These guidelines apply to undergraduate students of the School of Music who are seeking course and/or unit exemption based on external studies they have completed. External studies include study programmes approved by the School, as well as the international summer programmes, visiting programmes, and exchange programmes offered through the Office of Academic Link (OAL) of CUHK-Shenzhen.

Exemption Rules

Each application for course/unit exemption will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Associate Dean (Education) and the Division Head of the School of Music or the relevant course offering school based on the following principles and rules:

1. Types of Exemption: 

a. Exemption of Courses

    Students may apply for exemption from an existing CUHK-Shenzhen course if they have completed an equivalent external course. 

b. Transfer of Units

    If there are no equivalent CUHK-Shenzhen courses, students may apply for transferring a certain number of units gained through their external studies to Free Elective units.

2. Application Assessment Criteria: 

a. The external course should be substantially equivalent and comparable to the CUHK-Shenzhen course to be exempted, in terms of course level, scope, and standards.

b. Students must have achieved a passing grade in the external course.

c. Normally, students should have completed at least 14 contact hours for each unit they wish to exempt.

3. Exemption Limit for Courses and Units: 

a. Exemption of Courses

    Students may apply for exemption from a maximum of 6 courses during their undergraduate studies.

b. Transfer of Units

    Unit exemption is subject to a maximum of 3 Free Elective units for each course taken during external studies and a maximum of 6 Free Elective units during a student’s undergraduate studies.

4. If a course exemption application is approved, the exempted course shall be deemed taken and passed by the student and the number of units assigned to that course shall be regarded as already gained by the student.

5. Courses that have already been taken or are currently being taken at CUHK-Shenzhen cannot be exempted. Students are not allowed to take any course that has been exempted. 

6. A course cannot be exempted if the student has not completed or been exempted from its prerequisite course.

7. Exempted courses will not be included in GPA calculations.

8. Transfer of major does not affect previously approved course/unit exemptions.

Application Materials

To support their applications, students should provide the following materials:

• Official transcript and a certificate of completion (if applicable) issued by the institution offering the course/programme;
• Detailed course syllabus providing information on course descriptions, contents, student contact hours, workload, assessment methods, teaching methods (online/offline), reading lists, learning activities, etc.;
• Updated CUHK-Shenzhen unofficial transcript;
• Official course timetable (if any);
• Any other supplementary information as required.

Application Procedure

Students are encouraged to consult their instructors and/or the School Registry Office regarding course/unit exemption before submitting an application. 

Students are strongly advised to submit their applications before the course registration period to allow time for application processing.

Students should submit the original copies of their supporting materials to the School Registry Office for inspection. They should then submit a unit/course exemption application and upload the soft copies of their supporting materials in the Student Information System (SIS), following the instructions in How to fill in the online Course & Unit Exemptions application form in SIS.

The application process is as follows:

Interpretation

The School of Music reserves the right to interpret these guidelines. In case of any conflicts, the University’s regulations on Course and Unit Exemptions for Undergraduate Students shall prevail. 

August 15, 2023