I am having difficulty uploading my supporting documents. What should I do?

To upload supporting documents, they must be:

• PDF documents
• Not password protected
• Not digitally signed or otherwise encrypted
• 2.5 MB or under

Here are some examples to solve this issue:

• Print the encrypted academic document and scan this back into your computer so that the scanned version can be uploaded instead.
• Take a screenshot of the document and upload this as a PDF.
• Reduce the document size by compressing the document.
• Print it as a new document in PDF format.

If you cannot upload a document you have scanned, because the file size is too large, you may also try one of the following:

Image type
Try to find if the software you are using allows you to set the ‘image type’ of the document you are scanning. Scanners often offer a choice of Black and white (often referred to as Line Art), Greyscale or Colour. If you are scanning a document of text (no photos), please select colour setting and upload a coloured scanned copy of the document to the portal.

Resolution
Try to find where your scanning software allows you to set the image resolution of the document you are scanning. For most documents a resolution of 200dpi will be sufficient.

File Format
Use PDF as the file format, and, if your software allows you to compress the image, set the highest level of compression.

Area Scanned
If your scanning software allows you to select parts of a document to scan and you are scanning a document with large blank borders, try selecting only the part of the document containing the content. Scanning the blank borders will increase the file size and they are not necessary.

For more details, see our Technical Issues FAQ and this guide