| 2 General Regulations for Undergraduate Programmes |
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▌1 General
1.1 Students studying in face-to-face undergraduate programmes, which are normally run on full-time basis except for some programmes with options for part-time load, shall observe these general regulations, and all other rules and regulations prescribed by the University. Should there be any discrepancies between the following general regulations and other rules and regulations of the University, the general regulations below shall prevail.
▌2 Admission
2.1 An applicant seeking admission to a face-to-face undergraduate programme shall satisfy the general entrance requirements of the University and the specific entrance requirements, if any, of the programme concerned, unless he/she has been exempted therefrom.
2.2 An applicant may be required to attend a selection interview.
2.3 A successful applicant shall register with the University as a student by a prescribed date, otherwise he/she shall be deemed to have given up the admission offer.
▌3 Registration
3.1 An applicant who has been offered admission to a programme shall complete the registration procedure by a date prescribed by the University, and shall be deemed to have enrolled on that programme on the date of his/her first registration. He/she shall be required to comply with the requirements of his/her programme of study as stipulated by the University from time to time.
3.2 A student shall register in the name which appears on his/her Hong Kong Identity Card or passport (passport is applicable to non-local students only).
3.3 A student shall register with the University for each subsequent academic term by a prescribed date. If a student fails to complete the registration, he/she shall be deemed to have withdrawn from his/her studies at the University.
3.4 Registration shall include the payment of tuition fees as prescribed by the University. A student who has difficulty in paying the tuition fees within the time limit specified by the University may apply to the Registrar for permission to pay late. Such an application shall be made using a prescribed form and supported with sound reasons. A non-refundable and non-transferrable Late Payment Deposit shall also be submitted, as specified by the University from time to time, as partial payment of the tuition fees at the time of application.
3.5 A student whose application for late payment is approved will be given a new payment deadline and shall be considered only as a provisionally registered student until the tuition fees are paid in full by the new deadline. However, if he/she fails to pay the fees in full by the new deadline, his/her provisional registration shall lapse, and he/she shall be considered to have withdrawn from his/her studies at the University. Any academic work done by a student in an academic term shall not be recognized by the University unless he/she is a fully registered student in that academic term.
3.6 A student shall inform the University immediately of any change of personal particulars such as correspondence address and telephone number via the Student Portal or in writing to the Registry. Failure to supply up-to-date information may result in the University being unable to provide academic and administrative services to the student.
3.7 A student enrolled on any full-time undergraduate programme of the University should not simultaneously register to study for another qualification at this University or for a post-secondary qualification at any other institution, except with prior approval from the University. Students in breach of this regulation may be subject to discontinuation of studies by the OUHK.
▌4 Deferment of studies
4.1 A student who wishes to defer his/her studies shall submit a written application with supporting documents to the Registry. Approval of an application to defer studies shall be granted entirely at the University's discretion. Deferment of studies, if granted, shall cover all the courses which the student is enrolled on within the term or year concerned.
4.2 The University recognizes the following grounds as a basis for deferment of studies:
a. Illness or medical emergency;
b. Family crisis or other special circumstances which constitute compassionate grounds.
4.3 A student who has applied for deferment of studies shall continue with his/her studies and attend classes until formal approval is given by the University.
4.4 The maximum period allowed for deferment of studies shall normally be one year.
4.5 A student who has been granted deferment of studies shall not be entitled to the refund, in part or in full, of the tuition fees paid. Upon resumption of studies at the approved time, the student can make use of the tuition fees paid for the deferred term but shall be required to settle additional tuition fees, if any.
▌5 Withdrawal from studies
5.1 A student who wishes to withdraw from his/her studies at the University shall inform the Registrar of such intention in writing at least 14 days before the start of the examination period of the relevant term. The record of withdrawal shall be entered and remain in the student's academic record. The student shall not be entitled to a refund of any tuition fees already paid, in part or in full.
5.2 A student who has withdrawn from his/her studies at the University but wishes to have his/her student status reinstated shall submit a written application for late registration to the Registrar no later than two weeks after the commencement of an academic term. Such an application shall be accepted at the absolute discretion of the University and subject to full payment of all outstanding fees, if any, plus a Late Registration Charge, as specified by the University from time to time.
