval to withdraw is granted, UTS College is required to advise the Department of Home Affairs of this change in your enrolment status. If you hold a UTS package visa you’ll also need to contact the UTS International Office (Level 3A of the UTS Tower Building) to advise them of the changes to your study plans.

Cancellation of enrolment

Grounds for cancellation of your enrolment:

• Your deferral or suspension is for reasons other than compassionate and compelling circumstances,
• The compassionate or compelling circumstances which warranted the deferral or suspension of studies cease to exist,
• Fraudulent documents provided to UTS College,
• You have committed serious academic or non-academic misconduct.

 

Refunds, release policies

In some situations, UTS College will refund tuition fees. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions attached to your offer letter. For further details please check the Refund Policy. 

UTS College doesn’t consider requests to transfer to another institution while you have outstanding fees. There’s more about this in the International Student Transfer Request Assessment Policy.

Student visa impact 

If you withdraw from UTS College, the Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) attached to your Student Visa will be cancelled. Please seek advice from the Department of Home Affairs on how this may affect the status of your visa.

Please read the Deferring or Cancelling Student Enrolment policy if you plan to defer or cancel your enrolment.

Your first step is always to contact a Student Success Adviser.