Frequently Asked Questions

You are eligible to petition courses from your first three terms of study at York University. In order to excercise this option you must petition within one year from the last day of class for the courses in question.

If you have submitted a petitions request, please log into the petitions portal for regular status updates. If you are having difficulties, please email lapspet@yorku.ca for further support.

Yes, but you would submit a “Late Withdrawal” petition.

Senate legislation states that “Normally requests for deferred standing must be communicated within one week following a missed examination of the last day to submit course work. The period during which the University is officially closed for December holidays is not counted in the determination of deadline days.”

For circumstances arising after the withdrawal deadline, you would normally be expected to arrange deferred standing (more time to complete the outstanding final assignment or final exam). Even if you petition for late withdrawal, the committee may decide that your circumstances warrant deferred standing. Since you would then be subject to the deferred standing application deadline, it is important that you always petition immediately following the development of your circumstances.

Deferred standing petitions must be submitted no later than two weeks (14 calendar days) after the date of a missed exam, or due date of  term work (tests, essays, and other written work due or scheduled during the term of study).

Senate legislation states that “Normally requests for deferred standing must be communicated within one week following a missed examination of the last day to submit course work. The period during which the University is officially closed for December holidays is not counted in the determination of deadline days.”

For circumstances arising after the withdrawal deadline, you would normally be expected to arrange deferred standing (more time to complete the outstanding final assignment or final exam). Even if you petition for late withdrawal, the committee may decide that your circumstances warrant deferred standing. Since you would then be subject to the deferred standing application deadline, it is important that you always petition immediately following the development of your circumstances.

Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies legislation states “that petitions for an extension of deferred standing will not be accepted more than 1 week (7 calendar days) after the date of the missed deferred exam, or the deadline for completion of the deferred term work without evidence of circumstances which account for the delay.”

Visit your academic advisor or meet with someone from the Petitions Office to discuss how to improve your petitions package. You may book an appointment with your academic advisor. You may book an appointment with someone with the Petitions Office by emailing lapspet@yorku.ca. 

Visit your academic advisor and explain your situation. They will be able to guide you on the type of petition that you need to submit. You may book an appointment with your academic advisor.

You must request a grade reappraisal from your professor and the department for which the course falls under. If you are denied a grade reappraisal or are unsatisfied with the grade reappraisal outcome, then you may submit an “Other” type petition.

Upload all supporting documents (Course Performance Summary, Attending Physician’s Statement, academic plans, death certificate, etc.) prior to submitting your request.  You will receive an email confirming the documents that were included with your application.

Submit a Petition

The Petitions team is working diligently to process your petition in a timely and efficient manner. If all the necessary documentation is included into your petition, it could take up to 4-6 weeks for you to receive a decision. If your petition is urgent and you need an answer before then, please ensure that you meet with your Academic Advisor or a Petitions Liaison Administrator to ensure that your petitions package is complete. You may book an appointment with your academic advisor. You may book an appointment with someone with the Petitions Office by emailing lapspet@yorku.ca. 

Section 1 must be completed by you, and then you must send the form to the course instructor or department for each course you are petitioning where they must complete section 2.

Section 1 must be completed by you, and then you must send the form to the course instructor or department for each course you are petitioning where they must complete section 2.

All students must petition to their home faculty. To see how to petition to your home faculty, please visit Academic Petitions website. 

If it has been more than two weeks, email lapspet@yorku.ca to inform the Petitions Office of your situation. One of our team members will support you from there.

The appeal decision letter is sent as an attachment to the email address indicated on the original Petition Application.

If your appeal is denied, information regarding the procedures to request leave to appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee will be included in the decision letter.

The petition decision letter is sent as an attachment to the York email address indicated on the Petition Application.

Under normal circumstances petitions can take from 4 to 8 weeks, and sometimes longer, depending on whether or not the petition initially is complete, or is awaiting supporting documentation; the time needed to aquire additional information or clarification; as well as the type of petition submitted, and the time of year when the petition was submitted. Very high volume typically results in extended wait times for petitions submitted April to October.

If your petition is denied, information regarding appeal procedures will be included in the decision letter.

