Unsatisfactory progress

What does this mean?

If there are signs that you're not meeting the academic standards required at university, your Institute will want to support you to improve. You will likely receive an "Unsatisfactory Progress" letter via email asking you to meet with your Course Coordinator (CC) to discuss an intervention plan. This means the CC will talk to you about what's happening, any personal circumstances that may be impacting your studies and give you advice, support and referrals to help you get back on track. This could include discussing things like taking leave from studies, or reducing your study load.

What do I need to do?

Please click on each of the headings below to expand the section. Prefer all the steps on a single pdf? Click here.

During the meeting, make sure that either you or the CC (or both) takes notes about what was discussed. If the CC takes notes, ask them to email them to you after the meeting and follow up if they don't. This is not a reflection of trust, it's a professional practice that demonstrates that you take the matter seriously and keeps you both accountable for anything that you say you'll do.

Step 1 - Attend the meeting

This is a very important meeting to attend and should be about supporting you to succeed, so please contact your CC to request a meeting time. If you would like a Student Advocate to attend the meeting with you to take notes, please get in touch.

Step 2 - Get everything in writing

During the meeting, make sure that either you or the PC (or both) takes notes about what was discussed. If the PC takes notes, ask them to email them to you after the meeting and follow up if they don't. This is not a reflection of trust, it's a professional practice that demonstrates that you take the matter seriously and keeps you both accountable for anything that you say you'll do.

Step 3 - Follow the plan

The intervention plan is designed to get you back on track - if you don't follow it, there's a chance that your grades won't improve, and this may lead to exclusion or suspension.

How can Student Advocacy help?

We can support you at all point of this process. Some of the things we can do include:

Helping you understand why you received the letter
Discussing some things that you could ask to be put into the intervention plan
Attending meetings with you

Please just make an appointment to discuss this with us.

Please note: If you are an international student, under Australian law, the University is obliged to track your progress and make sure that you are successfully completing your studies. If you do not maintain satisfactory progress your visa will be at risk - please see this webpage for more information.