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Academic Standing and Grading Systems

(1) Grading systems

The Grade Point Average (GPA) system applies to students admitted to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in AY 2004-2005 and all students admitted to Year 1 with effect from AY 2005-2006 and direct-entry students admitted to Year 2 with effect from AY 2006-2007.

 (a) Grades and grade points are assigned as follows:

The above grades also apply to all current students with effect from the AY05/06.
(b) The following non-letter grades and notations are also used:

* - Course with Pass/Fail grading only
# - Repeated attempt
IP - In Progress
LOA - Absent (with valid reasons)
EX - Exempted from course
TC - Transfer credits
S – Satisfactory
U - Unsatisfactory

(c) The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) represents the grade average of all courses (including failed courses) attempted by a student. The computation of CGPA is as follows:

A few examples of how CGPA is computed are given below for illustration.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

(The S/U option was invoked for AD104 and AE105. Grade S denotes a Satisfactory grade while grade U denotes an Unsatisfactory grade. These two courses, AD104 and AE105, are excluded from the computation of the CGPA.)

Example 4

(AE105 is a Pass/Fail course i.e. only P or F grades are awarded. This course is excluded from the computation of the CGPA.)

Example 5

(If a student is exempted from AE105, the grade ‘EX’ will be shown for this course. This course is excluded from the computation of the CGPA.)

(d) The Year Grade Point Average (YGPA) represents the grade average of all courses (including failed courses) attempted by a student in an academic year. The computation of YGPA is as follows:

The method of computing the YGPA is similar to that for computing the CGPA. Please refer to the examples for computing CGPA for illustration.

(e) The CGPA will be reflected in students’ transcripts.

(f) An ‘F’ grade obtained in a course and a new grade attained for the subsequent repeat will both be reflected in the transcript. Both grades will also be counted in the computation of YGPA and CGPA.

(g) Students are not allowed to repeat any courses taken except those graded ‘F’.

(2) Satisfactory/ Unsatisfactory (S/U) option

The S/U grading option allows a student to take a course on an ungraded basis (i.e. no letter grade e.g. A, B, etc). For a course graded on S/U basis, a student will receive AU for the course only if he attains a ‘Satisfactory’ (S) grade. A course will be indicated as ‘S’ if the final grade obtained is a ‘C’ or better (i.e. grade point of 2.0 and above). Similarly, if the final grade is lower than a ‘C’, an ‘Unsatisfactory’ (U) grade will be assigned to the course. The descriptor ‘Satisfactory’ or ‘Unsatisfactory’ will appear in the result slip and the transcript issued by the University. Pass/Fail (P/F) courses including courses taken at host universities during exchange programme are excluded from the S/U option.

The ‘S’ or ‘U’ grade has no effect on the CGPA since it carries no grade point. The AU associated with a course with an ‘S’ grade will count towards the total number of AU required to be awarded a degree. A course with a ‘U’ grade earns no AU.

Students who obtain a ‘U’ grade for a course can retake the course. However, the ‘U’ grade they got for their first attempt will still remain in their academic record and will appear in the transcript issued by the University.

Once a course has been placed under the S/U option, the repeat attempt(s) of the same course will also fall under the S/U option. However, if students select another course to replace the course that has been graded ‘U’, they are required to opt S/U again if they wish to exercise S/U on the ‘replacement’ course.

Similarly, once a course has NOT been placed under the S/U option, the repeat attempt(s) of the same course will also NOT fall under the S/U option.

The S/U option is NOT available to exchange and non-graduating students at NTU. Only students who follow the GPA system may exercise the S/U option. The following categories of students are eligible to exercise the option:

• Students admitted to Year 1 wef AY 2005-2006
• Students admitted directly to Year 2 wef AY 2006-2007
• Students admitted to Year 1 of the Economics programme in AY 2004-2005

The S/U policy allows a student to opt for up to:

• 12 AU for the 4-year programme
  (9 AU for students admitted directly to the second year of a 4-year programme)
• 12 AU for the Accountancy and Business programmes
• 9 AU for the Biomedical Sciences and Chinese Medicine programme

Students must fulfill the following minimum number of AU of graded courses in order to be awarded their degree:

• 77 AU for 4-year programmes
• 66 AU for 3-year programmes (including students admitted directly to the second year of a 4-year programme)

The remaining AU may consist of AU earned from Pass/Fail courses including AU earned through participation in exchange and other similar programmes (such as Global Immersion Programme, overseas summer programme)

The S/U option that students have exercised for a course is irrevocable. Hence, students cannot appeal for the course(s) that they have opted to take on S/U basis to be changed to graded basis after the exercise for S/U option is over. The S/U option cannot be applied retrospectively after the declaration period or to courses that students had already completed for letter grades.

Students can refer to their School’s website for the courses that are available on S/U option. For enquiries on the S/U option and contact persons from Schools, please visit:

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/services/academic/undergraduates/course%20registration/pages/curriculumstructure.aspx

Students will be informed each semester on the period to declare S/U for the courses that they have registered in that semester.

(3) Classification of Degree

The cut-off for each degree classification is as follows:

* For programmes under the College of Engineering (except for the Maritime Studies programme) and College of Science, a minimum CGPA of 4.50 plus at least an ‘A-’ grade for the Final Year Project are required for the award of a First Class Honours degree.

(4) Academic Standing

(a) The requirements for graduation are as follows:

• Successful completion of the prescribed academic unit requirement as set out by the programme curriculum
• A minimum CGPA of 2.00 is required at the end of the final semester of study

(b) The criteria for satisfactory academic standing in any given semester are:

• maintaining a minimum CGPA of 2.00
• completing at least 75% of the normal AU workload

(c) Students with poor results will be accorded the following academic standing and subjected to performance review:

• Academic Warning - if the CGPA falls below 2.00 for any given semester
• Academic Probation - if the CGPA falls below 2.00 for the following semester
• Academic Termination - if the CGPA falls below 2.00 for the third consecutive semester, or at the end of the final semester of study. A letter of termination will be issued. Appeal against termination on the grounds of extenuating circumstances may be made, subject to the following rules:

- The appeal must be submitted to the relevant School by the end of the first week of a semester.

- Normally only one appeal is allowed per candidature.

(d) A minimum CGPA of 2.0 must be maintained at the end of each semester to qualify for the overloading of courses.

(e) The Dean’s list is compiled on a yearly basis. The top 5% of the cohort, subject to attaining a minimum YGPA of 4.50, and taking at least 16AU of courses (for full time students and 9AU of courses for part-time students) in NTU in the academic year, is eligible for the Dean’s list

(f) Students enrolled in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Programme must maintain a minimum CGPA of 4.00 in order to remain in the Programme. However, some Schools may set a higher minimum CGPA. For these Schools, the students will be informed.

(g) Credits for courses taken from approved student exchange programmes are excluded from the CGPA computation, but they will be counted towards the academic unit requirement for graduation, and reflected in the transcript.