Skip to content
Talk to a doctor
University of Newcastle logo

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

A real-time consult with a registered Australian doctor. If the doctor signs off, you receive the medical certificate Newcastle asks you to upload.

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. Medical statement. Verified online.
  • Real-time doctor consultation
  • AHPRA-registered doctors
  • Certificate in the format Newcastle requires
  • Verification link
  • Issued the day you're seen
  • All Australian institutions

One flat fee at Newcastle.

Newcastle special consideration

$65.00AUD / consultation

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

  • The medical statement Newcastle asks you to upload, dated, signed and verifiable
  • A medical support letter
  • A real-time call with an AHPRA-registered doctor
  • 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 Newcastle checks. One call covers them.

What Newcastle 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 Newcastle can verify.

  5. 05

    Lodged on time

    No later than the due date and time of the assessment item, with supporting documents uploaded within three calendar days of the online application. If the doctor signs off, the certificate is issued the day you're seen.

Start my consult · $65

Talk to a doctor today.

Why Newcastle 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 Newcastle 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 Newcastle? Start here.

Your next step at Newcastle, 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 Newcastle 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

    I apply through a portal

    Upload the certificate through Adverse Circumstances tile in the myUni portal.

  6. 06

    I'm looking for an exam exemption

    Newcastle handles it through adverse circumstances.

From unwell to lodged at Newcastle

Newcastle'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 Adverse Circumstances tile in the myUni portal

    No later than the due date and time of the assessment item, with supporting documents uploaded within three calendar days of the online application.

  3. 03

    Attach your evidence

    The certificate after a real-time doctor call.

  4. 04

    Keep the verification link

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

Newcastle adverse circumstances: what to upload and the deadline

Newcastle takes the medical certificate on its own, uploaded with your application.

Newcastle policies checked 23 October 2026

Student resting in bed with tissues and a cup of tea beside him
Portal upload. Telehealth not mentioned. Verified online.
  1. 01

    Apply through

    Applications go through Adverse Circumstances tile in the myUni portal.

  2. 02

    The deadline

    No later than the due date and time of the assessment item, with supporting documents uploaded within three calendar days of the online application. See a doctor the day you are unwell, not after the deadline.

  3. 03

    Telehealth

    Newcastle's adverse circumstances pages do not address telehealth or the modality of the consultation. For medical grounds they ask for a letter or medical certificate from an accepted health professional that includes the dates health grounds have impacted your studies.

  4. 04

    What the certificate must state

    The dates that health grounds have impacted on your studies. That it comes from an accepted health professional, named and signed.

  5. 05

    Rules that catch students out

    You can lodge the online application first, with a placeholder in the mandatory upload field, and upload the documents within three calendar days. Email your Course Coordinator to say why the documents are not attached yet. Since 7 March 2025 a short-term extension of three calendar days or less on an assignment, quiz or in-class test listed in Canvas may not need supporting documentation. It depends on the Course Coordinator's settings, and the system tells you when you submit.

One consultation, three Newcastle outcomes

Three outcomes, one application, the same evidence.

Adverse circumstances

Adverse circumstances is Newcastle's process for illness or other events outside your control that affect an assessment item. You lodge it through the Adverse Circumstances tile in the myUni portal.

Extension of time

An extension of time is requested through the Adverse Circumstances portal. Apply no later than the due date and time of the assessment item.

Rescheduled or missed exam

To reschedule a formal exam, lodge the application before the exam. If you sat it and illness affected your performance, tell the Exam Supervisor before you leave and lodge no later than three calendar days after.

After you lodge at Newcastle

When the decision arrives, and what a no means.

How long Newcastle takes

Newcastle emails the outcome to your student email account, usually within three university working days. Applications still waiting after that are escalated to the Head of School.

An application that needs documents is not active until they are uploaded. If they are not uploaded within three calendar days, it is cancelled and you lodge a new one.

If Newcastle says no

The outcome email states the reasons for a decline. Check your reasons and documents against the procedure before deciding what to do next.

You can appeal within three working days of being notified, in writing by email to the Academic Registrar. The Head of School normally replies to your University email within seven working days.

Newcastle special consideration FAQs

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

Start my consult · $65

Does UON accept online medical certificates?

Newcastle's adverse circumstances material does not address telehealth or the modality of the consultation. It asks for a letter or medical certificate from an accepted health professional that includes the dates health grounds have impacted your studies. Silence on modality is not the same as acceptance, so the dates and the impact need to be explicit.

What is the UON adverse circumstances deadline?

For an extension, no later than the due date and time of the assessment item. To reschedule a formal exam, lodge before the exam. Supporting documents follow within three calendar days, and late applications must explain why the deadline could not be met.

What is adverse circumstances at the University of Newcastle?

It is Newcastle's name for the process other universities call special consideration. It covers illness and other events beyond your control that affect an assessment item. Applications are lodged through the Adverse Circumstances tile in the myUni portal.

Do I need a medical certificate for a UON short extension?

Not always. Since 7 March 2025 Newcastle has said you may not need supporting documentation for a short-term extension of three calendar days or less on an assignment, quiz or in-class test. Anything longer, and any exam, still needs evidence.

Can I submit my UON application before I have the medical certificate?

Yes. Lodge the online application, email your Course Coordinator to say you have lodged without documentation and why, then upload the documents through the Adverse Circumstances portal as soon as you have them. Newcastle expects the actual supporting documents within three calendar days of the online application, or the application is cancelled.

Unwell before a Newcastle assessment?

Sorted within the day. A real-time consult with a registered doctor, then the certificate Newcastle asks you to upload.

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

Not at Newcastle? Find your university.

The same consult, with each university's own rules and deadline.

Nearby in New South Wales

Most searched

All 41 universities