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Assessment, Examination & Honours Classification

Assessment, Examination & Honours Classification


Assessment Policies

Faculty Policy and Protocol on Handling Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. The Faculty of Arts upholds the principle that plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and any student found plagiarizing is liable to disciplinary action in addition to failing the assessment concerned. Please read the following webpage on "plagiarism" for details.

Grading System

Candidates shall be assessed for each of the courses for which they have registered, and assessment may be conducted in any combination of coursework and/or written examinations. Only satisfactorily completed courses will earn credits.

(a) For courses with letter grades:

Grade

Standard

Grade Point

A+

Excellent

4.3
A   4.0
A-  3.7
B+

Good

3.3
B   3.0
B-  2.7
C+

Satisfactory

2.3
C   2.0
C-  1.7
D+

Pass

1.3
D   1.0
F   Fail 0

(b) For courses graded as "Pass, "Fail" or "Distinction", they will not be included in the calculation of the GPA.
 

For details, please refer to the REGULATIONS FOR FIRST DEGREE CURRICULA (Regulation UG8) applicable to candidates admitted under the 4-year "2012 curriculum" in 2012-13 and thereafter.

Grade Expectations

Click here to view the general expectations of student performance in the Faculty of Arts.

Upgrading

Candidates shall not be permitted to repeat a course for which they have received a D grade or above for upgrading purposes.

Procedures for Checking of Assessment Results of Taught Courses

Click here.

Matters Related to Examinations

Please refer to the website of the Examinations Office for details.
 

Absence from Written Examination

"Absence from examination

22. If for any reason you have been unable to attend for any paper in an examination you must, within seven calendar days of the examination concerned, write to the Examinations Secretary at the Registry giving reasons for your absence.

23. If you are unable because of illness to be present for any paper in the examination or if you believe that your state of health either immediately before or during the examination has significantly affected your performance, you should arrange to submit a prescribed Form of Medical Certificate. You should consult a doctor on the same day of the examination concerned, and also complete Part I of the Form and give it to your doctor for completion of Part II of the Form. The completed Form, together with the original of the sick leave certificate issued by the attending doctor, should be submitted to the Examinations Office (address: Room 239B, 2/F, Main Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam) and must reach it within seven calendar days of the examination concerned. Late or incomplete submission will not be accepted."

(Extracted from the website of the Examinations Office.)

Failure

Failed courses are recorded on the transcript with an F grade. If you choose to repeat the failed course, the new grade obtained will be recorded in the semester in which you have retaken the course. Failed credits do not count toward the fulfillment of the credit requirement of the BA degree. Failed grades are included in the calculation of the Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA), Year GPA (YGPA), Cumulative GPA (CGPA), and Graduation GPA (GGPA) which is applicable to students in the 2017-18 (Year 1) intake and thereafter. All failed grades will be taken into account when determining your honours classification.

Progression/ Discontinuation of Studies

BA Regulation A13, BA(HDT) Regulation AHD8 and BA&LLB Regulation AL13 stipulate that:

Candidates shall be recommended for discontinualtion of their studies if they have:

  1. failed to complete successfully 36 or more credits in two consecutive semesters (not including the summer semester), except where they are not required to take such a number of credits in the two given semesters, or;
     
  2. failed to achieve an average Semester GPA of 1.0 or higher for two consecutive semesters (not including the summer semester), or;
     
  3. exceeded the maximum period of registration as specified in BA Regulation A3,  BA(HDT) Regulation AHD2 and BA&LLB Regulation AL2 respectively.

Honours Classification

(a) Applicable to students of the 2012-13 to 2016-17 intakes:

The classification of honours shall be determined by the Board of Examiners for the BA degree in accordance with the following Cumulative GPA (CGPA) scores, with all courses taken (including failed courses) carrying equal weighting:
 

Class of honours CGPA range
First Class Honours 3.60 – 4.30
Second Class Honours (2.40 – 3.59)
            Division One
3.00 – 3.59
            Division Two
2.40 – 2.99
Third Class Honours 1.70 – 2.39
Pass 1.00 – 1.69

Honours classification may not be determined solely on the basis of a candidate’s CGPA and the Board of the Examiners for the BA degree may, at its absolute discretion and with justification, award a higher class of honours to a candidate deemed to have demonstrated meritorious academic achievement but whose CGPA falls below the range stipulated in the above table of the higher classification by not more than 0.1 Grade Point.

For details, please refer to the REGULATIONS FOR FIRST DEGREE CURRICULA (Regulation UG9) applicable to candidates admitted under the 4-year "2012 curriculum" from 2012-13 to 2016-17.

(b) Applicable to students of the 2017-18 intake and  thereafter:

The classification of honours shall be determined by the Board of Examiners for the BA degree in accordance with the following Graduation GPA (GGPA) scores, with all courses taken (including failed courses) carrying weightings which are proportionate to their credit values [*see note below]:
 

Class of honours GGPA range
First Class Honours 3.60 – 4.30
Second Class Honours (2.40 – 3.59)
            Division One
3.00 – 3.59
            Division Two
2.40 – 2.99
Third Class Honours 1.70 – 2.39
Pass 1.00 – 1.69

Honours classification may not be determined solely on the basis of a candidate’s GGPA and the Board of the Examiners for the BA degree may, at its absolute discretion and with justification, award a higher class of honours to a candidate deemed to have demonstrated meritorious academic achievement but whose GGPA falls below the range stipulated in the above table of the higher classification by not more than 0.1 Grade Point.

[*Note: For students in the 2017-18 intake and thereafter who have successfully completed six Common Core courses on letter grading basis, the calculation of GGPA is subject to the proviso that either five Common Core courses with the highest grades (covering all four Areas of Inquiry), or all six courses will be counted towards GGPA, depending on which generates the higher Graduation GPA. However, students who have taken any 3-credit Common Core Microcredential Courses will have their performance of all Common Core courses included in the calculation of GGPA.]


For details, please refer to the REGULATIONS FOR FIRST DEGREE CURRICULA (Regulation UG9) applicable to candidates admitted under the 4-year "2012 curriculum" in 2017-18 and thereafter.

August 2023

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