Advanced Standing
Policy
This policy is underpinned by University statutes 5.4 and 11.1 and should be interpreted with reference to these documents.
Prospective students are entitled to receive advice about the number of credit points and type of advanced standing they may be granted if they were to enrol in a degree at the University of Melbourne.
Enrolling students, having disclosed their previous tertiary studies as part of the application process, will be formally advised about advanced standing and invited to provide any further details required to properly evaluate their previous studies.
Current students enrolling in an approved exchange or study abroad program, or course of complementary study at another institution may receive advanced standing for these studies.
The type of advanced standing to be awarded is determined primarily according to the characteristics of subjects, the requirements of the relevant degree and, to a lesser extent, the preferences of enrolling students.
Advanced standing will only be awarded for approved completed subjects.
If a subject or subjects completed at another institution are judged not to be equivalent to a complete subject offered at the University of Melbourne advanced standing will not be awarded for part of that subject.
Enrolling students may be awarded exemption from completing certain subjects that are prerequisites for other subjects without being awarded advanced standing points towards their degree. For example, a native speaker of a particular language may be permitted entry to studies in that language at level 2 without being awarded advanced standing points for any level 1 subject(s). Such a student would be required to complete the same number of points for their course as any other student with no advanced standing.
Notwithstanding the extent of relevant studies completed prior to enrolment in a degree, a student must complete a minimum amount of study at specified year levels as an enrolled student at the University of Melbourne in order to be awarded a degree at this institution, resulting in maximum amounts of advanced standing that will be granted for each course or subject level.
Evaluation of an application for advanced standing involves consideration of the time elapsed since the completion of the subjects for which advanced standing is being sought. Advanced standing may be refused on the basis that the content of a subject has become out of date, even if it would once have been considered equivalent to a subject offered at this University. Normally advanced standing will not be approved for subjects taken more than ten years prior to admission to the relevant course.
Evaluation of applications for advanced standing are normally based on the assumption that students have retained sufficient knowledge of their previous studies to progress to more advanced studies. Where doubts exist (e.g. for studies completed some time prior to admission) students seeking advanced standing may be required to demonstrate their competence.
Subject to limitations on the amount and type of advanced standing available to an enrolling student, the University may establish agreements with partner institutions (such as Asian Polytechnic institutions) specifying advanced standing that will be awarded to students articulating from certain courses offered at these institutions. An example of such an agreement exists between Australian Group of Eight Universities, which have agreed to acknowledge the equivalent standing of subjects taught at each of these institutions, in order to expedite evaluation of advanced standing for transferring students.