Defer or change your course

Defer your studies

If you decide to delay your course commencement date, you have the option to apply to defer your studies.

Generally, Monash allows deferment of study up to a maximum of twelve months, or longer in exceptional circumstances. Please refer to Monash deferment policy for details.

If you request to defer your course commencement for more than 12 months, you may be required to submit a new application, in which case you will be required to provide us with details of additional studies or work activities undertaken during the deferment period.

Deferment approval is subject to the course availability in the next / future intake and your reason(s) to defer. Your deferment request will not be granted automatically; it needs to be assessed and approved. If your deferment request is approved, you will receive a new offer letter with the new start date.

If you are an international student under a student visa, when submitting a deferral request, you are required to provide us with reasons for the deferral request and evidence to support your claim (when applicable). Your visa however would not be cancelled if the deferral is for compassionate or compelling reasons. ‘Compassionate or compelling’ circumstances are generally those beyond your control and which have an impact upon your course progress or wellbeing.

Please note, some courses may not be deferred. To find out if your course could or could not be deferred, you may contact Monash Connect for advice before applying.

University reserves the right to reject the request for deferral of an offer if the places in the course for the deferred intake are already fully subscribed at the time the deferral request is made.

Also note that not all scholarships / study grant can be deferred. If you’re a scholarship / study grant holder, you should also check the conditions of your scholarship / study grant before you apply for deferment.

If evidence of your English proficiency has expired before the new deferred intake, you will be required to provide us with new evidence, such as a new Monash approved English proficiency test results, and meet the new English requirement that prevails for the new intake.

THE PROCESS

• To defer your course, you need to complete the Deferment Request Form.
• You can apply for deferment up to the census date.
• If you’ve enrolled, to defer your course you need to withdraw from all of your currently enrolled units in the Web Enrolment System (WES).
• You need to return completed and signed Deferment Request Form and submit it along with your reasons to defer (and the supporting document if any) to mu.documents@monash.edu.
• If your deferral request is approved and you’re given a new offer, you need to accept your new offer to secure your place in the course.

To note, after census date you won’t be able to defer your course. So, if you don’t want to continue your studies this semester and want to resume your studies at later date, after the census date you need to apply for intermission. Just keep in mind that if you withdraw from units after the census date, you may incur financial and academic penalties. See intermission (study leave) for more information.

Change your course preference

If you want to change your course preference, please complete the defer or change of course preference form and return it to mu.documents@monash.edu.