Apply for credit/exemption

If you have previous studies relevant to your current program, you can request to receive course credit or an exemption based on your prior learning. The amount of credit is in accordance with the Recognition of prior and external learning policy.

What is the difference between ANU credit and exemption?

An ANU credit means you receive units towards completing your program at ANU, thus reducing the number of courses you need to complete your program. Please note prior learning cannot be used for credit again if it has already been used for credit towards another completed degree at ANU or at a different university.

An ANU exemption is an alternative option at ANU that you can use prior to your study to exempt you from a prerequisite. However it does not provide credit towards your program.

Are there time limits on the eligibility of prior learning for credit and exemptions?

Yes. Prior learning must have occurred within ten years (for credit towards undergraduate degrees) or seven years (for credit towards postgraduate degrees) before the first day of the first session that follows acceptance of the offer to the program.

1: Check Your Eligibility

  1. You must be active (matriculated) in an undergraduate or postgraduate program at the ANU College of Business & Economics. Please make sure that you have accepted your offer before you submit your application. 
  2. Submit your application by Friday 16 February for Semester 1, 2024 or Friday 19 July for Semester 2, 2024*. Please submit your credit/exemption application only when your program is activated.
  3. All credit decisions will be made in accordance with the ANU Coursework Award Rules 2020. Please refer to section 3.1 of the Rules for information on time limits for applying credit, maximum credit allowances, etc. 

* You can submit an application for course credit and exemption at any time. However, please make sure to submit your application by the above application deadline so that you can adjust your enrolment by the enrolment deadline (Monday of Week 2 each semester). Please note that it can take up to four weeks (20 working days) for an outcome of your application, which may influence your enrolment choices for the semester but unfortunately, you will not be able to add or swap any course after Monday of Week 2.

2: Apply

To be considered for external credit or exemptions you must submit a  complete application form. A complete application means all of the following documents are included and submitted before the deadline.

For those who have recently transfer programs and wish to apply for internal credit transfer, please contact info.cbe@anu.edu.au. No application is required.

  • An official transcript (scanned in colour, not required if courses were completed at ANU)
  • If your previous study was not at ANU you will need to submit course outlines from your previous institution/s. The course outlines can either be the web links or colour scanned copies of official course outlines/syllabus' including:
    • Detailed course description (course outline)
    • Detailed list of topics covered
    • Prescribed textbook and other required reading
    • Prerequisites including the outlines or descriptions of those prerequisite courses
    • Contact hours
    • Assessment types
    • The ANU course code which you believe this course qualifies you for (for example, you would like to apply for credit from FINM7006 on the basis of you having completed [insert course] in your prior studies)

Please note: we are not able to accept unofficial documents, such as information copied from a website and pasted into a word document. 

If documents are written in a language other than English, the document must be accompanied by an official and complete English translation. The College will only accept documents translated by a certified translator from the National Accreditation Authority for Translators & Interpreters (NAATI).

All documents written in a language other than English must be provided in their original language, and also translated into English.

The outcome of your application will only be sent to your ANU email account. We aim to respond to all applications submitted before the application deadlines within 20 working days.

Please note: many external (non-ANU) applications need to be assessed by the appropriate course convenors and this timeframe may be extended in some cases.

Cancellation of credit/exemption

Credit/exemption that has been granted and recorded on a student's transcript may only be cancelled if there is a pedagogical reason to do so. To request to cancel credit that has already been approved, you must lodge an appeal online, outlining the academic reasons for which approved credit should be cancelled.

The College will consider your request and advise you of the outcome within 20 working days of receiving the request.