General Academic Requirements and Policies
Our academic requirements and policies are regularly updated to enhance pedagogical outcomes and educational experiences for students. Students should keep themselves updated regularly via the links below.
Overview of Graduation Requirements
Students can either opt for a three-year Bachelor’s degree (120 Units) (with the exception of Computational Biology, Data Science and Analytics, Environmental Studies and Pharmacy which are strictly four-year programmes) or a four-year Bachelor’s degree with Honours (160 Units).
The general graduation requirements are:
(1) University Level Requirement – General Education
(2) Programme Requirements
(a) Faculty Requirements
(b) Major Requirements
(3) Computational Thinking Requirement
(4) Unrestricted Electives
(5) Writing Requirement (refer to section on SP1541 below)
Students are advised to refer to the respective department websites for the specific requirements with respect to their chosen major.
All majors will be offered on a four-year direct Honours programme (160 Units). The general graduation requirements are:
| CHS-FoS Majors | Bachelor of Pharmacy programme |
|
(1) CHS College Requirement a. CHS Common Curriculum b. Graduation Requirement (2) Major Requirement (3) Unrestricted Electives |
(1) University Level Requirement – General Education (2) Major Requirement (3) Unrestricted Electives |
Students are advised to refer to the respective department websites for the specific requirements with respect to their chosen major.
CHS Common Curriculum
(For Cohorts AY2021/22 onwards)
The CHS Common Curriculum is designed to impart essential foundational skills and broaden intellectual foundations. Students reading an FoS major under CHS will need to read the CHS Common Curriculum as part of the overall degree requirements. Please note that all FoS majors are under CHS except for Bachelor of Pharmacy. The 13 courses of the CHS Common Curriculum are:
*SP2271, SP2273 and SP2274 are open to all CHS students and fulfils the respective CHS Common Curriculum pillars. These courses are mandatory for those in the Special Programme in Science.
^DSE1101 can only be read by students in the Data Science and Economics programme.
#Only students reading the MA-CS DDP and/or SoC’s Artificial Intelligence minor/Computer Science second major/minor can use CS2109S to fulfil the Artificial Intelligence requirements.
Students are strongly encouraged to complete all CHS Common Curriculum courses in their first two years except for the following 3 courses:
• Communities and Engagement – can be taken from Years 2 to 4*
• Two Interdisciplinary courses – can be taken in Years 3 and 4
More details on each of the common curriculum course can be found on the CHS website here.
*Important note on workload: Semester vs. Year-long C&E courses
- Some C&E courses, usually the field/project-work courses, are regular intense 4-Unit courses with work completed within one semester.
- Other C&E courses, especially the service-work courses, are spread out over two consecutive semesters, or up to one year, that is, Semester 1 through Semester 2 to Special Term 2; or Semester 2 through the Special Terms to Semester 1 of following Academic Year (AY). You may click here for more details on the service-work courses.
- For those students who read the year-long C&E courses which extend till Special Term (during the summer break) after their 8th semester, please note that grades are awarded at the end of Special Term 2, which means your degree will be conferred in end-Aug, and you will join the Commencement ceremony in the following year instead of the same AY of completion of the course. For more details, please check out the FAQ here.
- As such, students who prefer to take such year-long C&E courses instead of semester-long courses (where the latter might have limited capacity in each semester) are encouraged to plan in advance. You may do so by including the C&E course in your study plan earlier in your candidature; for example, during Year 2 of study.
- This would allow students to plan for other enrichment programmes (such as Student Exchange programmes, NOC and/or UPIP/Internships) during Year 3 instead of delaying this requirement to Year 4 when students will need to devote time for their job search in the final semester as they complete the remaining graduation requirements.
- For more information, please refer to the OUR website here.
- For the list of C&E courses available, please refer here.
- For more enquiries, please check out the FAQ, or email the C&E team at AskCnE@nus.edu.sg.
Several CHS Common Curriculum courses and the respective major gateway courses will be pre-allocated to students across their first two semesters, depending on their major.
The pre-allocation guidelines for Cohort AY2024/25 are shown below. Please click on the links for Cohort AY2021/22, Cohort AY2022/23 and Cohort AY2023/24.
Legend:
X: course will be pre-allocated in the semester indicated
O: course will be randomly pre-allocated over the semesters indicated
Not pre-allocated: course will not be pre-allocated, students are to select for the course during CourseReg
Notes:
- Table is based on the assumption that students have declared the respective majors by the deadline stipulated for each AY. For DSA majors, please see Note S/N 2.
- DSA primary major students with Student ID ending with odd digit will be pre-allocated MA2001 and CS1010S in Semester 1 and DSA1101 and DTK1234 in Semester 2, while those with Student ID ending with even digit will be pre-allocated DSA1101 and DTK1234 in Semester 1 and MA2001 and CS1010S in Semester 2. All DSA students will be pre-allocated with MA2002 in Y1S1 regardless of their DSA1101/MA2001 pairing.
