Credit/D/Fail at the Okanagan Campus: Frequently Asked Questions

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Apply for Credit/D/Fail standing

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and the move to online classes and examinations at UBC, the UBC Okanagan Senate approved a resolution to allow Credit/D/Fail (Cr/D/F) grading for undergraduate courses for Term 2 of the 2019 Winter Session and both terms of the 2020 Summer Session (January – Aug, 2020). Credit/D/Fail standing is an alternate way to have your final grade in a course reflected on your academic record (your transcript being the most obvious example).

Selecting the Cr/D/F option for any courses may have negative impacts to financial aid, applications for scholarships and awards, applications to post-secondary institutions, etc.

Students are encouraged to email sis.ubco@ubc.ca if they have concerns with the financial assistance or awards implications of receiving a  Credit/D/Fail standing in one of their courses.

If you have further questions about Cr/D/F after reviewing all the FAQs and the email communications from your faculty, you may wish to contact an academic advisor for further discussion.

Application timelines

Note that Credit/D/Fail was only available for Term 2 of the 2019 Winter Session and both terms of the 2020 Summer Session (January – Aug, 2020).

Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty-specific information

What is Credit/D/Fail Standing?

Credit/D/Fail standing is an alternate way to have your final grade in a course reflected on your academic record (your transcript being the most obvious example). Most UBC courses are taught on a percentage basis, and have corresponding letter grades assigned for convenience. Under Credit/D/Fail standing, instead of receiving a percentage final grade, your academic record will show “Cr” (for percentage grades above 55%), “D” (for percentage grades between 50 and 54.9%) or “F” (for percentage grades below 50% or if you failed for any other reason, such as academic misconduct). Your percentage grade (and corresponding letter grade) are kept internally by UBC but not displayed externally.

What are the consequences of Credit/D/Fail Standing?

The most obvious consequence is that you will not have a percentage grade for the course in question visible on your academic record. This means that this percentage may not be used in calculations around required averages.

For some students this will be beneficial (if they did poorly in a class) or detrimental (if they need a percentage grade to qualify for further study or awards). UBC is working to minimize the detriments internally, but we don’t have control over the decisions of external parties (e.g. other universities, if you wish to apply to a graduate program).

Graduation

Generally, graduation is evaluated on satisfying all the program requirements by successfully completing courses and the specific grades do not matter. There are some exceptions:

  • Some programs require minimum grades in specific courses and choosing Credit/D/Fail Standing for these courses may jeopardize your graduation except if your faculty, as an academic concession, grants you an exception.
  • Some degree programs require a minimum graduating grade average (e.g. BA, BSC, BFA). As above, on a case-by-case basis faculties may choose to waive this requirement as an academic concession.

Scholarships and awards

For awards consideration, the minimum scholarship course load requirements and the process of selecting recipients will be unchanged. Students must have at least 24 percentage-graded credits to be eligible to be considered for awards, including graduating awards and head of class medals. Courses with Credit/D/Fail grading cannot be used because there is no percentage to include in the calculation.

Learn more about the implication of Cr/D/F standing on UBC awards and scholarships.

As noted above, UBC has no control over the decisions of external parties. If you are an award recipient or you wish to apply for external awards or funding, you should check with that group or agency to see what their expectations may be.

Declaring a Specialization (Major, Minor, Honours, etc.)

Some specializations require either set averages or grades in certain courses to be declared. Faculties may, as an academic concession, either waive this requirement or agree to consider the grade behind your Credit/D/Fail standing in considering applications to majors. Check for details on the faculty pages linked to this FAQ.

Admission to graduate programs

UBC graduate programs at the Okanagan campus require a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76-79% at UBC) in third-year level and above courses; or, academic standing with at least 12 credits of third or fourth-year courses in the A grade range (80% or higher at UBC) in the field of study. Courses with Credit/D/Fail standing are NOT included in the calculation of grade point averages for admission to graduate school.

UBC has no control over how other universities might consider Credit/D/Fail grades for admission to graduate programs. If you have a specific university in mind, your best option is to contact them for more information.