Assessment Rules

• A student must be officially registered and attain a minimum semester mark of 40% in a course to be allowed to write examinations.
• Weighting shall be in the ratio of 60% continuous assessment to 40% written or oral examination.
• The overall aggregate pass mark is 50%.
• For a student to qualify for promotion (pass examination), in addition to a favourable DP, an examination mark must be at least 40% (subminimum rule).

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Retaining of Semester Mark (DP)

• A student with DP of not less than 60% may apply to retain it for one academic year only (G32).

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Supplementary Examination

• A student must obtain an overall mark of 40–48% and obtain a minimum mark of 40% for both continuous assessment and final examination to qualify for a supplementary examination.

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Special Examination

• A student qualifies to write an automatic supplementary (special) examination for a course in a particular semester if the course is the last outstanding course for the student to complete his/her studies and has attempted the final examination in the course.

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Aegrotat Examination

• A student who missed an examination due to illness or family circumstances can apply for an aegrotat examination to the Registrar’s office, provided satisfactory evidence of such circumstances is produced as per university rules.

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Exclusion Rules

• The maximum permissible period of study is five years for a three-year degree and six years for a four-year or Extended Programme.

• A student who fails to obtain the minimum number of credits (see Table 1 below) required to proceed to the next level will be excluded on academic grounds (G7.2 & G7.4).

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Table 1: Maximum Period of Study Per Year Level

Three-year Diploma or BSc (mainstream) programme

 

Four-year BSc (extended) programme

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Research Proposals

• All MSc and PhD students are expected to develop a proposal within the first six months of their registration. The proposal must be presented orally to the department and faculty through organised seminars for consideration and approval by a panel of internal assessors.

• Research proposals must serve at the Higher Degrees Committees of the faculty and university within six months of registration, with the provision that an extension may be granted. At the end of this period, the student may be de-registered if he/she has not submitted an acceptable research proposal.

• All MSc and PhD candidates must conduct research work on their selected topic and present their up-to-date findings to the department annually through a departmental seminar.

• All PhD candidates must conduct research work on their selected topic and present their up-to-date findings to a relevant regional or international conference. It is compulsory that the doctoral candidate publishes at least one article before submitting their thesis for examination.

• The student will only be granted permission to graduate once all departmental and university quality assurance measures have been met satisfactorily, as stipulated in the postgraduate policy.

• A yearly report on the progress of the candidate shall be submitted to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee by the supervisor.

• The candidate shall submit an independent report through the Head of Department to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee.

• The department may recommend to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee at any time to suspend or cancel the registration of a candidate who, in its view, is not making satisfactory progress with his/her studies.