Academic progress


All GHE students will be undertaking a new venture in their lives when they commence study at GHE whether that is undertaking postgraduate study for the first time or studying in Australia for the first time.

GHE will engage with every student individually prior to your arrival through the Early Engagement Program to help determine what additional support you may need in your first semester.

Each unit of study in our courses is designed to include formative assessment activities early in the semester so that you can receive early feedback and any knowledge or skill gaps can be identified and addressed.

The academic staff associated with your course are available at designated contact times (see your unit information on the LMS) to discuss any concerns or difficulties that you may have or you may approach members of the Personal Contact Team that you are assigned when you first enrol. Students can also gain from or give support to their peers through the Student Success Network.

While many resources are provided to support you academically and personally we do expect that students enrolled in our postgraduate courses will take responsibility for their own success in learning, which means taking the initiative to reach out and take advantage of the available resources and services when you recognise that you are having difficulty.

Progress difficulties

In addition to Early Engagement programs and other measures GHE will use a range of criteria to identify students who may be in need of additional support. These are outlined in the Academic Progress Policy and its associated Procedure but include criteria such as responses to the Getting Started Questionnaire, poor performance in early assessment tasks, failure to attend classes or to submit assessment.

Students identified as having difficulty at this early stage will be offered additional support. Where students continue to experience difficulty and fail to meet progress thresholds outlined in the Academic Progress Policy and its associated Procedure, they will be advised that they have been identified as not having met academic progress requirements and designated ‘at-risk’. This designation will mean the implementation of special measures to support and monitor students’ progress. Where students do not meet designated progress requirements at this stage they may be asked to ‘show cause’ as to why they should be allowed to continue in their course.


Completion and qualifications

Students are eligible to graduate with their awards when they have met all the rules for course completion and meet a range of other criteria outlined in the Qualifications Issuance and Graduation Policy and its associated Procedure.

Students will be provided with their academic certification on graduation which will include a full academic transcript, an official GHE Testamur, and an Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement.




Important Information for International Students

GHE will undertake to inform students of the following:

a) changes to student visa conditions as advised by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA)

b) changes to the student's enrolment

c) breaches by students of student visa conditions relating to satisfactory academic progress. 

The PRISMS (Provider Registration and International Student Management System) Administrator (the Registrar) has access to the functions in order to report student changes. Student course variations include:

a) student failed to meet course requirements, including those outlined in the GHE Academic Progress Policy and its associated Procedure;
b) student completed course early;
c) student did not commence course;
d) student course cancelled, but provider is still operating; e) student left provider (transferred to a course at another provider);
f) student unable to start course (course suspended);
g) student enrolled in another course (at the same provider); h) student Deferring/Postponing Studies; i) student Notified Cessation of Studies. 

Changes to a student’s course or breaches of visa conditions will be reported to DHA, via the PRISMS system located online at: https://prisms.education.gov.au.

If a student makes any other change to their course/enrolment as listed above, the following procedure applies. Once formally advised of changes by the student and confirmed by the Course Coordinator, the Registrar reports this through the PRISMS system. If a student changes his or her course or enrols for another course with GHE a new Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) is issued. The student is advised to submit the new COE to DHA to advise them of the change of course. A new visa may need to be issued.

Key resources and policies

Academic progress requirements, support for academic progress, and how lack of academic progress is managed

Academic Progress Policy
Academic Progress Procedure 


Support programs and services offered prior to and during your course

Student Wellbeing, Orientation, and Support Policy
Student Wellbeing, Orientation, and Support Procedure 

Design of assessment, student workloads, implementation of assessment, moderation, penalties for late submission, examinations, special consideration, requests for review, grading system

Assessment Policy
Admissions Procedure 

Types of academic certification and how they are issued, eligibility to graduate, arrangements for graduation

Qualifications Issuance and Graduation Policy
Qualifications Issuance and Graduation Procedure