Deviation from Curriculum (UG)

Under exceptional circumstances, deviations may be allowed where specific requirements may be substituted by other courses taken at HKUST or elsewhere, or waived with the approval of the responsible academic unit of the curriculum requirement.

The Academic Regulations on deviation from curriculum is available here.

Application Procedure

Students who would like to apply for deviation from curriculum should follow the procedure below:

1. Consult the relevant academic unit (as below) for advice on the degree requirement to follow.

   Academic Requirement	Academic Unit
   University English Language requirement	Center for Language Education
   School requirements	School
   Major / Minor requirements	Relevant Major / Minor Program office

2. Submit the following documents to the Academic Registry. In particular, application for course substitution should only be submitted at the term when the replacement course is enrolled:

• Completed application form with approval from the relevant academic unit - Application for Deviation from Curriculum (For Undergraduate Studies) – Form-GR23; AND

• Program Catalog or Curriculum Handbook - curriculum document of their cohort of admission.

The processing time for an application is normally two weeks.  Students will be informed of the result by email and details will be reflected in the Student Center (advisement report) in SIS.

Notes to Students

• Students are required to submit a separate application for each academic requirement (Common Core, English Language, School, major or minor programs).

• Upon program transfer, it is taken that all credits earned will be used to fulfill the degree requirements in the new program.  However, deviation approved for the original program will NOT be applicable to the new one.  Students who wish to deviate from the new curriculum must submit a new application.

Students should consult their School or major department for advice on the degree requirement to follow.  For the application procedure, students may contact the Academic Registry.