Credit Transfers

We have had a few questions from students on pre tertiary credit transfers. We hope this guide clears some of the smog surrounding your opportunities.

There are many pre tertiary programmes for students who finish their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia [SPM] examinations. Its quite an alphabet soup with A's, SAM, AUSMAT, CPU and STPM's. A Levels are generally from the English pedigree with Cambridge [CIE] and the London Boards [Edexcel]. SAM and AUSMAT are the Australian pre tertiary pathway. CPU is Canadian while locally we have STPM and Matriculations for government Universities. Alas there is the effervescent foundation which in our case is accepted in the United Kingdom, Australia and many other countries; Malaysia included.

According to the Malaysian Qualifications Agency [MQA] these pre tertiary programmes are equivalent for entry qualifications to degree programmes. Thus students who study A Levels have broadly the same opportunities of entering a degree programme as students who have done STPM or Foundation. There are certainly some universities that stipulate their own individual recognitions but broadly they are equal, though we opine that the specialization afforded for the foundations make it just a notch ahead; primus inter pares if you will.

Following this logic a student who is studying the A Levels and would like to improve his/her mark or re-sit an exam can do so with SAM or a Foundation. The mapping of the syllabus for the foundation for example accords to the other pre tertiary programmes allowing students to fit nicely even though they had done other programmes. This is easier in the sciences where there are finite parameters, biology has to be biology anywhere and anyhow.

What is important is that a students complete the required credit hours that are stipulated. You can check this with us for your individual programmes.

Students thus with other pre tertiary results can look to the foundation as an alternative to retaking or re-siting their exams. This may be advantageous from the point of view of our exam time tables rather than waiting and wasting time. Another reason may be a fresh experience to counter the reasons for your challenges in other programmes. We find that often its never the programmes at fault but rather whether a student can sync to the system and structure of a programme. Its always a question of suitability. We also find that many students choose us due to our clear pathway to seats at Universities and our focus in preparing students for First Year.

So if you choose a pre tertiary and you are having trouble with it, remember that you are not stuck and you can opt for a change to better suit your academic preferences.