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2025

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Faculty of Health Sciences

Faculty regulations and information

The rules for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

The General Academic Regulations and General Student Rules apply to all faculties and registered students of the University, as well as all prospective students who have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Pretoria. On registering for a programme, the student bears the responsibility of ensuring that they  familiarise themselves with the General Academic Regulations applicable to their registration, as well as the relevant  faculty-specific and programme-specific regulations and information as stipulated in the relevant yearbook. Ignorance concerning these regulations will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression, or basis for an exception to any of the aforementioned regulations.

1. Selection
A selection process takes place prior to admission for all the undergraduate degree programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

2. Academic Literacy Test
All new undergraduate students who register for the BChD programme in the School of Dentistry and the MBChB and BSportSci programmes in the School of Medicine will be required to write an academic literacy test. On the grounds of this test, students may be required to follow compulsory academic literacy modules (ELH 111 and 112 for students of Dentistry and Medicine, and ELH 121 and 122 for students of Sports Science), which they must pass as one of the requirements for obtaining their degree.

Undergraduate students who register in the School of Healthcare Sciences, the BOH programme in the School of Dentistry and the BCMP programme in the School of Medicine will not be required to write the academic literacy test. The academic literacy modules ELH 121 and ELH 122 are compulsory for all students (School of Healthcare Sciences and BOH programme) and ELH 131 and 132 (BCMP programme), and a pass mark for each of these modules is a requirement for obtaining their degree.

3. Academic information management
It is required of all new first-year students at the University of Pretoria to complete the Academic information management modules (AIM 111 and AIM 121). Details of this module can be found in the Course Catalog.

4. Subminimum in examination papers
Where applicable, the subminima required in examinations appears in the regulations of the degree/diploma in question and in the study guide.

5. Examinations
The examinations in first-semester modules usually take place in May/June and the supplementary examination in July (exception being the MBChB degree which usually takes place in November/December), and the second semester (including year modules) examination take place in October/November and the supplementary examination in November/December.

6. Special examinations
Also refer to General Academic Regulation G12.4.

A student who is prevented from writing the standard examination due to illness or other qualifying circumstances, may be granted permission by the dean to write a special examination in the particular module(s). 

An application to write a special examination, accompanied by supporting documentation in the form of a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner in the case of illness (see Section A21 for more information on medical certificates), or appropriate supporting documents in the case of other qualifying circumstances (see Section A22 for more information on affidavits), accompanied by a letter of motivation, must be submitted to the dean in the prescribed manner, within three days of the date of the particular examination that was not written. If an application could not be submitted on time, a late application supported by the required documentation and a valid reason or motivation for the late application must be submitted to the dean for consideration. 

The date for a special examination is determined by the lecturer, in consultation with the head of the relevant department, if it cannot take place on the scheduled examination or supplementary examination dates. The examination must be conducted as soon as possible after the qualifying circumstances or illness have/has ceased to exist.

7. Re-marking of examination scripts
Also refer to General Academic Regulation G14.

In accordance with the stipulations of the General Academic Regulations, departments give feedback to students after an examination on the framework used by the examiners during the examination. The way in which feedback is given, is determined by the relevant head of department. Students may, after perusal, and after the examination period (which includes the examination and the supplementary examination), within 14 calendar days after commencement of the lectures in the next semester, and after payment of the prescribed fee, apply for the re-marking of an examination script, by an examiner who should be an external examiner from outside of the University) appointed by the relevant head of department.

The Faculty of Health Science furthermore defines the relevant regulation as follows:

1. A student has the right of perusal of his or her examination script before applying for the re-marking of the examination script.

The following is determined by perusal of the script:

• Whether all the answers have been marked.
• Whether the marks awarded, have been calculated correctly.
• Whether the student did in fact answer all the questions.

2. During perusal, the student, the lecturer as well as a third person (staff member) must be present.

If a discussion about the content of the answers in the script develops, the student must be referred to Student Administration, where he or she applies for the re-marking of the examination script.

8. Supplementary examination opportunity

1. A student may be admitted to a supplementary examination in a module in the following instances [except for specific faculty requirements in respect of supplementary examinations in specific blocks for the first to the fifth year of study for the MBChB degree and the first and second year of study for BChD]:
   1. If a final mark of between 40% and 49% has been obtained.
   2. If a pass mark has been obtained but the required subminimum of 40% has not been met in the examination as a whole; or
   3. If a pass mark has been obtained but not the required subminimum in subsections of the module.
2. A student must obtain a minimum of 50% in the supplementary examination to pass.
3. The highest final mark (pass mark) that can be awarded to a student for a supplementary examination, is 50%.

9. Promotion
Also refer to General Academic Regulation G10.3.

In certain departments, as indicated in the yearbook students can be promoted to a next semester or level of a subject without writing the prescribed examination, provided that their preparation is satisfactory and a continuous evaluation mark of at least 65% has been obtained.
Departments where promotion as prescribed above is possible, will inform students within a reasonable time in this regard.

Note:
Students obtain credit for a promoted module only after they have passed an examination in a consecutive module or modules of the subject in question at this University.
Promotion as described above, does not refer to the option that medical students may exercise to have the block mark at the end of the year, validated as the final block mark for a relevant block (i.e. to be exempted from the block examination in the block), provided, inter alia, that a block mark of at least 65% has been obtained in the block in question.