Once all assessments are completed at the end of a term your term average is calculated and a decision is made on whether you qualify to proceed to the next term. Summaries of the promotion rules are available below. Full, and official, details are given in the Regulations section of the UWaterloo Academic Calendar.
Academic standing
- Unofficial grades will start appearing after the exam period as instructors upload them, see the Important dates to find out when. Since these grades are unofficial, they may change, so please check grades repeatedly. If all your grades are not shown on Quest, check back in a few days. You can calculate your average, but you will need all your course grades before you can determine your standing.
- Once all grades are available on Quest make note of the following two numbers:
- Your term average.
- The number of failed courses (grade less than 50%).
- Determine your academic standing depending on your course load with the term rules charts below while you wait for official standings to be released in the next term, see the Important dates to find out when, and visit the academic calendar for full definitions of academic standings. If the official standing does not match what you expected, or you have any questions, contact the First-Year Engineering office. Please note that the First-Year Office is closed for the Christmas break, and you are unlikely to get a response during that time. For University closures please see the Important dates.
1A or 1B full load term rules
For students with a full course load for the term. If you do not have a full course load, check one of the other term rules charts below. These are adapted from the official promotion rules in the Undergraduate Calendar. If there are any discrepancies, the Calendar will be considered correct.
Term Average |
Term Failure Count |
Decision |
Academic Standing on Quest and details |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
≥ 60 |
0 |
Promoted |
Avg. ≥ 80 = EXCL (Excellent) Avg. ≥ 70 = Good Avg. ≥ 60 = SAT (Satisfactory) |
|
1 or 21 |
Conditionally Promoted2 |
PRMC - you will continue to the next term and take all scheduled courses. |
||
3 or more1 | Failed – Must Repeat Term | FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.3 | ||
≥ 50 but < 60 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Must Repeat Term |
FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.3 |
|
< 50 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Required to Withdraw |
FL3 - you may not continue to the next academic term and are required to withdraw from Engineering, but not UW. 4 |
Notes:
- If you are repeating the term, you must achieve an average of 60% or better with no course grades below 50% on their repeat term. Otherwise, you will be Required to Withdraw from Engineering.
- Failed courses must be cleared prior to graduation. Conditionally Promoted is changed to Promotion Granted when failed courses are cleared. See clearing failed courses.
- You will take all courses in the next term, even if the course you failed is a prerequisite, i.e. taking Calculus 2 when you failed Calculus 1
- Once you have 3 or more failed courses on your To Be Cleared count, you will be assigned May Not Proceed standing and cannot continue until your fail count is reduced to 1 or 0.
- If you are Required to Repeat the Term, you must repeat 8 months (2 terms) after the failed term.
- 1A students may return in the spring after 4 months through the Reduced Load Program.
- Options after failing a first-year term.
- If co-op is your next scheduled term, you continue with your arranged job, or continue with your job search. See co-op important dates for deadlines for standard and flex co-op credits.
- If you are Required to Withdraw, you must wait 4 terms (2 years) before applying for readmission. You may submit a petition to request an earlier return for a second attempt at the term.
1A or 1B reduced load term rules
The term has been reduced by one or more courses to a minimum of 2.0 units with approval from an advisor. The dropped course(s) will be added to the To Be Cleared count, unless it is a repeat course you are exempt from repeating (got 70 or higher in the previous attempt).
These are adapted from the official promotion rules in the Undergraduate Calendar. If there are any discrepancies, the Calendar will be considered correct.
Term Average |
Failure Count |
Formal Decision |
Academic Standing on Quest and details |
---|---|---|---|
≥ 60 |
0 |
Promoted |
Avg. ≥ 80 = EXCL (Excellent) Avg. ≥ 70 = Good Avg. ≥ 60 = SAT (Satisfactory) |
11 |
Conditionally Promoted2 |
PRMC - you will continue to the next term and take all scheduled courses. |
|
2 or more1 | Failed – Must Repeat Term | FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.3 | |
≥ 50 but < 60 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Must Repeat Term |
FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.3 |
< 50 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Required to Withdraw |
FL3 - you may not continue to the next academic term and are required to withdraw from Engineering, but not UW.4 |
Notes:
- If you are repeating the term, you must achieve an average of 60% or better with no course grades below 50% on their repeat term. Otherwise, you will be Required to Withdraw from Engineering.
