The University of the South Pacific says it has its general minimum entry requirements for its undergraduate programmes, however it can be changed by special request from stakeholders.
To qualify for undergraduate studies at USP, the general minimum entry requirement is a pass (i.e. 50% in English and 3 best subjects, and an aggregate total of 200 or more) in Year 13 FSFE or equivalent examination, or USP Foundation Programme; or meeting the mature student admission criteria which is based on the applicant’s academic background, and nature of their employment and experience.
In instances where minimum requirements are not met because prescribed exams such as the years 12 and 13 exams are not held due to the COVID-19 situation and/or events of natural disaster, given that the Pacific is still in the tropical cyclone season, the university told Mai TV News that it could make amends, referring to a time when it revised one of these requirements to accommodate a change made by Fiji’s Ministry of Education.
“USP can consider the internal exam results as a basis for admitting students….for instance, when the Ministry of Education in Fiji removed the scaling of Fy13 exam marks, USP reduced the minimum entry mark from 250 to 200,” the USP said.
Year 13 external exams are scheduled to start next Tuesday, 1 February, and will run for two weeks. Exams for year 12s will start on Monday 7 February. In a recent weather advisory, Fiji’s Met projected the likelihood of a tropical cyclone forming later this week near Vanuatu. Fiji was recently impacted by category one Tropical Cyclone Cody, and is anticipated to be affected by two more, one of which is expected to develop into a severe TC, of cat 3 strength or more. Meanwhile, in a little over five weeks dating back to late December when the third wave was recognised in the country, Fiji has reported more than 9000 coronavirus cases, more than 80 COVID-19 deaths and more than 140 deaths with COVID19. Nearly 7,000 people were reported to have recovered during the same period.
Questions were also sent to two other universities, both of which are still to respond.
