• Section 1 - Introduction
• Section 2 - General Information
• What is a grade of “Interim Fail” (NF) and when is it awarded?
• What form does a Supplementary Assessment take?
• When will the Supplementary Assessment be conducted?
• What procedures will be followed?
• What grade do Students get if they pass the Supplementary Assessment?
• What if a Student fails the Supplementary Assessment?
• What if a Student is unable to complete the Supplementary Assessment?
• What is the Student’s responsibility if they are offered Supplementary Assessment?
• Section 3 - Review
• Section 4 - Associated Information

Section 1 - Introduction

(1) Supplementary assessment is provided to support students' learning, their development, and to aid their course progression and completion. It applies to eligible students for the duration of their course of study. Supplementary assessment is not a re-assessment of the student’s overall grade, or the mark for an individual assessment item, or a deferred assessment. It consists of a new item (or items) of assessment designed to give students an additional (i.e. supplementary) opportunity to demonstrate their satisfactory attainment of specific learning outcomes as specified for the unit.

Section 2 - General Information

What is a grade of “Interim Fail” (NF) and when is it awarded?

(2) If a student receives a result in the range 45% to 49% in a unit they may, after consideration of the achievement of all learning outcomes for that unit, initially receive an ‘Interim Fail’ (NF) grade for that unit. An NF grade indicates that the student may be eligible for a supplementary assessment for that unit, if they meet the eligibility criteria below:

1. The course rules do not preclude Supplementary Assessment;
2. the unit is not a professional experience or community engagement unit;
3. the student has satisfied any compulsory attendance requirements for the unit; and
4. the student has passed any applicable hurdle task, as required under the Assessment Policy.
5. A student will be offered only one supplementary assessment in one unit per semester (or study period) regardless of whether the student is studying full-time or part-time (i.e. regardless of the total number of units studied in the semester or study period). Students must pass all other units of study in that semester or study period. A student with more than one NF grade will not be eligible for a supplementary assessment.

(3) Note: 

1. This means part-time students can have more supplementary assessment opportunities as a proportion of units studied than full-time students. This is both supportive of students' course progression and completion. It is also more administratively convenient for ACU than managing a process across semesters.
2. If a student receives the grade of NF in only one unit in a study period this will be identified in a report provided by Student Systems to the relevant Lecturer in Charge (LIC).
3. Where not all results are available at result release date, eligibility should be determined based on the results that are available.

What form does a Supplementary Assessment take?

(4) A supplementary assessment is an additional and new assessment task or tasks. A supplementary task is specifically designed and targeted to assess learning outcome/s in which the student has not sufficiently demonstrated achievement in one or more of the assessment tasks for the unit. Provided it meets these parameters, the form of the assessment is at the discretion of the LIC. Supplementary assessment can therefore take many forms – it will not always be appropriate for it to be a written examination. If the student is eligible, the LIC will set the task(s) and will advise the student of the form the supplementary assessment will take.

When will the Supplementary Assessment be conducted?

(5) Supplementary assessment will overlap with the deferred examination period, but will not commence until 6 days following the release of results for that semester (or study period).

What procedures will be followed?

(6) The LIC will:

1. Ensure that the student’s grade has been entered into 'Student Connect' as an “NF”;
2. determine if the student is eligible for supplementary assessment by:
   1. checking requirements (as in clauses (2) and (3) above) and,
   2. checking the report provided by Student Systems (identifying students with only one NF grade for that study period).
3. Set new assessment task(s) that are appropriate to each student and that will assess the learning outcomes for which additional evidence is required.
4. Notify a student of the supplementary assessment task/s, normally within three working days of the release date of results for the semester (study period), including details of the supplementary assessment task/s, day, date, time and location. Where there is a delay in the release of results a notification should be sent as soon as practicable.
5. Assess the supplementary assessment task.
6. After the assessment convert the NF interim grade to either a Pass (PA) grade with a mark of 50 or Fail (NN) final grade with no change of mark. The LIC will update the result in the Results Entry module in Student Connect within 10 working days of the student completing the supplementary assessment task/s. If no final result grade has been assigned to the unit by the end of third week of the following semester, or after 60 days in the case of a non-standard study period, it will automatically roll to a Fail (NN).
7. Notify the National Lecturer in Charge (NLIC) (if applicable) of the outcomes.

What grade do Students get if they pass the Supplementary Assessment?

(7) If a student passes the supplementary assessment, the highest mark they can achieve is 50%.

What if a Student fails the Supplementary Assessment?

(8) If a student fails the supplementary assessment, the NF grade will be converted to a 'Fail' (NN) grade.

What if a Student is unable to complete the Supplementary Assessment?

(9) If a student is (or was) unable to complete their scheduled supplementary assessment and the reason is due to exceptional circumstances, that student should apply for Special Consideration (see clause (22) of the Assessment Procedure). This Special Consideration will only apply to the supplementary assessment task/s.

(10) If no final result grade has been assigned to the unit by the end of third week of the next semester it will automatically roll to a Fail (NN).

What is the Student’s responsibility if they are offered Supplementary Assessment?

(11) When offered supplementary assessment, the student must advise the LIC if they will (or will not) accept the offer within three calendar days of the offer.

(12) If a student chooses not to accept the offer of supplementary assessment, or later fails to complete a supplementary assessment that was offered and accepted, the NF grade will be converted to a ‘Fail’ (NN) grade.

Section 3 - Review

(13) Unless otherwise indicated, this policy will still apply beyond the review date.

Section 4 - Associated Information

(14) For related legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines and any supporting resources please refer to the
Associated Information tab