Grading in Courses

Grading

1. All course grades, including those assigned after a deferred examination(s) are derived from an evaluation of examination and term work, unless otherwise decided.

2. With the exception of courses explicitly required for certification by a professional body, or other exceptions agreed to by Senate, students pass or fail a course on the basis of final course average, without the additional requirement of having to obtain a passing grade on a final examination. (This does not preclude the possibility of a final examination representing more than 50 per cent of the final grade in a particular course or the requirement that a student pass a specific course lab component.)

3. Unless Senate agrees to explicit exemptions, eligibility to proceed in or graduate from an undergraduate degree program will not be based on a minimum grade requirement for each major course. It should be noted that this does not preclude setting requirements for a minimum cumulative grade point average in a major subject area. Nor does this preclude setting individual course grade requirements when a course is a prerequisite for upper-level courses or as part of a core requirement. Course grades are not official until released by the University.

4. The letter-grade system is the fundamental system of assessment of performance in undergraduate programs at York University. In courses where percentages are used as a means of reporting grades on individual pieces of work, the following conversion table is to be used in converting percentage grades to letter grades, unless alternative provisions for scaling and/or conversion are announced to students in writing within the first two weeks of classes. 

Repeating passed or failed courses for academic credit:

1. Students are allowed to repeat a passed or failed course once for academic degree or certificate credit. Students should note that course availability and space considerations may preclude the possibility of repeating a course in the session they choose.
2. When a student is allowed to repeat a course for academic degree or certificate credit, the second grade will be the grade of record and the only grade calculated in the student’s grade point average (major, cumulative, sessional and overall). A course can be credited only once towards satisfaction of degree or certificate academic credit requirements.
3. The record of both the first and second time the course was taken will appear on the student’s transcript, with the first course designated as NCR (No Credit Retained).
4. The restrictions regarding repeating a passed or failed course also apply to cross-listed courses and course credit exclusions.

The above items do not apply to graduate degree or diploma programs, the BEd degree programs of the Faculty of Education or the JD degree program of Osgoode Hall Law School.

The above items do not apply to practicum courses offered in the Bachelor of Social Work degree program or practicum courses offered in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) degree program.

It should be noted that when a course is repeated, the first instance of the course being taken and the grade that was awarded will continue to appear on the transcript with the designation NCR (No Credit Retained) added as a qualification beside the grade.  The transcript legend will explain that the NCR designation means that neither the course credit nor grade have been included in the calculation of the student’s grade point average.

Pass/Fail alternative grading option:

The Faculty wants capable upper-year students to feel free to enrol in free-choice courses without fear of jeopardizing their grade point average. For this reason, students may take a limited number of such courses for full degree credit on an ungraded basis. Courses taken on this basis are listed on the transcript as either pass or fail. Neither of these two grades is calculated into the student’s grade point averages. The course director forwards a written evaluation of the student’s work in the course to the student and to the Registrar’s Office. The following regulations apply to courses taken as a pass/fail alternative grading option:

• Only students who are not under academic warning, debarment warning, or academic probation may take such courses.
• Students may apply to take such courses only after they have successfully completed (passed) 24 credits.
• Courses taken on a pass/fail alternative grading option may not be used for courses taken to satisfy major, minor, general education or certificate requirements.
• The ungraded option cannot be used by students in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies for 1000-level science courses or non-major courses required to satisfy program requirements.
• Students registered in an Honours program may take a maximum of 12 credits as a pass/fail alternative grading option.
• Students registered in a bachelor program may take a maximum of six credits as a pass/fail alternative grading option.
• Students who wish to designate a course as pass/fail alternative grading option must do so within the first two weeks of the term in which the course begins; they must first obtain the signature of the course director on the form available for this purpose from Student Client Services. The completed form should then be returned to Student Client Services.
• Students who elect to complete a course as a pass/fail alternative grading option can switch back to a graded basis until the last date to drop a course without academic penalty.

Credit/No Credit

The notations Credit and No Credit will be used when an entire course is being offered on an ungraded basis. No Credit will count as an earned failing grade of F in the grade point average.

Grades in Courses

The grading scheme (i.e. kinds and weights of assignments, essays, exams etc.) is to be announced, and be available in writing, within the first two weeks of classes.

Under normal circumstances, graded feedback worth at least 15 per cent of the final grade for fall, winter or summer term, and 30 per cent for full year courses offered in the fall/winter session, will be received by students in all courses prior to the final withdrawal date from a course without receiving a grade, with the following exceptions:

• graduate or upper level undergraduate courses where course work typically, or at the instructor’s discretion, consists of a single piece of work and/or is based predominantly (or solely) on student presentations (e.g. Honours theses or graduate research papers not due by the drop date etc.);
• practicum courses;
• ungraded courses;
• courses in Faculties where the drop date occurs within the first three weeks of classes;
• courses which run on a compressed schedule (a course which accomplishes its academic credits of work at a rate of more than one credit hour per two calendar weeks).

Note: under unusual and/or unforeseeable circumstances which disrupt the academic norm, instructors are expected to provide grading schemes and academic feedback in the spirit of these regulations, as soon as possible.

Subsequent Changes

In exceptional circumstances, a previously announced marking scheme for a course may be changed, but only with the unanimous consent of students; the new marking scheme must also be distributed in written form.

In courses where percentages are used as a means of reporting grades on individual pieces of work, the conversion table is used in converting percentage grades to letter grades, unless alternative provisions for scaling and/or conversion are announced to students in writing within the first two weeks of classes.

Requests for Reappraisal of Final Grades

Students may, with sufficient grounds, request that a final grade in a course be reappraised. Further information may be obtained from the department/division offering the course. Students applying to have a grade reappraised in a Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies course should note the following:

• Requests for reappraisal must be filed with the unit offering the course within 21 calendar days of the release of the final grade in the course.
• Students may question the marking of specific pieces of work, or the overall course grade. Normally, however, only written work can be reassessed.
• When a student asks for a reappraisal, an original grade may be raised, lowered or confirmed.
• Students wishing to request the reappraisal of a final grade should fill out the appropriate form available from the department/school offering the course and submit it to the same office.
• The decision of the department/school may be appealed to the Faculty only on grounds of procedural irregularity or new evidence.