- Students who have declared a primary major in Data Science and Economics before the stipulated deadline for each AY will not be pre-allocated GEA1000 as their gateway course DSE1101 can fulfil the Data Literacy requirement. Students who have declared a primary major in Data Science and Analytics or Statistics, or have declared a second major/minor in Data Analytics/Statistics will not be pre-allocated GEA1000 as well. For all other students, they will be pre-allocated GEA1000. However, if they would like to read ST1131/DSA1101/BT1101 to fulfil the Data Literacy requirements, they can drop GEA1000 and select ST1131/DSA1101/BT1101 instead. Please appeal via the CourseReg system under “Change Admin Allocated classes”. More details can be found here.
- For the 4 Integrated courses (HSA, HSH, HSS, HSI), students will be pre-allocated with any 2 out of the 4 courses per semester. For DTK1234 and GEA1000, either 1 of the courses will be pre-allocated per semester. Generally, students will be pre-allocated the courses by student ID.
However, there may be exceptions: in the scenario where the number of students who have declared a primary major within CHS (other than DSA/DSE/BES/FST/ST) exceeds the quota available for DKT1234 in the first semester, they will be pre-allocated DTK1234 and GEA1000 in the second semester.
- Please refer to the FAQs regarding the pre-allocation of gateway courses.
- In general, all CHS students are expected to complete the common curriculum courses in the semester that they are pre-allocated.
Students enrolled in cross-disciplinary programme, University Scholars Programme (USP), NUS College (NUSC), University Town College Programme (UTCP), Ridge View Residential College Programme (RVRC) or Special Programme in Science (SPS) may be able to map to some of the 13 courses of the CHS Common Curriculum.
Notes:
- Students who undertake to complete the above programme requirements are deemed to partially fulfil the CHS Common Curriculum, as indicated by X, in the table above. This means that students who are accepted into the above programmes will be required to read only the CHS Common Curriculum courses indicated in grey.
- Students are advised to check with their respective programmes for more details.
- For students in UTCP, one course from either the Data Literacy or Digital Literacy pillar will fulfil the 5th UTCP course requirement.
- UTCP/RVRC students are strongly encouraged to read the courses required to fulfil the residential programme requirements in their Year 1. As such, from Cohort AY2023/24 onwards, DTK1234 will be pre-allocated to UTCP/RVRC students in their Year 2 Semester 1 or 2. Student ID ending with even digit will be pre-allocated DTK1234 in Year 2 Semester 1 and Student ID ending with odd digit will be pre-allocated DTK1234 in Year 2 Semester 2.
- As BES/DSE XDP students in NUSC will only read 4 Inquiry Tier courses, any outstanding integrated course that cannot be fulfilled by the NUSC requirements will have to be read from CHS. The outstanding integrated course will be either HSH1000, HSA1000 or HSS1000, depending on the NUSC HSS course read. The outstanding integrated course has to be completed within the first 2 years.
- Please write in to askchs@nus.edu.sg and indicate the course that you wish to be pre-allocated with during that semester’s CourseReg exercise.
- For mapping to the Writing pillar, students in Cohort AY2021/22 in the special programmes (eg. UTCP, RVRC) reading the DDP in Mathematics and Computer Science are required to complete ES2660 Communicating in the Information Age still. For students from Cohort AY2022/23 onwards reading the DDP in Mathematics and Computer Science, please refer to the section “CHS Common Curriculum Courses for Double Degree Programmes” below.
- NUSC students with the following declared majors will read the course prescribed by their major for the NUSC Data Literacy pillar instead of Reasoning with Data — Statistics (ST1131), Data Science and Analytics (DSA1101) and Data Science and Economics (DSE1101). This is also applicable to declared 2nd major or minor. Likewise, CHS students pursuing a quantitative course (Mathematics (MA), Quantitative Finance (QF), Data Science and Analytics (DSA), Statistics (ST), Physics majors, and the Bioinformatics minor) who read CS1010 (or its variants) will read that instead of Computational Problem Solving. This is also applicable to declared 2nd major or minor.
- NUSC students can read ST MCEs NST2046 or NST2056 to fulfil the Artificial Intelligence CHS Common Curriculum requirement, if they are not used to fulfil other CHS Common Curriculum requirements.
- NUSC students can read HSS MCEs NHS2019 – NHS2053 to fulfil the CHS Common Curriculum Asian Studies requirement, if they are not used to fulfil other CHS Common Curriculum requirements.
Students in CHS have the flexibility of reading a double degree programme within CHS (between contrasting primary majors), or with another Faculty/College/School outside CHS.
For DDPs within CHS
Students will only need to read one set of CHS Common Curriculum requirement.
For DDPs involving another Faculty/College/School outside CHS
Students will need to fulfil both the CHS Common Curriculum and the common curriculum of the respective Faculty/College/School. Taking into consideration the possible mappings of both sets of common curriculum, the courses that DDP students should read to fulfil the requirements of both sets of common curriculum can be seen below:
- Double Degree Programme between CHS and CDE (for Cohorts AY2021/22 onwards)
- Double Degree Programme between CHS and SoC (for Cohorts AY2022/23 onwards)
Notes:
- For DDP students whose primary faculty in FoS, pre-allocation of Common Curriculum courses will be based on the same pre-allocation table as the Single Degree Programme students. For more information, please see above.
