Deferment Policy And Procedure

Students are informed during orientation that NATC considers requests from students for course deferment on compassionate grounds. If the student is below 18 years of age, the parent or guardian’s approval for the deferment will be required.

Deferment refers to the situation in which the student delays or postpones the course (or unit).

There must be a good reason deemed acceptable to NATC, and the course must be on-going such that by the time the student returns at the end of the deferment period, he is still able to study all the required units and successfully complete the requirements for graduation. Acceptable reasons may include:

• family members who are very sick or dying where the student’s presence at home is required
• traumatic family circumstances (e.g. death of a parent in an accident) where the family needs to be together to support each other
• sickness or poor health where the student needs to have an extended period of rest

For deferment requests, the service target is to assess and reply to the student’s deferment request within 7 working days.

The process for requesting for a course deferment is as follows:

• Students are required to fill up the Student Request Form, giving the reason for their request and providing relevant documents (if available).
• The Principal will consider the request and may consult with his/her Academic Manager or other relevant staff as appropriate. The Principal will then reply to the student on whether the request has been accepted, either directly or through her staff.
• Should deferment be approved, the student will receive a Letter stating the deferment has been approved and the expected date of the student’s return to the School will also be clearly spelt out.

Where a deferment is allowed:

• all supervisory processes are suspended. The student does not undertake any 
academic work and is considered to be ‘inactive’
• no course fees will be charged during the deferment period.
• the length of time of the deferment is not included in the time period for 
completion of the program and any deadlines will be adjusted accordingly.