Up until December 31, 2024, students are not required to submit a doctor’s note or an Attending Physician’s Statement in support of requests for petitions.Between January 1, 2025 to August 31, 2025, students will not need to submit an Attending Physician’s Statement as part of a deferral request except for final examinations.
If you haven’t already done so, we strongly encourage you to connect with your course instructor(s) first to make other arrangements to complete outstanding work, as a petition may not be necessary.
Summary
A petition is a written request for the waiver of a Faculty's academic regulation or deadline. Before initiating a petition, you are advised to review University and Faculty rules and regulations in the Undergraduate Calendars and Financial Petition.
If you experience extremely difficult circumstances (e.g. death of an immediate family member or serious documented medical problems), which lead you to drop your courses after a refund deadline, you may request a credit/refund of your course fees by appending a Financial Petition as part of your academic petition package submission. Financial Petitions are adjudicated by Student Financial Services, not by Faculty petitions committees.
Who is this page for?
The information on this page applies only to undergraduate students in the following:
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change
- Faculty of Science
- School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Students in other Faculties should refer to the following locations:
- Faculty of Health: Faculty of Health Academic Petitions website or email hhpet@yorku.ca
- Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Academic Petitions website
- Faculty of Graduate Studies: Faculty of Graduate Studies Academic Petitions and Appeals website
- Glendon College: visit the Office of Student Programs, C105 York Hall, Glendon campus, or the Glendon website
- Lassonde School of Engineering: Lassonde School of Engineering Petitions website, or visit the Student Welcome and Support Centre, 105 Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, 11 Arboretum Lane, 416-650-8215, or email ask@lassonde.yorku.ca
- Osgoode Hall Law School: visit Student Services, Osgoode Hall Law School, Ignat Kaneff Building
- Schulich School of Business: Schulich School of Business Academic Petitions website
You must ensure that all required petition documents are submitted at the same time in one package. Incomplete petitions will be cancelled and the documents will be returned to the local mailing address currently on your record within the Student Information System. Make sure we have your current contact information in the Student Web Services module.
To initiate a petition, you must submit the following forms/information:
- A completed copy of the Undergraduate Academic Petition
- A typed Petition Statement Letter with content organized under two headings:
- Regulation(s) being petitioned: clearly indicated the regulation(s) from which you are seeking exemption.
- Circumstances or grounds for the petition: explain in detail all the circumstances and problems which prompted your petition request. If you are requesting to drop some but not all of your courses, explain why.
- Any relevant supporting documentation or forms. In the next section, you will see a chart of frequently-petitioned regulations and deadlines, along with the required supporting documentation for each type.
Submit original documents only. Photocopies are not acceptable. You must keep a copy of your petition and any documents you submit with your petition.