- DDP students are generally expected to complete the Level 1 Integrated courses i.e. HSI1000/HSH1000/HSA1000/HSS1000 within the first 4 semesters of their DDP candidature. Thus, students should read at least one of these courses per semester in their first 4 semesters of their DDP candidature. For SoC students who need to be pre-allocated with DTK1234, the course will be pre-allocated in the 5th Semester of their DDP candidature if the student did not fulfil the pillar by then.
- For DDP students admitted from AY2024/25 onwards, all DDP students (whose 2nd degree is from FoS) will be pre-allocated with HSI1000 by CourseReg Round 1 of their first semester of DDP candidature. The only exceptions are CDE and NUSC students. For students who wish to read SP2274 instead of HSI1000, please write in via the UG enquiry form or submit an appeal under “Change admin allocated class” in CourseReg to request for the admin’s assistance to drop HSI1000 for you.
- In subsequent semesters, DDP students (whose 2nd degree is from FoS) should inform the Science Dean’s Office (Undergraduate section) before the start of each CourseReg exercise for the Common Curriculum course (HSH1000/HSA1000/HSS1000) that he/she wishes to be pre-allocated with. Without which, one of the above courses will be randomly pre-allocated to the student by CourseReg Round 1 and the student will be required to read the pre-allocated course accordingly.
General Education (GE)
The General Education (GE) curriculum consists of courses that cut across the wide range of disciplines that a comprehensive university offers. It encourages students to explore disciplinary practices and thinking in the humanities, social sciences, sciences and engineering sciences. The GE curriculum also engages all students in discussions about the social, cultural, scientific, and historical topics that will, at the same time, lay the foundations for important life skills such as critical thinking, communication, and reasoning. In a nutshell, the NUS GE curriculum aspires to inculcate the habits or qualities of mind that define a successful graduate.
GE consists of five pillars:
- Human Cultures
- Asking Questions
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Singapore Studies
- Thinking and Expression
Students from the 2015 cohort (except those from the Ridgeview Residential College or RVRC) are not required to read the Asking Questions pillar. Instead, students are required to read one course each from the four pillars plus an additional course from either the Human Cultures, Singapore Studies or Thinking and Expression pillar to fulfil the GE requirements. Students from the 2016 cohort and onwards are required to read and pass five GE courses, one from each pillar.
Students are strongly encouraged to complete the GE courses within the first two years of their candidature.
GER1000 – Quantitative Reasoning
GER1000 – Quantitative Reasoning is the course offered under the Quantitative Reasoning pillar.
As with all GE courses in the new curriculum, GER1000 is to be read by students matriculating in AY2015/16 onwards from the participating faculties. For Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) students, GER1000 is to be read by students matriculating in AY2016/2017 onwards.
For students matriculated in AY2015/2016 ONLY: In line with the current arrangements, students in the University Scholars Programme (USP) and University Town College Programme (UTCP) will fulfil their University Level Requirements as part of the USP and UTCP respectively. Therefore, USP and UTCP students are exempted from reading GER1000.
Please refer to this website for detailed course information on GER1000.
Students admitted from AY2021/22 onwards (except students from Law, Medicine, Dentistry) will experience a new curriculum introduced by the GE Reform, which aims to ensure that the GE curriculum continues to provide a unique and relevant learning experience for students to thrive in today’s rapidly-changing world. The new curriculum features the following six pillars:
- Cultures and Connections
- Critique and Expression
- Data Literacy
- Digital Literacy
- Singapore Studies
- Communities and Engagement
For CHS-FoS majors
The 6 GE pillars are embedded within the CHS Common Curriculum, hence CHS students will satisfy the GE requirements within the CHS Common Curriculum.
For Pharmacy majors
Students are required to read one course for each GE pillar as follows:
| GE Pillar | Courses |
| Cultures and Connections | GEC-coded courses |
| Critique and Expression | GEX-coded courses |
| Data Literacy |
GEA1000, ST1131, DSA1101 or BT1101 |
| Digital Literacy | CS1010S (or its variants), COS1000, CM3267, LSM2302, SP2273, DYOM edX CS50 Introduction to Computer Science |
| Singapore Studies | Cohort AY2021/22: GESS-coded courses Cohort AY2022/23: SPH1901 Social and Behavioural Determinants of Health |
| Communities and Engagement | Exempted For more information, please click here |
Pharmacy students who are enrolled in USP, UTCP, or RVRC may be able to map to some of the courses of the GE curriculum. For the GE pillar(s) not satisfied within these programmes, students are required to read one GE course from the outstanding GE pillar(s). Please refer to the website of the respective programmes for more information.
*For the Data Literacy pillar, students will be pre-allocated GEA1000 as seen below. However, if they would like to read ST1131/DSA1101/BT1101 to fulfil the Data Literacy requirements, they can drop GEA1000 and select ST1131/DSA1101/BT1101 instead. Please appeal via the ModReg system under “Drop Lec/Tut allocated by admin”. More details can be found here.
