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Sick before an exam at ECU? Get special consideration sorted.

A real-time consult with a registered Australian doctor. If the doctor signs off, you receive the medical certificate and the Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form ECU asks for, completed.

Start my consult · $65

If the doctor signs off, issued the day you're seen

Student at his desk reading over a highlighted textbook
Real-time call. As ECU expects. Verified online.
  • Real-time doctor consultation
  • AHPRA-registered doctors
  • Form and certificate included
  • Verification link
  • Issued the day you're seen
  • All Australian institutions

One flat fee at ECU.

ECU special consideration

$65.00AUD / consultation

The evidence ECU asks a doctor for, from one real-time call. For an exam, an assignment or an extension.

  • ECU's Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form, completed by the doctor, plus a medical certificate
  • A medical support letter
  • A real-time call with an AHPRA-registered doctor, as ECU expects
  • A two-minute form and a preconsult call, so the doctor's call is short
  • Issued the day you're seen, if the doctor signs off

Issued only if the doctor finds it clinically appropriate. If the doctor completes your consult and decides a certificate isn't appropriate, the fee still applies. We refund it only when we can't deliver the consultation.

Start my consult · $65

Five things ECU checks. One call covers them.

What ECU looks for in your evidence, and how the consult answers it.

Student at her desk on the phone to a doctor, laptop and tea beside her
Video or phone. AHPRA signed. Same-day consult.
  1. 01

    A video or phone consult

    Every Doccy consult is a real-time call with an AHPRA-registered doctor.

  2. 02

    That you couldn't sit or finish it

    The doctor records the assessment and the date it falls on.

  3. 03

    When you were seen, and for how long

    Dated the day of your call, covering the days the doctor confirms.

  4. 04

    Who signed it

    Registration and practice details printed, with a link ECU can verify.

  5. 05

    Lodged on time

    Up to 7 calendar days before or after the due date of your final assessment or final examination, and never after unit results are released. If the doctor signs off, the certificate is issued the day you're seen.

Start my consult · $65

Talk to a doctor today.

Why ECU students choose Doccy for special consideration.

Student wrapped up at home, holding a cup of tea
From bed, today. AHPRA signed. 24/7 access.
  1. 01

    Seen from bed, the same day

    No waiting room. A doctor calls you, and if they sign off, the certificate is issued the day you're seen.

  2. 02

    The history is taken before the doctor calls

    A two-minute form and a preconsult call collect your dates and symptoms, so the doctor's call is short.

  3. 03

    Evidence ECU can check

    Signed by an AHPRA-registered doctor, with a verification link on every certificate.

  4. 04

    One price, shown before you start

    One flat fee for the consult and everything it issues. Nothing added at checkout.

Too unwell for an exam or assignment at ECU? Start here.

Your next step at ECU, and what to tell the doctor.

  1. 01

    My exam is today or tomorrow

    See a doctor before it starts and tell them the exam date.

  2. 02

    I've already missed my exam

    Tell ECU now, then see a doctor today.

  3. 03

    I'm too unwell to finish an assignment

    Tell the doctor the due date and when you fell ill.

  4. 04

    I became unwell during the exam

    Tell the invigilator at the time, then see a doctor the same day.

  5. 05

    ECU needs its own form

    The doctor completes the Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form on the call. Have your assessment details ready.

  6. 06

    I'm looking for an exam exemption

    ECU handles it through special consideration / withdrawal without penalty.

From unwell to lodged at ECU

ECU's process, in the order it happens.

  1. 01

    See a doctor while unwell

    A real-time special consideration consult. Tell the doctor the exam or due date; the certificate covers those dates.

  2. 02

    Apply through In writing to your Unit Coordinator

    Up to 7 calendar days before or after the due date of your final assessment or final examination, and never after unit results are released.

  3. 03

    Attach your evidence

    The Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form completed by the doctor, plus the medical certificate.

  4. 04

    Keep the verification link

    ECU may contact the practice to confirm the consultation. The link on each document answers that.

ECU special consideration form and deadline

The doctor completes ECU's Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form on the call. You lodge it with your application.

ECU policies checked 26 August 2026

Student resting in bed with tissues and a cup of tea beside him
Doctor form. Real-time consult. Verified online.
  1. 01

    The form

    Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form. The doctor completes it on the call.

  2. 02

    The deadline

    Up to 7 calendar days before or after the due date of your final assessment or final examination, and never after unit results are released. See a doctor the day you are unwell, not after the deadline.

  3. 03

    Telehealth

    ECU does not accept certificates from online medical services unless a face-to-face or telehealth consultation has occurred and can be evidenced. Its special consideration page also excludes online instant medical certificate providers.

  4. 04

    What the certificate must state

    The doctor's name, address and registration or provider number, following the AMA guidelines. The date you were examined, the date of issue and the dates you were unfit to attend.

  5. 05

    Rules that catch students out

    ECU's form is completed by the practitioner, not by you. ECU encourages every student to submit it, so give it to the doctor before the consultation. The census date questions are the heart of the form. A certificate that only covers the day you were unwell will not answer whether the condition pre-dated census or worsened afterwards.

One consultation, two ECU outcomes

Two outcomes, one application, the same evidence.

Special consideration

Special consideration covers an assessment task or exam affected by unexpected illness or circumstances outside your control. ECU asks for verifiable evidence of a substantially detrimental effect on your ability to study for or sit the task.

Deferred or supplementary examination

If illness stops you sitting a final exam, ECU can consider a deferred sit. The evidence needs to cover the exam date itself and state when you are fit to resume study, so the exam can be rescheduled sensibly.

After you lodge at ECU

When the decision arrives, and what a no means.

How long ECU takes

Your Unit Coordinator assesses the application and makes a recommendation to the School Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning). The Associate Dean decides whether consideration is granted and what form it takes.

The relevant Unit Coordinator tells you the decision.

If ECU says no

ECU states that the Associate Dean's decision on special consideration is final.

ECU special consideration FAQs

Deadlines, portals and evidence rules at ECU, from its published policy. How special consideration works at every university

Start my consult · $65

Does ECU accept online medical certificates?

Only with conditions. ECU does not accept certificates from online medical services unless a face-to-face or telehealth consultation has occurred and can be evidenced. Certificates from online instant certificate providers are excluded.

How do I apply for ECU special consideration?

Write to your Unit Coordinator within 7 calendar days of the due date of your final assessment or exam, with the Medical or Health Professional Assessment Form attached. The form is completed by your practitioner, not by you.

What is ECU withdrawal without penalty?

It removes units from your record without the academic or financial penalty when circumstances beyond your control stop you completing them. ECU's practitioner form asks specifically whether the condition was ongoing before the census date and whether full, partial or no withdrawal is supported.

What is the ECU special consideration deadline?

Up to seven calendar days before or after the due date of your final assessment or final exam. A later application is considered only if exceptional circumstances also stopped you applying in time, and never after unit results are released.

What does ECU's health professional form ask the doctor?

The date they began treating you, whether the condition was ongoing before census, whether it worsened, the date you are fit to resume study, whether full, partial or no withdrawal is supported, and the basis of their assessment.

Unwell before an ECU assessment?

Sorted within the day. A real-time consult with a registered doctor, then the certificate and the Medical / Health Professional Assessment Form ECU asks for.

Start my consult · $65
Student smiling at his phone after a Doccy consult
Australian registered doctors. Real-time consultation. Verification link provided.

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