Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Actuarial Science(Programme Code: 63020)

精 算 學 (榮譽 ) 理 學 士 學 位

Syllabus 2011/12

The syllabuses of the subjects in Stage 1 are partially based on the first two professional actuarial examinations, “Probability” and “Mathematics of Finance”. The syllabuses of the subjects in Stages 2 and 3 are partially based on the third, fourth and fifth professional actuarial examinations, “Financial Economics”, “Actuarial Models” and “Construction and Evaluation of Risk Models”, respectively.

ASSESSMENT

1.    The Common Grading Scheme

1.1    The University's General Assessment Regulations govern the conditions for a student's assessment and progression and for the recommendation of an award.  The Programme Regulations below are more detailed regulations applied to this particular Programme and should be read in conjunction with and interpreted in light of those general regulations.

1.2    A student's performance in a subject is assessed either by continuous assessment, an examination, or a combination of both. The weightings of each in the overall subject grade are clearly stated in the definitive programme document.  Students will be informed of the form of the continuous assessments in each subject at the start of each semester.

2.    Progression/Academic Probation/Deregistration

The Board of Examiners shall, at the end of each semester (except for Summer Term unless there are students who are eligible to graduate after completion of Summer Term subjects), determine whether each student is

 (i)    eligible for progression towards an award; or

 (ii)   eligible for an award; or

 (iii)  required to be deregistered from the programme.

2.1    When a student has a Grade Point Average (GPA) (see Section 5.5.3 below) lower than 2.0, this student will be put on academic probation in the following semester. Once when a student is able to pull his/her GPA up to 2.0 or above at the end of the probation semester, the status of “academic probation” will be lifted. The status of “academic probation” will be reflected in the examination result notification but not in transcript of studies.

2.2    A student will have ‘progressing’ status unless he/she falls within the following categories, either of which may be regarded as grounds for deregistration from the programme:

       (i)  the student has exceeded the maximum period of registration for that programme as specified in the definitive programme document; or

       (ii)  the student’s GPA is lower than 2.0 for two consecutive semesters and his/her  Semester GPA in the second semester is lower than 2.0; or

       (iii)  the student’s GPA is lower than 2.0 for three consecutive semesters.

2.3    The progression of students to the following academic year will not be affected by the GPA obtained in Summer Term.

2.4    Notwithstanding Sections 2.2.2 (ii) and 2.2.2 (iii) above, a student may be deregistered from the programme enrolled before the time specified in Sections 2.2.2 (ii) or 2.2.2 (iii) above if his/her academic performance is poor to the extent that the Board of Examiners deems that his/her chance of attaining a GPA of 2.0 at the end of the programme is slim or impossible.

2.5    In the event that there are good reasons, the Board of Examiners has the discretion to recommend that students who fall into categories as stated in Sections 2.2.2 (ii) or 2.2.2 (iii) above be allowed to stay on the programme, and these recommendations should be presented to the relevant Faculty Board for final decision.

3.    Retaking of subjects

3.1    Normally, students may retake only those subjects for which they have failed, i.e., obtained an F grade.

3.2    Students are not allowed to retake subjects for which they have passed with grade C or above.  Retaking of a subject which has been passed at grade D or D+ will require the approval of the host department of the programme on which the student enrols.

3.3    The number of retakes of a failed subject is not restricted.  Only the grade obtained in the final attempt of retaking will be included in the calculation of the GPA. (The grades obtained in previous attempts will only be reflected in transcript of studies.)

3.4    Section 3.3 above applies to the retake of the same subject only, and in cases where a student takes another subject to replace a failed subject, the fail grade will be retained and taken into account in the calculation of the GPA, despite the passing of the other subject.

4.    Exceptional Circumstances

4.1    Absence from an assessment component

If a student is unable to complete all the assessment components of a subject due to illness or other circumstances beyond his/her control, and considered by the Subject Assessment Review Panel as legitimate, the Panel will determine whether the student will have to complete the assessment and, if so, by what means.  This late assessment shall take place at the earliest opportunity, and before the commencement of the following academic year (except that for Summer Term, which may take place within 3 weeks after the the finalisation of Summer Term results).  If the late assessment cannot be completed before the commencement of the following academic year, the Faculty/School Board Chairman shall decide on an appropriate time for completion of the late assessment.

4.2    Aegrotat award

(a)    If a student is unable to complete the requirements of the programme in question for the award due to very serious illness, or other very special circumstances which are beyond his/her control, and considered by the Board of Examiners as legitimate, the Faculty/School Board will determine whether the student will be granted an aegrotat award. Aegrotat award will be granted under very exceptional circumstances.