Faculty Requirements
(For Cohorts AY2020/21 and before)
Students matriculated in AY2020/21 and before are to fulfil the faculty requirements as part of the graduation requirements as tabulated below:
| Programme | Faculty Requirements |
| B.Sc. | 12 Units from 3 distinct subject groups outside the group(s) under which the major falls. |
| B.Sc. (Hons.) | 16 Units from at least 3 distinct subject groups outside the group(s) under which the major falls (where 4 Units may come from the subject group under which the major falls, but not bearing the prefix of the major). |
|
B.Sc. For FST majors matriculated in AY2015/16 onwards |
4 Units from Professional Placement Programme, and 8 Units from two distinct subject groups outside the subject group(s) under which the major falls. |
|
B.Sc. For FST majors matriculated in AY2015/16 onwards |
4 Units from Professional Placement Programme, and
12 Units from at least two distinct subject groups outside the group(s) under which the major falls (where 4 Units may come from the subject group under which the major falls, but not bearing the prefix of the major.) |
|
B.Sc.(Pharm.)/B.Sc.(Pharm.Hons.) (For students matriculated from AY2014/15 to AY2019/20) |
Read and pass the following essential courses for Pharmacy major: AY1130, PY1131, PA1113, PX2108 |
|
B(Pharm)/B(Pharm) (Hons) (For students matriculated in AY2020/21) |
Faculty requirements are subsumed within the major requirements |
Information on the different subject groups can be found in the subsequent section.
| Subject Group | Majors in this Group | Course Codes in this Group |
| Computing Sciences |
Quantitative Finance, Computational Biology |
CZXXXX, CSXXXX*, COS1000/COS2000, IT1001*, IT1002*, IT1006*, QFXXXX, ZBXXXX, CM3267 |
| Chemical Sciences | Chemistry, Food Science & Technology, Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmacy |
CMXXXX, FSTXXXX, PHSXXXX, PRXXXX, FSC4208 |
| Life Sciences |
Food Science & Technology, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Science, |
FSTXXXX, LSMXXXX, PHSXXXX, PRXXXX, FSC2101 |
| Mathematical & Statistical Sciences |
Applied Mathematics, Quantitative Finance, Mathematics, |
CZXXXX, MAXXXX, STXXXX, QFXXXX, DSAXXXX |
| Physical Sciences | Physics | PCXXXX |
| Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Sciences | – | SP1201 or FMS12XX(B, C, M, P, S), FMS1201D (for Pre‐Med students only), SP1202 (or one of the University Town pilot Writing Programme courses coded as WPxxxx, only applicable to cohorts who matriculated prior to AY2011/12)**, SP1203**, SP2251, SP3201, SP3202, SP3203, SP3277, SP1541^, SP2201, SP4261, SP4262, SP4263, SP4264, SP4265, SP4266, FSC3101, FSC4201, FSC4202, FSC4203, FSC4204, FSC4205, FSC4206, FSC4207 |
* Courses CSxxxx, IT1001, IT1002 and IT1006 are offered by the School of Computing but if read, may be counted towards Faculty requirements from the Computing Sciences Subject Group. Please note that edX MOOCs CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science cannot be used to satisfy the faculty requirement.
** FoS students who have not read SP1202 may take one of these pilot UTWP courses to fulfil the Faculty Requirements. Students who have read SP1202 may still take one of these pilot UTWP courses and have it counted as a Unrestricted Electives (UE). Students who choose to read SP1202 and one of these pilot UTWP courses will only have SP1202 counted as Faculty Requirements and the pilot UTWP course as UE. Pharmacy students, who are required to read SP1203 for their Faculty Requirements, may only count SP1202 and the pilot UTWP course as UE. Students who intend to use the pilot UTWP course to fulfil the Faculty Requirements should not exercise S/U option on the course. Otherwise, the pilot UTWP course will be counted as UE.
^SP1541 is meant for student Cohort 2015 and after.
| Programme | Provision |
| Special Programme in Science (SPS) |
Students in the B.Sc. (resp. B.Sc. (Hons.)) Programme who have passed three (resp. four) of the six SPS Programme courses, namely SP2171, SP2173, SP2174, SP3172, SP3175 and SP3176, are deemed to have completed 12 Units (resp. 16 Units) of the Faculty Requirement from 3 distinct subject groups outside the group under which their major falls. Students in the B.Sc. Programme who have passed two or fewer of the SPS Programme courses are required to read courses from any subject group outside the group(s) under which the major falls, to make up 12 Units. Students in the B.Sc. (Hons.) Programme who have passed three or fewer of the SPS Programme courses are required to read courses from any subject group outside the group(s) under which the major falls, to make up 16 Units. Up to one of these courses read may come from the subject group under which the major falls, but not bearing the prefix of the major. Students who may have part of their Faculty Requirements fulfilled by courses within their majors can use the remaining Units as Unrestricted Electives. Note: SP2171 is a course that spans two semesters. Students who withdraw from the Programme while still reading SP2171 will not be allowed to continue enrolling in SP2171. |
| University Scholars Programme (USP |
Students who have passed the following Inquiry courses under the USP revised curriculum (for Cohort 2012/13 onwards) can count it towards Faculty requirements as follows: UIT220X/NST2029/NST2030/NST2031/NST2032/NST2033/NST2034 ‐ Counted towards Computing Sciences subject group UPC2208/NST2025 ‐ Counted towards Chemical Sciences subject group UPC2206/NST2023 ‐ Counted towards Physical Sciences subject group UPC2207/NST2024 ‐ Counted towards Physical Sciences subject group UPC2209/NST2026 ‐ Counted towards Physical Sciences subject group ULS22XX/NST200X ‐ Counted towards Life Sciences subject group UBMXXXX/NST2035/NST2036 ‐ Counted towards Life Sciences subject group UQRXXXX/NST2016/NST2017/NST2018/NST2019/NST2020/NST2021 ‐ Counted towards Mathematical & Statistical Sciences group UNLXXXX/NST2009/NST2010/NST2011/NST2012/NST2013/NST2014/NST2015 ‐ Counted towards Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Sciences group UPC2204 ‐ Counted towards Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Sciences group UPC2210/NST2027 ‐ Counted towards Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Sciences group UPC2211/NST2028 ‐ Counted towards Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Sciences group |
Freshman Seminars provide an unparalleled opportunity for freshmen and faculty to explore a scholarly topic of mutual interest in small group settings of 15 students. Each Freshman Seminar course earns four Units and can be used to satisfy faculty requirements under the Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Sciences subject group.