▌6 Selection of courses
6.1 A student shall select courses before the commencement of each academic term according to the requirements of his/her programme.
6.2 A full-time student shall normally take 20 credits of courses in a term or 40 credits in a year unless his/her programme prescribes otherwise. A student who wishes to take courses with a lighter or heavier credit loading must seek the approval of his/her School.
6.3 A student shall not repeat any course which he/she has already taken and passed.
6.4 A student who wishes to add or drop course/s after the course selection period shall complete the prescribed procedure during the add/drop period, which is within two weeks after the commencement of the teaching term.
6.5 An application from a student to drop a course after the add/drop period shall normally be handled as an application for the withdrawal of a course. He/she is required to submit such an application, with supporting reasons, in writing to the Registrar at least 14 days before the start of the examination period of the relevant term. The University shall have the sole discretion to consider the application. The tuition fees paid for the course withdrawn shall be forfeited.
▌7 Period of study
7.1 Each face-to-face undergraduate programme shall specify its normative period of study (N). The normative period of study depends on the admission entry points, study load, credit requirements and the number of academic terms of each programme. It shall normally range from 1 year to 5 years for full-time students.
7.2 The maximum period of study of a student shall be the normative period of study of his/her programme plus two years (N+2 years) and shall include any periods of leave of absence and suspension of studies. A student must complete all graduation requirements of his/her programme within this maximum period of study.
7.3 A student who fails to complete all graduation requirements of his/her programme within the maximum period of study shall discontinue his/her studies in the face-to-face mode. He/she may, however, apply for admission to study in the distance-learning mode and transfer the credits he/she has obtained to his/her distance-learning programme. These transferred credits may or may not be counted, subject to the requirements of his/her chosen distance learning programme.
▌8 Change of programme
8.1 A student who wishes to change his/her programme shall apply in writing to the Registrar, and his/her application shall be approved at the discretion of the Schools concerned.
▌9 Course assessment and grades
9.1 A student shall be assessed for every course that he/she has registered on the basis of his/her performance in the course. The assessment criteria may include any one or any combination of the following: assignments, quizzes, tests, laboratory sessions, practicums, examinations, attendance, and any other criteria.
9.2 Course grades, their standards and grade points used in reporting shall be as follows:
| Course grade | Standard | Grade point |
| A A– |
Excellent | 4.0 3.7 |
| B+ B |
Very Good | 3.3 3.0 |
| B– | Good | 2.7 |
| C+ | Fair | 2.3 |
| C | Pass | 2.0 |
| Fail-Resit | Fail-Resit | — |
| Fail | Fail | 0 |
| Pass* | Benchmark Attained | Not applicable |
* For designated courses only
In addition to the grades listed above, the following will also be used where necessary:
| Results status | Interpretation |
| Complete (L) | Grade awarded for non-credit bearing course |
| Incomplete (I) | |
| Withdrawn (W) | Withdrawn from course |
9.3 A student who obtains a grade of 'C' or above in a course taken shall earn the credits of that course.
9.4 The grade point average (GPA) of a student's course work shall be computed by dividing the total grade points for all courses taken by the total number of credits attempted, inclusive of courses failed.
9.5 Assignments
A student shall submit assignments by specified dates. If an assignment is submitted late, the University teacher concerned has the discretion to accept or not accept it, and to determine the appropriate penalty to be imposed, if any. Assignments must be submitted electronically via the OLE, unless otherwise specified.
9.6 Quizzes/Tests/Labs
A student may be required to complete quizzes, tests, laboratory sessions or practicums as part of the assessment, some of which may be compulsory.
9.7 Examinations
9.7.1 A student shall attend an end-of-course examination for each of the courses he/she takes, unless the course requires no end-of-course examination. A student shall be required to observe the examination arrangements as stipulated by the University from time to time.
9.7.2 At the discretion of the Award Committee, a student marginally failing an examination may be granted a chance to resit the examination to be held in the next available examination session provided for the course concerned. The resit examination will normally coincide with the regular examination of the next presentation of the course. If the next presentation of the course does not commence within one year from the current presentation in which the student enrolled and failed, the resit examination will be held within a one-year period after the end of the current presentation.
