AFTER ATAR – A Glossary of University Terms


Census Date: The last date you can withdraw from a subject, without it going on your academic transcript or on your HECS debt

Swotvac: The time between the end of the semester and the beginning of the exam period in which you revise and review material for the upcoming exams.

HECS Debt: The debt you incur when you delay the paying of fees for university subjects

Special/Supplementary Exams: Exams held after the normal exam period. Sat by students who due to illness or other extenuating circumstances could sit the normal exams.

Lecture Capture: Recordings of lectures which can be viewed online

SSAF (Melbourne Uni. Specific): Fee paid each semester on top of the regular subject payments. Covers the operation of clubs, the student’s union and the university theatre group.

Jaffy (Melbourne Uni. Specific): Term for a first year, usually used in a derogatory sense. Acronym for: Just Another F###ing First Year.

WAM: Weighed Average Mark, an average of all your subject grades out of 100.

GPA: Grade Point Average

Academic Transcript: a Formal document which serves as a record of your results

LMS: Learning Management System. An online system which allows access to all assessments and materials for a subject.

Moodle (See LMS – different systems are used at different universities)

Student Number: a Unique number that you will use to identify yourself on exams and assignments.

Commonwealth Supported Place: A higher education place (to a degree) for which the federal government makes a contribution. While the overwhelming majority of undergraduates places are supported there are only a limited number of such places in some graduate degrees.


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