Freshman Seminars are excellent platforms for students to engage in in-depth discussions on an intellectual topic and to present their ideas without the pressure of examinations. Through the process, students will sharpen their critical reasoning skills. Intellectual curiosity will be sparked and students will be oriented into the academic environment of NUS. Students can enrol in a Freshman Seminar topic to deepen their understanding of a topic or simply to explore an unfamiliar topic which they would otherwise have no opportunity to do so within their majors.
The conducive environment of a Freshman Seminar promotes the forging of rapport between students and faculty, creating mentorship opportunities that will extend to the later undergraduate years.
Freshmen Seminar course are open to freshmen of the Faculty of Science in their first two semesters at NUS. Senior students who have missed taking the Freshman Seminar are welcome to apply, subject to availability. Priority will, however, be given to freshmen.
Please refer to NUSMods for more information about course descriptions and seminar topics.
Computational Thinking Requirement
(For Cohorts AY2020/21 and before)
| Majors | Options to fulfil Computational Thinking requirement |
|
Computational Biology, Data Science & Analytics, Mathematics & Applied Mathematics, Quantitative Finance, Statistics |
These Majors will continue to acquire higher‐order computational and programming skills in the form of CS1010S Programming Methodology (or its variants) (within the Major’s core requirement). Where the major allows CS1101S Programming Methodology to be read in place of CS1010S (or its variants), CS1101S will also fulfil the higher‐order computational and programming skills requirement for the student from that major. |
| Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Science, Physics |
Option 1: COS1000/COS2000 – Computational Thinking for Scientists |
| Chemistry, Food Science & Technology |
Option 1: COS1000/COS2000 – Computational Thinking for Scientists or Option 2: CM3267 – Computational Thinking and Programming in Chemistry or Option 3: CS1010S (or its variants) – Programming Methodology or CS1101S Programming Methodology or Option 4: LSM2302 Computational Thinking for Life Sciences or Option 5: CS50 Introduction to Computer Science DYOM edX MOOCs |
| Pharmacy |
It has been decided that the undergraduates for Cohort AY2017/18 would be exempted from taking separate CT courses. For Cohort AY2018/19 to AY2020/21, to read one of the following as an Unrestricted Elective course: |
| Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) |
All undergraduates (from FASS and FoS, in BES, inclusive of BES students in the UTCP or USP programme), will be required to do GET1050 Computational Reasoning. Students may choose to take the courses below as an alternative to fulfil the CT requirement: Higher-level computing courses (e.g. CS1010x, COS1000/COS2000, CM3267, LSM2302) can also be taken in place of GET1050. BES students doing the UTCP at Residential College 4 (RC4) and have read a Junior Seminar course (i.e., UTC1702%) are exempted from GET1050 as the RC4 programme encourages explicit use of representing thinking, using computer models. |
Notes
1. For all FoS majors, the option to take “CS1010S (or its variants), or CS1101S – Programming Methodology” is open (even if it is not within your major programme requirements), and can be used to fulfil the CT requirement. However, do note that the availability of this course is subject to successful bidding.
2. COS1000/COS2000 and COS2101 will count as a course from the Computing Sciences subject group of the FoS Faculty requirements.
3. CM3267 will be offered with effect from Sem 2 AY2018/19, and can count as a course from the Computing Sciences subject group, or from the Chemical Sciences subject group of the FoS Faculty requirements.
4. CS50 Introduction to Computer Science from edX cannot be used to satisfy the faculty requirement. As CS50 is not equivalent to CS1010S (or its variant), CS50 will not serve as pre‐requisite for higher computing courses. Also, there is a one‐way preclusion in place, where students who have read CS50 will be precluded from reading CS1010S. Students who are required to read CS1010S (or its variant) as part of their majors/second majors/minors are to take CS1010S (or its variant) instead of CS50. For students who have taken CS50 but are required to read CS1010S (or its variant) as part of their majors/second majors/minors, please write in to SOC to be allowed to take CS1010S (or its variant) and CS50 will be counted towards the UE. Please also note that the number of credits transferred for CS50 is subject to the maximum 8 Units allowed for DYOM. For example, if a student has already completed 5 Units worth of edX MOOCs, only 3 Units (and not 5 Units) can be counted for CS50.