At the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the petitions process is confidential. Information and documentation submitted in relation to a petition is restricted to office staff and Committee members involved in the decision-making process.

Petitions and appeals are considered anonymously. Where a petition includes allegations about the actions or advice of an employee or office of the University, the employee or a representative of the office in question may be given a copy of the petition letter and an opportunity to respond to the allegations. In such cases, the student is presumed to have waived the right to confidentiality (and anonymity) as concerns those individuals.

Students may request, by appointment, to review the information in their file.

Guidelines (PDF) for the Consideration of Petitions/Appeals by Faculty Committees can be found on the Senate Appeals Committee Website.

You may have circumstances that you believe justify waiving the drop deadline. You should be aware, however, that you are expected to assess your academic progress in each of your courses, and the impact that your personal, family, medical, financial, or employment circumstances are having on each course, before the withdrawal deadline. If you could have assessed the need to drop a course before the withdrawal deadline, then you must explain why you did not.

Visit Petitions and Grade Reappraisals for further information on deadlines.

All petitions packages require a statement of grounds to explain your extenuating circumstances and why you need this petition. Then, you may choose to include additional documentation to support your statement of grounds. Depending on the petition type, certain documentation will be mandatory, and that information is listed on Academic Petitions website. 

It is the final day to use the enrolment system to drop a course. If you do not want a final grade in a course, then you must use the enrolment system to drop the course on or before the withdrawal deadline date. You are responsible for the accuracy of your enrolment record, and for the accuracy of any adjustments you make to your record. You should review your courses after every transaction (add, drop, or section change). It is important that you do not remain enrolled beyond the withdrawal deadline in any course for which you are not prepared to receive a final grade.

Senate legislation states that by the withdrawal deadline course directors normally must provide graded feedback of 15% of the overall grade for fall, winter or summer term courses, and 30% for “full year” courses. However, there are exceptions, including some upper level courses and courses which run on a compressed schedule. For a full explanation of York’s graded feedback policy, please see “Grading Scheme and Feedback Policy“. Failure of the course director to provide the class with graded feedback prior to the drop deadline is grounds for late withdrawal ONLY IF you petition immediately after the required feedback was made available to the class.

A petition is an online written request for the waiver of a Faculty’s regulation or deadline. Students have the right to petition on reasonable grounds for special consideration. The Faculty’s Petitions Committee will review the petition request and make a decision on a case by case basis.

An appeal is a written request for the alteration of the decision made on a petition and will be considered by a different panel on the Committee on Student Academic Petitions and Appeals. Appeals will be permitted only on the grounds of:

1. new evidence,
2. evidence of procedural irregularity in the committee’s consideration of the case. For petition procedures, procedures of the Committee on Student Academic Petitions (PDF), or
3. denial of natural justice.

Instructions are included in each denied decision letter explaining how to appeal and what to include. A new link is generated and available in the decision letter which students should use to appeal their decision.

A First Year Late Withdrawal is a petition that is granted administratively by someone in the Petitions Office. So long as the course was taken in your first year and your petition was submitted within the deadline, your petition will be granted. If granted, your final grade will be replaced with a W. The W will remain on your transcript but will not impact your GPA. 

A First Late Withdrawal is a petition that is granted administratively by someone in the Petitions Office. So long as you submit your petition within 30 days from the last day of classes, with a Course Performance Summary form, and it is your first time petitioning for a Late Withdrawal, your petition will be granted. If granted, your final grade will be replaced with a W. The W will remain on your transcript but will not impact your GPA. 

A Late Withdrawal is a petition that is seen by the Petitions Committee. This petition requires a statement of grounds to explain your extenuating circumstances and a Course Performance Summary form. You may choose to submit evidence to support your statement. You may choose whether you want to replace the grade with a W or to fully remove the course from your transcript. The Committee will meet to discuss your petition and a decision letter will be emailed to you. 

You may petition only elective and General Education courses. You may not petition to pass/fail a course that is mandatory to your degree.

You may petition any course on your transcript so long as you do not have an Academic Honesty Charge and you have not already withdrawn yourself from the course. If you have a W on your transcript because you withdrew yourself from a course, you are not eligible to petition to fully remove the course from your transcript.