Credit by Special Assessment

Credit by Special Assessment (CSA) exams permit students to receive credit in specified courses without actually registering and taking the course if the student can demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the course content.

Students who have taken IB or GCE A-level Mathematics courses may qualify for a CSA exam in one or more junior-level Mathematics courses. A grade of 6 or higher on the IB course or a grade of A or B in the GCE A-level course normally is required for the exam. Information on requirements can be found on the Advanced Standing for IB Students page and the GCE British-Patterned Curriculum page.

The Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences offers CSA exams in the following courses:

MATH 100 The examinable material is covered by the following chapters and sections from the textbook Calculus, Early Transcendentals, 8th edition, by James Stewart:
  • Chapters 1-5 (excluding Sections 2.4, 4.4, and 4.6),
  • Section 7.7,
  • Section 11.1,
  • Taylor polynomials from Section 11.10, and
  • Appendices A, B, C, D, and E.
MATH 101
MATH 102
MATH 114 The examinable material is covered by the following chapters and sections from the textbook Calculus, Early Transcendentals, 8th edition, by James Stewart:
  • Chapters 1-5 (excluding inverse trig functions from 1.5, 2.4, 3.8, 3.11, 4.4, 4.6)
  • Appendices A, B, C, D, E
MATH 115
MATH 125

Each CSA exam is three hours long and covers all of the material from the corresponding course.

Students are not allowed to use notes, books, and/or other aids during the CSA exam. In particular, the use of calculators are not allowed.

The exam result is used to assign a grade for the course that will be recorded on the student's transcript. For example, if a student fails a CSA exam, then the grade assigned will be an F. For this reason, a number of student elect to forgo the CSA exam and instead take the course.

Applying to write a CSA exam

CSA exams are offered twice a year, at the start of the Fall and Winter terms. Students wishing to write a CSA exam in one or more courses should contact the FSO (Undergraduate), Dr. David McNeilly.

CSA Exam Dates

Fall 2023: Thursday August 31, 2023

Winter 2024: Wednesday January 5, 2024

Fees

For fee information, please refer to the Schedule of Fees for Special Services in the Fees Payment Guide section of the the University Calendar. The fee for the CSA exam is waived for students presenting appropriate credit in IB or GCE A-level courses.