Special Programme in Science
Students who have completed the Special Programme in Science (SPS)’s requirement, by successfully passing the following courses:
- SP2171 Discovering Science,
- SP2173 Atoms to Molecules,
- SP2174 The Cell,
- SP3172 Integrated Science Project,
- SP3175 The Earth, and
- SP3176 The Universe,
are deemed to have fulfilled the CT requirement.
A student who does not complete the SPS requirement by passing all 6 SPS courses, would need to ensure that he/she fulfils the CT requirement by reading a course that counts towards the CT requirement, according to the options to fulfil CT requirement for his/her major.
Double Degree Programmes (DDP)
Higher‐order computational skills, such as coding or programming methodology, are required for the following schools and faculties ‐ Science, Business, Engineering, Design & Environment, and Computing. For FASS, basic skills in CT are required, and this is achieved via compulsory course, GET1031A/GET1050.
- For students doing DDP in FoS and FASS, the CT requirement for FoS will prevail.
- In the case of a student who is required to do higher‐order CT (e.g., BComp (Hons) – BSc (Hons) Double Honours Programmes) in both degrees, the higher‐order CT course which has been listed as a common requirement by both faculties, will apply. Otherwise, the Home Faculty’s CT requirement should then take precedence.
Double Majors (DMP)
The same set of principles to apply – refer to DDP (1) and (2) above, if your 1st major is from FoS, and your 2nd major is from another Faculty.
If both your majors are from FoS, as long as you have read a course fulfilling CT requirement in either one of your majors, you would be deemed to have fulfilled the CT requirement.
Transfer cases (full credit transfer)
- A student transferring out of FASS to FoS, who brings his or her grade obtained for GET1031A/GET1050, should still fulfil the CT requirement stipulated by the new Home Faculty, FoS.
- A student transferring out of a School or Faculty which has higher‐order CT requirement, may fulfil CT requirement with this grade and credit obtained. Nevertheless, if the new Home Faculty has another CT course being listed as a compulsory programme requirement, he or she must still fulfil the new Home Faculty’s programme requirement. FoS students transferring to another Faculty should check with their new Home Faculty on how to fulfil the CT requirement.
English Proficiency Courses
Students will have to take English Proficiency courses based on their Qualifying English Test (QET) results.
- Students who obtain Band 1 will have to take ES1000 followed by ES1103.
- Students who obtain Band 2 will have to take ES1103.
- Students who obtain Band 3 are exempted from these English courses.
Students who are required to take both ES1000 and ES1103 should try to take ES1000 in the first semester. If they are unable to secure the course, they may take it in the second semester in their first year of study. Students who are required to take only ES1103 may do so in either the first or the second semester. Students who need to fulfil the ES requirement for graduation must do so by the end of their fourth semester at the latest.
Please refer here for detailed information about the English proficiency courses.
SP1541 Exploring Science Communication through Popular Science
This course aims to equip students with the relevant knowledge and skills of how to communicate complex scientific content in ways that are comprehensible and accessible to non-experts. The course presents principles and strategies to deepen students’ understanding of the differences between scientific academic texts such as research reports and popular science genres such as science news articles (Haupt, 2014). Students will be exposed to popular science texts in various scientific disciplines, which will serve as the basis for group discussions, individual presentations and the writing of science news articles targeted at the educated non-specialist audience.
SP1541 is a compulsory course for all Science students (except for Pharmacy and Environmental Studies students, and students in Special Programmes such as SPS, USP and UTown residential Programme, and students residing in RVRC). It is a 48‐hour course taught over 12 weeks with 2 two‐hour sectional teachings per week.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- read and analyze features of popular science book chapters and articles;
- critically evaluate the impact of popularized features of science communication on the audience;
- disseminate scientific concepts and ideas to non-specialists in the form of popular science news articles; and
- present scientific concepts and ideas in a coherent and engaging manner to non-specialists.
Course Registration
Students need to bid for SP1541 via ModReg. If you are required to take the Qualifying English Test (QET), ES1000 &/or ES1103, you are required to pass these before reading SP1541.
Preclusions/Exemptions
The following groups of students will be precluded/exempted from reading SP1541:
- Students who are UTCP students and have read and passed the IEM, UTW courses
- Students who are USP/NUSC students and have read and passed UWC courses
- Students who are RVRC residents and have read and passed ES1601 (for Cohort AY2020/21 and earlier) or completed the RVRC programme (for Cohort AY2021/22 onwards)
- Pharmacy students
- Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) students of Cohort AY2020/21 and earlier
- Students who are in SPS and have read and passed SP2171 (for Cohort AY2020/21 and earlier) or SP2271 (for Cohort AY2021/22 onwards)
- Students who have read and passed FAS1101
Graduation Requirement and GPA
SP1541 is a graduation requirement. For Cohort AY2020/21 and earlier, students will use this course to fulfil their Faculty Requirement. For Cohort AY2021/22 onwards, SP1541 satisfies the writing requirement of the CHS Common Curriculum.