(b)    A student who has been offered an aegrotat award shall have the right to opt either to accept such an award, or request to be assessed on another occasion to be stipulated by the Board of Examiners; the student’s exercise of this option shall be irrevocable.

(c)    The acceptance of an aegrotat award by a student shall disqualify him/her from any subsequent assessment for the same award.

(d)    An aegrotat award shall normally not be classified, and the award parchment shall not state that it is an aegrotat award.  However, the Board of Examiners may determine whether the award should be classified provided that they have adequate information on the students’ academic performance.

4.3    Other particular circumstances

A student's particular circumstances may influence the procedures for assessment but not the standard of performance expected in assessment.

5.    Grading

5.1    Assessment grades shall be awarded on a criterion-referenced basis. A student’s overall performance in a subject shall be graded as follows:

5.2    A numeral grade point is assigned to each subject grade, as follows:

5.3    At the end of each semester/term, a GPA will be computed as follows, and based on the grade point of all the subjects:

where  n  =  number of all subjects (inclusive of failed subjects) taken by the student up to and including the latest semester/term, but for subjects which have been retaken, only the grade obtained in the final attempt will be included in the GPA calculation

    In addition, the following subjects will be excluded from the GPA calculation:

    (i)      Exempted subjects

    (ii)     Ungraded subjects

    (iii)    Incomplete subjects

    (iv)    Subjects for which credit transfer has been approved without any grade assigned

    (v)     Subjects from which a student has been allowed to withdraw (i.e., those with the grade ‘W’)

5.4     Subject which has been given an “S” subject code, i.e., absent from examination, will be included in the GPA calculation and will be counted as “zero” grade point.  GPA is thus the unweighted cumulative average calculated for a student for all relevant subjects taken from the start of the programme to a particular point of time.  GPA is an indicator of overall performance and is capped at 4.0.

5.5    The grades and codes for the subject and final assessments are included in Appendices I and II.

5.6    In the event that grade is awarded to subject components, a grade point with the decimal value may be generated for the overall result of the subject.  This grade point with decimal value will be converted to grade for deriving the subject overall grades.  The corresponding grade point for the subject overall grade, instead of the actual grade points obtained by students, will be used for GPA calculation.  This methodology for deriving subject overall grades only serves as an aid to subject assessors.  As assessment should be a matter of judgement, not merely a result of computation, the subject lecturer will have the discretion to assign a grade which is considered to reflect more appropriately the overall performance of the student in a subject to override the grade derived by the computer.

5.7    For subjects offered by the Department of Applied Mathematics, a student obtains an overall grade D or above in a subject if he/she obtains a grade D or above in each of the assessment components of that subject.  A grade F will be awarded if a student obtains a grade below D in any of the assessment components.

6.     Eligibility for Award

6.1    A student would be eligible for award if he/she satisfies all the conditions listed below:

(i)    Accumulation of the requisite number of credits for the particular award, as defined in the definitive programme document; and

(ii)    Satisfying the residential requirement for at least one-third of the credits required for the award to be completed under the current enrolment at PolyU; and

(iii)    Satisfying all the ‘compulsory’ and ‘elective’ requirements as defined in the definitive programme document; and

(iii)    Having a GPA of 2.0 or above at the end of the programme; and

(iv)    Satisfying other requirements as stipulated in the definitive programme document e.g., Work-integrated experience, co-curricular activities, GSLPA and other language requirements.

6.2    A student is required to graduate as soon as he/she satisfies all the conditions for award (see Section 6.1 above).  Subject to the maximum study load of 21 credits per semester, a student may take more credits than he/she needs to graduate up to a maximum of 9 credits on top of the prescribed credit requirements for his/her award in or before the semester within which he/she becomes eligible for award.

7.    Guidelines for award classification

7.1    In award classification, there will be no level weightings.  The Board of Examiners for the programme will determine the class of the degree to be awarded according to the following guidelines:

7.2    A Pass-without-Honours degree award will be recommended only under exceptional circumstances, when the student has demonstrated a level of final attainment which is below the ‘essential minimum’ required for graduation with Honours from the programme in question, but when he/she has nonetheless covered the prescribed work of the programme in an adequate fashion, while failing to show sufficient evidence of the intellectual calibre expected of Honours degree graduates.  For example, if a student in an Honours degree programme has a GPA of 2.0 or more, but his/her Weighted GPA is less than 2.0, he/she may be considered for a Pass-without-Honours classification.