9.7.3 A student taking a resit examination will be required to pay a resit examination fee for each course, as specified by the University from time to time. A student who has withdrawn from his/her studies at the University before the resit examination is held shall not be permitted to attend the resit examination.
9.7.4 If a student enrolling on a course presentation commencing before the 2013 Autumn Term failed in the regular examination and is granted a chance to resit the examination by the Award Committee, the course result shall be capped at 'C' if a student passes the designated resit examination. If a student enrolling on a course presentation commencing on or after the 2013 Autumn Term failed in the regular examination and is granted a chance to resit the examination by the Award Committee, the capping of the course result will not apply when a student passes the designated resit examination.
9.7.5 A student failing to achieve a Pass grade after the resit examination shall be required to retake the course, if available, in order to be considered for the award of credits. Under certain circumstances, the University may require the student to retake the course in the distance learning mode or to take another course as a substitute.
9.7.6 Only under very special circumstances, which shall be substantiated by satisfactory documentary evidence provided by the student, will deferment of an examination be considered. The number of resit examinations to be attended will not be considered as a valid reason for deferment of examinations. Deferment of an examination is normally not applicable to resit examination(s).
9.8 Attendance requirement
The minimum attendance requirement for each course is 80%.
▌10 Academic level
10.1 A full-time student shall be assigned an academic level according to the number of credits he/she has accumulated.
10.2 The academic levels of full-time students are normally defined as:
| Year 1 standing | less than 40 credits earned |
| Year 2 standing | at least 40 credits earned |
| Year 3 standing | at least 80 credits earned |
| Year 4 standing | at least 120 credits earned |
| Year 5 standing | at least 160 credits earned |
10.3 The number of credits to be earned to qualify for an academic level may vary with different programmes. Details are obtainable from the respective Schools.
▌11 Academic probation and discontinuation
11.1 A full-time student shall be required to meet the minimum credit requirements prescribed in paragraph 11.2 by the end of his/her second year of study and thereafter. A full-time student shall be put on academic probation if he/she fails to fulfill these requirements.
11.2 Minimum credit requirement
11.2.1 The minimum credit requirement shall be half of the number of credits normally accumulated up to and including the previous year of study.
11.2.2 The number of credits normally accumulated in a year of study of a programme shall be the total number of credits required, evenly distributed across each year of study within the normative period of study (N).
11.2.3 The minimum credit requirement by the end of the second year of study shall be half of this number of credits as normally accumulated in the first year of study, rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5.
11.2.4 In subsequent years of study up to and including the final year of the normative period of study, minimum credit requirements shall be multiples of the minimum credit requirement by the end of the second year: twice by the end of the third year, three times by the end of the fourth year, and four times by the end of the fifth year.
11.2.5 The minimum credit requirement by the end of the year after the normative period of study (N+1) shall be the same as the minimum credit requirement by the end of the final year of the normative period of study.
11.2.6 The minimum credit requirements of a four-year 160-credit programme by the end of the respective years of study are illustrated below as an example:
Year of study Minimum credit requirement Second year 20 Third year 40 Fourth year (N) 60
11.3 If a full-time student has been previously put on academic probation during his/her study of a programme, and has failed to meet the minimum credit requirement by the end of his/her final year of study within the normative period of study prescribed in paragraph 11.2, he/she shall be required to discontinue the face-to-face undergraduate programme.
11.4 This academic probation and discontinuation policy shall apply to all full-time students admitted in the 2016–2017 academic year and thereafter.
▌12 Graduation
12.1 To be eligible for an academic award in the face-to-face mode, a student shall have satisfied the requirements of his/her chosen face-to-face undergraduate programme of study.
12.2 A student who has fulfilled the requirements prescribed in paragraph 12.1 shall graduate. He/she shall be assessed for fulfillment of all graduation requirements at the end of the normative period of his/her chosen programme.
12.3 Notwithstanding paragraph 12.2, a student shall be required to submit an application in a prescribed form for graduation if he/she
a. wishes to graduate with a lower award such as an ordinary degree or an Associate Degree, provided that his/her chosen programme has early exit award(s) and that he/she can fulfil the requirements of such a lower award;
b. wishes to have the credits of course(s) which he/she has completed in distance learning mode counted towards the graduation requirement of his/her chosen programme.