It is letter‐graded and carries 4 Units. Students are advised to complete this course as early as possible during their candidature. Students who have not completed SP1541 will not be allowed to apply for Student Exchange Programmes and Study Abroad Degree Programmes.
S/U Option
Students are allowed to exercise the S/U option on SP1541.
For enquiries, please submit them via the MS Form here.
Double Counting of Courses
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Second Major
A Second Major consists of at least 48 Units, of which:
- Up to 16 Units may be used to meet the requirements for both the Second Major and the Faculty/Major/Second Major/Minor requirements (Note: for counting towards a Minor, only a maximum of 8 Units are allowed);
- At least 16 Units must be at Level 3000; and
- A minimum 60% of the Second Major requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by one or more NUS faculty members. These would consist of graded courses with assigned grade points, or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The other 40% of credits may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, provided these Units are earned from courses deemed relevant to the particular Major.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Minor
A Minor consists of at least 24 Units, of which:
- Up to 8 Units may be used to meet the requirements for both the Minor and Faculty Requirements, a Major/Second Major, or another Minor, subject to the agreement of the particular department(s)/programme(s) or Faculty/School hosting the Minor.
- At least 12 Units for any Minor programme must be taken from outside the entire set of courses that are listed for the major(s)/another minor that the student is taking/has taken.
- A minimum 16 Units of the Minor requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS, unless indicated otherwise by Faculties/Departments for specific minors. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by one or more NUS faculty members. These would consist of graded courses with assigned grade points, or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The other 8 Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, provided these Units are earned from courses deemed relevant to the particular Minor programme.
Double Counting Rules Concerning Faculty Requirements
The courses used to satisfy the “Faculty requirement” mentioned above are courses OUTSIDE the primary major. Hence, courses that are WITHIN the primary major and can satisfy Science Faculty requirements are not part of the double counting policy involving Faculty requirements.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Second Major
A Second Major consists of at least 40 Units, of which:
- Up to 16 Units (40% of the total requirements for Second Major) may be used to meet (i) the Second Major requirement and (ii) another requirement, e.g., Faculty, Major, Second Major, Minor, Specialisation or other requirement.
- At least 12 Units must be at Level 3000; and
- A minimum 60% of the Second Major requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by NUS faculty members. These consist of graded courses or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The remaining Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, from courses deemed relevant to the particular Second Major or Minor.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Minor
A Minor consists of at least 20 Units, of which:
- Up to 8 Units (40% of the total requirements for Minor) may be used to meet (i) the Minor requirement and (ii) another requirement, e.g., Faculty, Major, Second Major, Minor, Specialisation or other requirement.
- At least 12 Units for any Minor programme must be taken from outside the entire set of courses that are listed for the major(s)/another minor that the student is taking/ has taken.
- A minimum 60% of the total Units of the Minor requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by NUS faculty members. These consist of graded courses or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The remaining Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, from courses deemed relevant to the particular Second Major or Minor.
Double Counting Rules Concerning Faculty Requirements
The courses used to satisfy the “Faculty requirement” mentioned above are courses OUTSIDE the primary major. Hence, courses that are WITHIN the primary major and can satisfy Science Faculty requirements are not part of the double counting policy involving Faculty requirements.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Second Major
A Second Major consists of at least 40 Units, of which:
- Up to 16 Units (40% of the total requirements for Second Major) may be used to meet (i) the Second Major requirement and (ii) another requirement, e.g., General Education, College (Common Curriculum), Faculty requirement outside CHS, Major, Second Major, Minor, Specialisation or other requirement.
- At least 12 Units must be at Level 3000; and
- A minimum 60% of the Second Major requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by NUS faculty members. These consist of graded courses or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The remaining Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, from courses deemed relevant to the particular Second Major or Minor.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Minor
A Minor consists of at least 20 Units, of which:
- Up to 8 Units (40% of the total requirements for Minor) may be used to meet (i) the Minor requirement and (ii) another requirement, e.g., General Education, College (Common Curriculum), Faculty requirement outside CHS, Major, Second Major, Minor, Specialisation or other requirement.
- At least 12 Units for any Minor programme must be taken from outside the entire set of courses that are listed for the major(s)/another minor that the student is taking/ has taken.
- Minimum 60% of the total Units of the Minor requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by NUS faculty members. These consist of graded courses or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The remaining Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, from courses deemed relevant to the particular Second Major or Minor.
Double Counting Rules Concerning a Specialisation
A Specialisation consists of at least 20 Units of higher-level courses of a specialised nature within a Major, of which:
- Up to 8 units (40% of the total requirements for a Specialisation) may be double counted and used to meet the Specialisation requirement and another requirement (e.g., Second Major, Minor etc.)
- At least 12 units of the Specialisation must be distinct and not overlapping.