| If your home Faculty is... | Submit your petition to... |
|---|---|
| Faculty of Science | ropet@yorku.ca |
| Faculty of Education | osp@edu.yorku.ca |
| Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change | eucadvise@yorku.ca |
| Glendon College | acadservices@glendon.yorku.ca |
| School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design | ropet@yorku.ca |
| Regulation / Deadline | Example | Required Forms (in addition to the Academic Petition Form and Petition Letter) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Standing Regulation Waived | Waive a debarment Waive a required withdrawal Waive Honours standing |
Supporting documentation | Petitions of required withdrawal or debarment should be submitted in the year of the academic decision, and no later than October 31. |
| Add Course(s) Past The Published Deadline(s) | Petition to Enrol Late Form and Course Performance Summary (for students in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design and Faculty of Science) |
If you are want to enrol after the deadline but before the end of November for Term F and Term Y courses or before the end of February for Term W courses, ask the course department for a Request to Enrol Late Form. This may prevent a formal petition. | |
| Course Overload | Enrol in more than the maximum number of credits allowed in an academic session | A proposed timetable that shows the course ID numbers, times and dates of the courses you want to take | Read important Faculty-specific enrolment reminders in your Enrolment Guide. |
| Deferred Standing | If you want to write an exam at a different time, or submit outstanding term work past the deadline, you should first try to arrange deferred standing agreement with your instructor. If your deferred standing request is denied, then you can submit a formal petition. | Course Performance Summary (not required for requests made to the Faculty of Science) and a copy of the denied Final Exam / Assignment Deferred Standing Agreement form |
The Petitions Committee assumes you will continue to complete unfinished course work in anticipation of their decision. If your petition is granted, the deadline you are given to submit your course work will reflect this assumption. |
| Degree Requirements Waived or Altered | Relevant supporting documentation | ||
| Drop Course(s) From the Transcript | Course Performance Summary | See also Financial Petitions below. | |
| Exemption from the Deadline to Submit a Request for a Grade Reappraisal | Course Performance Summary | ||
| Exemption from the Deadline to Submit a Petition for Deferred Standing | Course Performance Summary | ||
| Re-entry to the Faculty of Education | Relevant supporting documentation | ||
| Request for a Second Stop-Out Year in the Faculty of Education | Relevant supporting documentation |
Note: Your Faculty may have additional rules about submission deadlines. Check with your academic program's advising office for details.
Normally, your petition must be submitted no later than three weeks following the development of the circumstances that prompt the petition.
Petitions for Late Withdrawal from a Course will only be considered within 30 days of the last day of classes of the relevant course. These petitions may be considered for a period of up to one year if they are based on special circumstances, but only if you submit your petition as soon as possible following the 30-day submission deadline, and the documentation justifies the delay to the point of submission.
Petitions for Deferred Standing are subject to the deadlines stated in the Deferred Standing (Final Exams and Assignments) section of this website.
The above timeframes ensure sufficient time for consideration by the Faculty Petitions Committee. Should a petition submission be delayed due to extenuating circumstances and/or the late completion of a Course Performance Summary by a course director/instructor or departmental representative, you may submit your complete petitions package after the above timeframes, however, the petition letter must include a request for late consideration. Details and supporting documentation must be provided. There are no guarantees that any petition will be resolved in time for course enrolment in a subsequent academic session, thus, you should plan accordingly.
Students are notified of the Petition Committee's decision by other email or postal mail, to the local address on the student's record. Be sure your mailing address is current on the Student Web Services module. Under normal circumstances, the petition process takes between two and eight weeks, based on the type of petition submitted and the time of year. If your petition is denied, information about appeal procedures will accompany the decision letter.
Incomplete petitions will not be processed.
You must ensure that all petition documents are submitted at the same time in one package. Incomplete petitions will be cancelled and the documents will be returned to the local mailing address currently on your York record.
Be sure York has your current contact information on the Student Web Services module.
| Document Name | Description | Download Link |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate Academic Petition Information |
Read this first as it identifies all the documents that need to be included in your petition. |
|
| Undergraduate Academic Petition | This MANDATORY form must be accompanied by a typed Petition Letter (also MANDATORY) identifying the regulation you are petitioning and giving details of the circumstances/reasons for your petition. | Download the Undergraduate Academic Petition |
| Course Performance Summary | This form helps your course instructor summarize your academic standing in the course(s) involved in your petition. | Download the Course Performance Summary |
| Attending Physician's Statement | This form helps your doctor summarize your health as it relates to your petition. Please note up until December 31, 2024, students are not required to submit a doctor’s note or an Attending Physician’s Statement in support of requests for petitions except for final examinations. | Download the Attending Physician's Statement |
| Counsellor's Statement | This form helps your counsellor summarize any counselling issues that relate to your petition. | Download the Counsellor's Statement |
| Petition to Enrol Late | This form supports your petition to enrol in a course after the deadline. | |
| Financial Petition | This form facilitates a petition for financial consideration associated with dropping a course after the deadline. | Download the Financial Petition |
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