Transfer credit terms

An exemption refers to the waiving of a prerequisite or required course even if the original course does not significantly match a specific UBC course.

While the original course is granted General Credit, it can be used to substitute for the Exempted course. You would not need to take the Exempted course at UBC if it is required for your program.

On the Transfer Credit Search Tool, for example, an Exemption would be displayed as "PHYS 1st (3). Exempt PHYS 101."

Courses from a recognized institution will be assessed as Specific Credit if matching a UBC course or as General Credit to meet non-major specific or elective degree requirements.

When an exact UBC equivalent course does not exist within the same department, general transfer credit is granted as close as possible to the course completed elsewhere. General Credit will indicate the equivalent subject code, year level, and credit value.

Below are examples of how it can be displayed:

• HIST 1st (3)
  Where an equivalent department does not exist at UBC, general credit will be granted at the faculty level.
• ARTS 1st (3) or SCIE 1st (3)
  If there is no equivalent program or faculty at UBC but the course should still be eligible for academic transfer credit, a more general elective credit will be granted.
• ELEV 1st (3)
  General elective credit might be acceptable to satisfy some degree requirements. You should seek advising from your faculty to determine how general elective credit can be applied to your program.
• WRCM 1st (3)
  General credit for first-year academic university-level English Writing and Composition courses that meet the Writing and Composition or Communication requirement in all faculties except the Faculty of Arts.

Courses that do not match a specific UBC course but have sufficient learning outcomes may be assigned General Credit with an Exemption for a specific UBC course.

Students with General Credit with Exemption are considered to have completed the Exempted course.

On the Transfer Credit Search Tool, the general credit with exemption would be displayed as "Okanagan College ASTR 230 = UBC Vancouver ASTR 2nd (3), Exempt UBC Vancouver ASTR 311".

A Letter of Permission (LOP) is an approval from your faculty that the course(s) you are planning on taking at another institution will transfer back to your UBC degree.

Current UBC students who wish to register in any course at another institution must obtain prior permission from their faculty, in the form of an LOP, before taking courses elsewhere.

Requests for an LOP are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and approval is not guaranteed.

Courses that have been evaluated and deemed not transferable to UBC such as ESL, high school equivalency, pre-university, foundational, professional, applied, technical or other non-academic courses.

English literature and English writing and composition courses taken at institutions located in countries where English is not the principal language are not transferrable to UBC, regardless of the language of instruction at the institution.

Some transfer credit agreements on the BC Transfer Guide indicate that another institution's course is eligible for transfer credit, but not in the Faculty of Science or in other Science-based programs, such as Engineering, Forestry, and Land and Food Systems.

The following are examples of how it may be displayed in the Transfer Search Credit Tool:

• CHEM 1st (3) Not for credit in Science
  Although the course may be considered for credit in a Science subject, such as CHEM 1st (3), with the (3) indicating 3 transfer credits of general first-year Chemistry, the original course cannot be used to satisfy Faculty of Science degree requirements. Other faculties may apply such transfer credit differently.
• MATH 1st (3) Not for credit in Science
  This course includes Science-based programs such as Engineering, Forestry, Land and Food Systems, and also Sauder and Commerce.

Preclusion refers to if the original course is not equivalent to a specific UBC course. While it is granted General Credit, it cannot be used to substitute for the Precluded course.

You would need to take the Precluded course if it is required for your degree program, and lose the General Credit assigned. For example, ECON 1st (3). Precludes ECON 101.

Courses that overlap more than 80% with a specific UBC course are granted Specific Credit.

Specific transfer credit will be used as if the course was taken at UBC. Unless approved by your faculty, you should not register in the same course at UBC for which you have already received specific transfer credit, as you cannot receive the same credit twice.