If you have cumulated one or two failed courses but still obtained an average of 60% or better, then you will be conditionally promoted to the next term. However, you must pass failed courses that are required for your degree and your failure count must be equal to zero prior to graduation. We strongly encourage clearing failed courses as soon as possible since failures accumulate and the course material is familiar. Several options for clearing failed courses are listed below:
- Retake and pass the failed course in a future term. This option depends on the availability of the course in a specific term and your academic or work term schedule.
- Take and pass an equivalent course at UWaterloo or another institution. This is usually a more flexible option since the equivalent course may be delivered through the Centre for Extended Learning or scheduled at night, which may allow you to take it on a work term. The First Year Office decides if a course is equivalent to a first year course, and your specific department decides on equivalency in upper years. To take a course at another University you must apply for a Letter of Permission which allows you to enrol as a visiting student, determines the UWaterloo equivalent course, and transfers the completed course grade to your UWaterloo record.
- Write and pass a supplemental exam in the failed course. This option applies only to students who have been awarded a supplemental exam (the code SUPA shows to the right of your grade on your unofficial transcript on Quest after the official fully-graded date) and core engineering courses (i.e., doesn't apply to electives in other Faculties). The First Year Office awards supplementary exams for course grades between 40 and 49 inclusive for a fee of $50.00 per exam. A supplemental exam is a final exam in the failed course that is usually written in the final exam period of a term the course is offered. Passing the supplementary exam (50% or greater) earns a credit in the course and clears the failure. Note that the original grade is not changed (the code SUPA should change to SUPS). Failing the supplementary exam means that options 1 and 2 above must be used to clear the course (SUPA changes to SUPN).
Refer to the Faculty of Engineering Term Promotion webpage for a full list of term promotion regulations.