The short version
Macquarie does enrolment and class registration in eStudent, in two steps: enrol in units, then register in classes. Class registration for Session 1 2027 opens in stages between Monday 11 January and Thursday 21 January 2027, depending on how many credit points you have left, and closes on Sunday 14 March 2027. Your exact start date shows up in eStudent a few weeks beforehand. The later your start date, the more likely the good times are already gone, so the planning you do before then matters. Smoov doesn't import from eStudent yet, so you type your class options in, then it searches the timetables that fit around your shifts and hard nos and ranks the best ones.
Macquarie's staggered registration means two students in the same unit can open eStudent a week apart and see completely different tutorial lists. This guide covers how the Session 1 2027 cohorts work, what to do before your start date, and how to turn a long list of class times into one timetable you'd actually want to live with.
How Macquarie enrolment works: units, then classes
Macquarie describes enrolling in eStudent as a two-step process: enrol into units, then register in classes. They open at different times.
- Enrol in units. Units need to be on your Manage My Course page in eStudent before you can enrol in them from the Plan and Enrol page. For 2027, enrolment for most study periods opens at 9:30am (AEDT) on Monday 30 November 2026. Macquarie Business School terms open earlier, from Monday 2 November 2026.
- Register in classes. Once you're enrolled, you register into the lectures, tutorials and pracs for each unit, from your registration start date.
Before you register, Macquarie points students to the Classfinder tool in eStudent to check class availability. That's where you'll find the times you need to plan with.
Session 1 2027 class registration dates
These are from Macquarie's enrolment dates page. Every group opens at 9:30am (AEDT) and closes at 11:59pm (AEDT) on Sunday 14 March 2027.
- Monday 11 January 2027: students with an Individual Education Access Plan (IEAP).
- Thursday 14 January 2027: students with a Sports scholarship, and Cohort 1 (40 or fewer credit points remaining).
- Monday 18 January 2027: Cohort 2 (between 50 and 150 credit points remaining).
- Thursday 21 January 2027: Cohort 3 (160 or more credit points remaining).
Continuing postgraduate students have their own line on the same page: Thursday 14 January 2027.
The short version: the further through your degree you are, the earlier you go. Macquarie says your group is set by your completed credit points at the time it allocates your start date, and you'll see a message in eStudent with that date a few weeks before registration opens. If your credit points change later, for example after a course transfer, Macquarie says it may not be able to move your date.
Why a later start date changes your strategy
Staggered start dates only make sense because classes fill. If you're in Cohort 3, every other group has had somewhere between three and ten days of registering before you, and the most convenient tutes are the ones most likely to be gone. That changes how you should plan:
- Don't plan around one dream week. Plan a first choice and at least one backup that you'd genuinely be fine with.
- Put every option in, not just the good ones. The Friday 4pm tute you'd never pick might be the only thing left that fits around your shift.
- Recheck Classfinder close to your date. What was open when you planned might not be open when you register. Update your options and re-run your plan the night before.
If you're in Cohort 1, the same plan still helps. You're just less likely to need the backup. For the general version of this strategy, see FIFS vs preference-based enrolment.
Getting your Macquarie classes into Smoov
Smoov can import straight from Allocate+ at some unis, but Macquarie uses eStudent, and there's no eStudent import yet. You type your class options in. For four units it takes a few minutes, and it's the bit that makes everything else work.
- In eStudent, open Classfinder and look up each unit you're enrolled in.
- Add each unit in Smoov with every lecture, tutorial and prac time on offer. The duplicate button saves retyping a class that runs at several times.
- Block out anything that doesn't move: work shifts, sport, the train you have to catch.
- Pick the preferences you care about, like no early starts or fewer days on campus, and let Smoov rank the best timetables that fit.
The full guide has the step-by-step version, and the Macquarie page covers the common questions.
Registration day with a plan
Each option Smoov gives you says what it gets you and what it costs you. One might keep you off campus on Fridays but cost you an 8am lec on Tuesday. Another might start at 10am every day but stretch you across four days. Pick the one you'd choose with a clear head, then open its enrolment guide. It lists exactly which class to register in for each unit.
When your start date arrives, work through that list in eStudent. If a class is full, tap it in the enrolment guide to mark it full and Smoov works out new options around it, so you can keep going instead of rebuilding your week on the spot.
Lining up classes with your mates
Staggered cohorts make coordinating with friends awkward. A mate in Cohort 1 can register a full week before a mate in Cohort 3, and the shared tute you agreed on might be gone by the time the second person gets there. Agree on a first choice and a backup together before anyone's start date. In SmoovSync, one of you with Premium starts a room and everyone else joins free. You each add your best timetables, and it finds the combination that lines up the most classes and free time. The SmoovSync guide has the walkthrough.