12.4 A student shall be required to pay a graduation fee, as specified by the University from time to time, for each award.
12.5 Classification of degrees with honours
12.5.1 A degree with honours shall be conferred with a classification of First Class, Second Class (Upper Division), Second Class (Lower Division) or Third Class.
12.5.2 The class of honours conferred shall be based on the weighted grade point average obtained by the student in the courses prescribed by his/her chosen programme of study for the purpose of honours classification.
12.5.3 For the purpose of honours classification of single degree programmes, the weighted grade point average (WGPA) will be calculated for the best 80 credits (in terms of course grade) in courses at the Higher or Middle level as specified in the programme requirements. 40 of the best 80 credits will normally be from Higher level courses defined as 'Group A courses', and the remaining 40 from Higher or Middle level courses defined as 'Group B courses' which have not already been counted towards Group A courses. Group A and Group B courses may be given different weights in the calculation of the WGPA by the programme concerned. The formula for the calculation will be as follows:
WGPA = Sum of GP of Group A courses x weight of Group A courses +
Sum of GP of Group B courses x weight of Group B courses
Sum of credits of Group A courses x weight of Group A courses +
Sum of credits of Group B courses x weight of Group B courseswhere GP is the grade point of a course multiplied by the number of credits of the course
12.5.4 In the case of double degree programmes, the weighted grade point average (WGPA) will be calculated for the best 120 credits (in terms of course grade) in courses at the Higher or Middle level as specified in the programme requirements. 60 of the best 120 credits will normally be from Higher level courses defined as 'Group A courses', and the remaining 60 credits from Higher or Middle level courses defined as 'Group B courses' which have not already been counted towards Group A courses. Group A and Group B courses may be given different weights in the calculation of the WGPA by the programme concerned.
12.5.5 Notwithstanding paragraphs 12.5.3 and 12.5.4, in the case of a student who has completed 80 credits in accordance with the prescribed programme requirements, of which less than 80 credits might be used for assessing a degree classification, the weighted grade point average (WGPA) will be calculated for the best 40 credits in courses at the Higher level courses defined as 'Group A courses', and the remaining credits will be from Higher or Middle level courses defined as 'Group B courses' which have not already been counted towards Group A courses. Group A and Group B courses may be given different weights in the calculation of the WGPA by the individual programme concerned.
12.5.6 To qualify for the award of a particular class of honours, a student is required to achieve the following weighted grade point average for the required number of credits of the Group A and Group B courses listed by the programme requirements:
Honours classification Weighted Grade Point Average First Class 3.50 – 4.00 Second Class (Upper Division) 3.00 – 3.49 Second Class (Lower Division) 2.50 – 2.99 Third Class 2.00 – 2.49
▌13 Transcript of studies
13.1 A transcript is an official document showing the complete academic record of a student in the University, including the results of courses taken, Term GPA, Cumulative GPA and the academic award conferred, if any.
13.2 Upon a student's request, the University can issue transcripts for specific award(s). All records of completed courses related to the award(s) concerned will be included in the transcript irrespective of the course results.
13.3 A student may apply for an official transcript of studies using a prescribed form. A handling fee, as prescribed by the University from time to time, is required for each copy of the transcript.
13.4 Upon a student's request, the Registrar may issue an official document confirming the student's status as an OUHK student or provide certification of OUHK publications/documents as true copies. A fee may be charged.
13.5 Certificates for degrees and other academic awards
An official certificate for a degree or other academic award shall be issued to a student after he/she has been conferred the qualification.
13.6 The University reserves the right to withhold the issuance of transcripts, official documents and certificates for academic awards as deemed necessary. For example, this may occur if a student is in debt to the University or is involved in a breach of University rules and regulations.
▌14 Academic integrity and student discipline
14.1 A student shall act at all times to uphold academic integrity.
14.2 A student who has violated the University's expectation of academic integrity, committed any disciplinary offence or violated any rule or regulation of the University shall be dealt with in accordance with the University's Regulations Governing Academic Integrity and Student Discipline.
Modified Date: Jul 21, 2020