- Failed courses must be cleared prior to graduation. Conditionally Promoted is changed to Promotion Granted when failed courses are cleared. See clearing failed courses.
- You will take all courses in the next term, even if the course you failed is a prerequisite, i.e. taking Calculus 2 when you failed Calculus 1
- Once you have 3 or more failed courses on your To Be Cleared count, you will be assigned May Not Proceed standing and cannot continue until your fail count is reduced to 1 or 0.
- If you are Required to Repeat the Term, you must repeat 8 months (2 terms) after the failed term.
- 1A students may return in the spring after 4 months through the Reduced Load Program.
- Options after failing a first-year term.
- If co-op is your next scheduled term, you continue with your arranged job, or continue with your job search. See co-op important dates for deadlines for standard and flex co-op credits.
- If you are Required to Withdraw, you must wait 4 terms (2 years) before applying for readmission. You may submit a petition to request an earlier return for a second attempt at the term.
1A or 1B partial load term rules
Review these rules if you have met with an advisor and arranged to split the term into two parts. For 1A this is done through the Reduced Load Program. For 1B, you will need to meet with an advisor to discuss your situation and create a plan. You need to be in a minimum 1.5 units per term, unless a lower load is required by AccessAbility.
Part 1:
P1 Term Average |
Term Failure Count |
Decision |
Academic Standing on Quest and details |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
≥ 60 |
0 |
May continue to part 2 |
NAPP - Not Applicable |
|
11 |
May continue to part 2 conditionally 2 |
NAPP - Not Applicable |
||
2 or more1 | Failed – Must Repeat Term | FLR - you may not continue to part two.3 | ||
≥ 50 but < 60 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Must Repeat Term |
FLR - you may not continue to part two.3 |
|
< 50 |
N/A1 |
Failed – Required to Withdraw |
FL3 - you may not continue to the second part and are required to withdraw from Engineering, but not UW. 4 |
Part 2:
P2 Term Average |
Term Failure Count |
Decision |
Academic Standing on Quest and details |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
≥ 60 |
0, and 0 in part 1 |
Promoted |
Avg. ≥ 80 = Excellent1 Avg. ≥ 70 = Good1 Avg. ≥ 60 = Satisfactory1 |
|
1, or 0 but 1 in part 1 | Promoted conditionally 3 | PRMC - you may not continue to the next academic term.4 | ||
2 or more2 | Failed – Must Repeat Part 2 | FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.4 | ||
≥ 50 but < 60 |
N/A2 |
Failed – Must Repeat Part 2 |
FLR - you may not continue to the next academic term.4 |
|
< 50 |
N/A2 |
Failed – Required to Withdraw |
FL3 - you may not continue to the next academic term and are required to withdraw from Engineering, but not UW. 5 |
Notes:
- Based on overall average of all courses from combined terms.
- If you are repeating the term, you must achieve an average of 60% or better with no course grades below 50% on their repeat term. Otherwise, you will be Required to Withdraw from Engineering.
- Failed courses must be cleared prior to graduation. Conditionally Promoted is changed to Promotion Granted when failed courses are cleared. See clearing failed courses.
- You will take all courses in the next term, even if the course you failed is a prerequisite, i.e. taking Calculus 2 when you failed Calculus 1
- Once you have 3 or more failed courses on your To Be Cleared count, you will be assigned May Not Proceed standing and cannot continue until your fail count is reduced to 1 or 0.
- If you are Required to Repeat the Term, you must repeat 8 months (2 terms) after the failed term.
- 1A students may return in the spring after 4 months through the Reduced Load Program.
- Options after failing a first-year term.
- If co-op is your next scheduled term, you continue with your arranged job, or continue with your job search. See co-op important dates for deadlines for standard and flex co-op credits.
- If you are Required to Withdraw, you must wait 4 terms (2 years) before applying for readmission. You may submit a petition to request an earlier return for a second attempt at the term.