There are times when you really should have gone to class, but just didn’t. You get halfway through your veg-sesh and packet of cheetos, and feel a huge pang of guilt: WTF is wrong with me? How have I been so lazy?

Those days don’t feel so great, but we’re not about shaming you for your choices — we think you should take days off where you need them. Especially in one of the following situations.

#1 You Need A Mental Health Day

We’ll say it once, and we’ll say it again, and again, until our faces turn red and we start spitting smoke: mental health days are an actual thing. Take them!

With over 70 per cent of uni students rating their mental health as poor, we need to make sure we nip the warning signs in the bud. If you know something’s wrong, don’t pressure yourself to attend class.

But if you do take a day, make sure you do all you can to start feeling better: exercise, see a doctor, get some sleep, read a nice book. Then, when you feel a little more refreshed and ready to get back to it: go to class.

#2 You’re Using The Time To Do An Assignment

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. At the end of the day, it’s about the bottom line — yeah, you need to attend tutes to pass, but assignments are way more important.

If you’re falling behind on something due next week, skip class to get it done. Extra points if you’re skipping the class the assignment’s for.

#3 You Genuinely Feel Like It’ll Be A Waste Of Time

We all have those good tutors and bad tutors. The good ones are the kind who will inspire you, encourage you to think, ask questions, and make the hour-long class fly by in no time.

The bad ones are those who just suck an hour out of your life every week and add nothing to your education. Take that 20% leeway and miss those classes.

#4 You Need Money

If you need money for petrol, your sneakers have worrying holes in them, and the last time you bought a textbook was never, you’re not in a position to say no to an extra shift.

Having little to no money makes the stress of being a student even worse. It’s completely reasonable to skip class (once or twice) to pick up a shift instead.

#5 You Haven’t Missed One All Semester And You Just… Want To

Call us ~rebellious~ but we reckon those two unexplained absences are there to take. If you’re having a kind of “meh” day, you’re halfway through a season of Grey’s Anatomy, and you simply do not want to deal — then stay home.