GENERAL POINTS :

• Each semester will consist of two Quarters. Each Quarter will last approximately for two months. In each semester, at the end of the first Quarter, students will take a midterm exam, and at the end of second Quarter, a final exam.

• In this academic year, the students will originate from two main tracks: Health Colleges, and Engineering/Science Colleges. Within each track, students will be placed by levels from semester 1.

• The breakdown of scores per semester will be as follows:

• All Health Colleges students, regardless of proficiency level, have to be taught at least 75 hours of ESP. 

• A student who fails the midterm exam will still progress to the next quarter, but ‘on warning’.  If s/he fails the final exam of the semester, s/he has to repeat the course and move to a remedial class.  For example, a student who starts with level 1 and fails the midterm exam 1, still moves to level 2. However, if s/he fails the final exam of semester 1, s/he has to repeat the course and go to a remedial class at the beginning of semester 2, which starts at level 2.

• Students who take IELTS in semester 1 and score a band 5 or above will have only 10 hours of English per week in semester 2, but will have to register for additional university requirements to fill the gap in their timetable.  

SPECIFIC POINTS:

• The IELTS scores attained at the end of the first semester will count as final exam scores for the second semester as well.

• Any student who wishes to improve his/her IELTS score may take the test again at his/her own expense under the condition that s/he submits the result two weeks before the final exam.

•  Students who obtain band 5 in IELTS in semester one, in semester 2, in lieu of the second semester midterm exam, they will take an ESP exam toward the end of the semester, which will carry the same grades as a midterm exam.

Regarding the different levels:

• Midterm exams will be based on proficiency levels.
• Final exams are standardized for all levels.
• Midterms and final exams of levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the first semester will concentrate on General English, while exams for levels 5 and 6 will focus on Academic English.
• 2^nd semester midterm exam for level 4 will concentrate on study skills and EAP.
• 2^nd semester midterm exam for level 3 will concentrate on EAP only.
• For levels 2 & 3, only students in the medical track will take ESP.  Those in the science/engineering track will concentrate on EAP.