- Minimum 60% of the total Units of the Specialisation requirements must be earned from courses read in NUS. Courses read at NUS include all courses taught, co-taught, supervised or co-supervised by NUS faculty members. These consist of graded courses or courses with an ‘S’ or ‘CS’ grade. The remaining Units may be earned through credit transfers, advanced placement and exemptions, from courses deemed relevant to the particular Second Major, Minor or Specialisation.
Double Counting Rules Concerning College Requirements
The standard double counting rules between a second major, minor or specialisation with College requirements applies ie. up to 16 Units with a second major; up to 8 Units with a minor or specialisation. Also, up to 8 Units may be used to meet (i) the Major requirement and (ii) the General Education or College (e.g., Common Curriculum) requirement.
Limit on Level 1000 Courses
The limit on the number of Level-1000 courses to be counted towards fulfilment of graduation requirements is 60 Units, excluding:
- CFG1010
- CFG1002 (Cohorts AY2016/17 onwards)
- Courses under the Design-Your-Own-Course (DYOC) initiative
- ES1103
- Polytechnic UEM APCs
- HS1301 (Cohorts AY2021/22 onwards)
More information can be found here: https://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/academic-information-policies/undergraduate-students/degree-requirements
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Option
The Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) option is intended to encourage students to pursue their intellectual interests, without undue concern that exploring a new subject area may adversely affect their GPA. The S/U declaration exercise will be conducted upon the release of examination results and will end by the stipulated deadline, which will be announced each semester. In each exercise, students can exercise S/U options on courses eligible for the S/U option read in the current semester, and those read in the preceding semesters in the same Academic Year. Thereafter, the student’s decision will be considered final, and the student cannot amend or withdraw any S/U options exercised previously.
With the launch of Enhanced Grade-free Scheme with effect from AY2016/17 Semester 1, students may exercise the S/U option for up to 32 Units for courses read in the first year, including the first two regular semesters and first year special term. If this is not fully utilised, the S/U option may be exercised in subsequent semesters, for up to 12 Units.
Variations on the limit of S/U options that can be exercised apply for specific groups of students:
- Students without prior university experience but are granted 20 or more Advanced Placement Credits (APCs) at the point of admission to NUS may exercise the S/U option for up to 20 Units in the first year; if this is not fully utilised, the S/U option may still be exercised in subsequent semesters, for up to 12 Units.
- Students with some prior university experience (which are being recognised towards the NUS degree) may exercise the S/U option for up to 12 Units anytime during their candidature, including the first year.
- Students with a prior university degree are not eligible for the grade-free scheme.
| S/U Options Available | |||||
| Cohort AY2020/21 and before | Cohort AY2021/22 onwards | ||||
| 1st Year |
Beyond 1st Year (if unutilized) |
1st Year (including 1st Year Special Term) | Beyond 1st Year Special Term (if unutilized) | ||
|
Newly admitted students without prior university experience. This includes students with: – Clean slate transfer from another University or Faculty – Re-admitted into NUS on a clean slate |
< 20 APCs | 32 Units | 12 Units | 32 Units | 12 Units |
| ≥ 20 APCs | 20 Units | 12 Units | 20 Units | 12 Units | |
|
Students with some prior University experience. This includes: – Transfer from another University with credits – From partner Universities whose first year of study is not at NUS – Enrolled in DDP where Law is one of the partner faculties and hence spent their first year in Law |
12 Units | ||||
| Students with a prior University degree | 0 Units | ||||
The S/U option is applicable for the following courses:
- All Level 1000 courses.
- Level 2000 courses without NUS courses as pre-requisites.
- MA2001, MA2002 (for Cohorts AY2016/17 onwards)
- MA2301 (for Cohorts AY2021/22 onwards)
- Centre for Language Studies’ (CLS) language courses at all levels.
- Yale-NUS College’s (YNC) language courses at all levels.
- Centre for English Language Communication’s (CELC) Level 2000 Communication and Ideas & Exposition courses. (CS2101, ENV2302, ES2002, ES2007D, ES2531, ES2660, IS2101, UTW2001%)
- CM2122, CM2133, CM2143, FST2109, LSM2105, LSM2106, LSM2107 (for Cohorts AY2016/17 to AY2020/21)
The S/U option is not applicable for the following courses:
- Level 2000 courses with NUS courses as pre-requisites.
- Courses of Level 3000 and above.
- Courses dropped with W or F-grade (during the course dropping period).
- Courses assigned IC grade.
- Courses in which student had committed academic offense.
- Courses in which the Board of Discipline had prescribed a revised grade.
- University Scholars Program’s (USP) Writing and Critical Thinking courses (UWC2101%) and Quantitative Reasoning courses (UQF2101%).
- Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) Level 1000 Major Study courses.
- Zero-Unit courses.
More details can be found on the S/U Homepage in the Student Portal here.
Students are to take note of the following when exercising the S/U option:
- Both the ‘S’ and ‘U’ grade count towards the total S/U Option entitlement.
- For courses read on an S/U basis, the unit is obtained only if a student attains a Satisfactory ‘S’ grade for the course.
- A Satisfactory ‘S’ grade is an equivalent of a ‘D’ grade and above.
- All courses read on S/U basis are excluded from the computation of the GPA.
- S/U option, once exercised, is irrevocable. Students may not later request for a conversion to a letter grade.
