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Rules & Policies on Credits and Exemptions
Credit and exemptions for the UCT LLB Degree (Postgraduate and Undergraduate streams)
External transferring students
Applicants for the postgraduate and undergraduate LLB degree stream who are currently registered at another university's Faculty of Law and who wish to be considered for admission to UCT's Faculty of Law should note the following:
It is required that the minimum period for completion of the LLB degree at UCT is two (2) years, assuming that some courses completed elsewhere can be credited towards the degree.
It is entirely at the discretion of Senate whether courses completed elsewhere are granted credit and exemption.
Applications for courses to be considered for credits must be made on the ACA036 Form which can be downloaded from the UCT website.
You may apply for credits and/or exemptions as soon as you have received your UCT acceptance and your current University's final transcript.
The closing date for applications for credits is mid-December annually.
Note: The fee for exemption from a course, and/or credit for a course completed by another university is R100 per course or per half course with a maximum fee of R500 (see fees booklet rule 3.4).
Policy governing granting of credits in the Law Faculty
Credit may be granted in respect of law courses completed elsewhere, provided that, in the opinion of the Credits Committee of the Faculty, substantial equivalence exists in respect of the content and the standard of the course as well as in respect of the performance of the individual applicant in the course concerned.
The applicant must provide the following information:
The UCT LLB course equivalent
The course code and name of the course they completed
The University at which the course was completed
The NQF level of the course
The year the course was completed
Final mark attained for the course
The duration of the course (whether it was a semester or whole year course)
Number of contact hours per week in the course
Number of essays and tutorials in the course.
The applicant must produce such documentary or other evidence as may be required by the Credits Committee (including but not limited to the certified copy of the transcript; reading lists, course outline and other course materials, copies of tests and examination papers) for the purposes of determining the substantial equivalence referred to in paragraph 1.
The maximum number of law courses in respect of which credit will be granted is 4 (four) whole UCT courses or the equivalent.A UCT LLB course with a F / S / H code carries 1 (one) credit while a W code carries 2 (two) credits.
Where a choice between subjects must be made, the choice will lie with the Committee rather than with the applicant. In making such a choice, the Committee will grant credit for preliminary level courses before intermediate level course, and for intermediate level courses before final level courses. NOTE:Final level core course (ie. Prescribed courses) are, in principle NOT granted credit and exemption.
In respect of non-law courses required for the 4 year Undergraduate LLB, credit and exemption may be granted for such courses completed elsewhere, provided that substantial compliance with the requirements as set out in the Faculty Handbook exists, and that substantial equivalence exists.
No partial credits will be granted.
The application along with all supporting documentation must be sent to law-studies@uct.ac.za.
Internal transferring students
A UCT student who has not been excluded from another faculty within UCT may be considered for admission to the Faculty of Law for the purpose of taking or completing the LLB degree, provided the applicant satisfies the requirements for admission to the degree programme into which the student would be transferring. Successful applicants may be granted credits or exemptions or both for courses already completed, up to a maximum of four full courses (or the equivalent).