Advice & advocacy

Academic progress and exclusion

Any student who has:

1. “completed at least two semesters of candidature and, in the period commencing in December of the previous year, passed less than 50% of the student's enrolment;

2. failed the same compulsory unit twice, or

3. failed to comply with any terms or conditions imposed by the faculty board or by an academic progress committee of the faculty;”

will be referred to a faculty Academic Progress Committee (“APC”). Statute 6.2 of the University Statutes deals with exclusion for unsatisfactory progress.

The process is explained in detail here.

The MPA Advocate will assist any student who receives an Early Warning Letter, Notice of Referral or Notice of Decision, by guiding each student through the process. This involves writing a letter of advice to the student outlining their options, conducting an interview to discuss the salient points of each case and advising on what aspects the APC should be addressed. A letter of APC decision is sent to each student after the conclusion of the process. In most cases the Advocate writes detailed submissions on behalf of students which are sent to each APC in advance of hearings. The Advocate then attends the hearing with the student if required.

It is vital that students receive support during this sometimes frightening process. Facing exclusion is a difficult predicament to be in and MPA staff treats the matter very seriously and approach it with a pastoral care attitude. This can be seen from the testimonials page.

Back to top