General Certificate of Education (GCE)

This web page indicates how transfer credit is awarded for GCE Advanced Level examinations. Please note that the following rules and regulations only apply to students admitted to a degree program and who are registered at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) during the 2024-2025 academic year.

  1. Transfer credit is awarded where a final grade of at least ‘B’ is achieved. No transfer credit is awarded for Advanced Subsidiary level courses.
  2. In order to receive credit, final results must be sent directly from the appropriate exam board to University Admissions and Outreach as soon as your results are available and no later than August 31, 2024. You do not need to submit your actual Certificate(s) that is normally issued in October / November. Results issued by your school are not acceptable. Links to various exam boards: CIE, EdExcel, AQA, OCR, SQA, WJEC.
  3. If you wish to decline or forfeit the transfer credits awarded to you, you must email utsc.hstransfercredit@utoronto.ca no later than October 31, 2024. The option to forfeit is only available to students who have not attended another post-secondary institution. Once forfeited, transfer credits cannot be reinstated.
  4. If you choose to forfeit transfer credit given for a course for which you were awarded two half credits, you must forfeit both half credits.

Terms Defined

  • Unspecified transfer credit: A course that has no exact equivalency in the Faculty. For example, CHMA**H represents an unspecified first-year credit in Chemistry.
  • Generic transfer credit: A course for which no equivalent discipline exists. For example, HUM – Humanities, LGG – Language, SCI – Science, SSC – Social Science.
  • Specific credits: Courses offered at UTSC, e.g. CHMA10H3.
  • Breadth Requirement: Of the 20 credits required to complete a degree, at least one half-credit must come from each of the following five breadth categories (Refer to the UTSC Calendar for more information)

·            Arts, literature and language (Arts)

·            History, philosophy and cultural studies (HisPhil)

·            Social and behavioural sciences (SocBeh)

·            Natural sciences (NatSci)

·            Quantitative reasoning (Quant)

Interpreting the Equivalency Charts

  • Course Name: The name of the course/subject you took (for example, European History or Economics)
  • Transfer Credit Given: The credit that will appear on your academic record (transcript). All secondary school transfer credits are awarded as unspecified transfer credits, for example BIOA**H, CHMA**Y, or MGEA**Y.
  • Credit Value: The weight of the transfer credits, either 0.5 or 1.0 (see the Academic Calendar for more information about course weight). If a course/subject is not eligible for transfer credit, the weight will be listed as N/A.
  • Subject Area/Breadth Requirement: Some courses may list a subject area such as “HisPhil”, which is an abbreviated description of the course content, in this case, history, philosophy & cultural studies. The subject area information normally also includes the breadth requirement (BR) category for the transfer credits (see above). If no breadth requirement category is listed, the transfer credit does not contribute toward the breadth requirements. In some cases, the subject area also includes a course code, which indicates the course to which the transfer credit can be considered an equivalent. 

As an example, IB Biology is awarded two transfer credits, BIOA**H with a subject area of “A01 (BR=NatSci)” and “BIOA**H with a subject area of “A02 (BR=NatSci)”. One BIOA**H credit provides a half-credit toward breadth requirement category BR=NatSci (Natural Sciences) and can be used as an equivalent to BIOA01H3; the second BIOA**H provides a half-credit toward the same breadth requirement category BR=NatSci and can be used as an equivalent to BIOA02H3. It is important to note that you could, however, choose to take BIOA01H3 and/or BIOA02H3 at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) if you wanted to, and the courses would not be considered repeated courses.

  • Program Admission: This column tells you whether the credit can be used to meet the enrolment requirements for a program of study. See the Academic Calendar for more information about program enrolment requirements.
  • Program Requirements: This column tells you whether the credit can be used to meet the completion requirements for a program of study. See the Academic Calendar  for more information about program completion requirements.
  • Prerequisite Purposes: This column tells you whether the credit can be used to meet the prerequisite for another course. See the Academic Calendar for more information about prerequisites.
  • Notes: Information in this column will normally explain information about the credit equivalency and how your transfer credit can be used for program requirements. If the note tells you to consult the program, you can find the academic unit’s contact information on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

*Courses not offered at UTSC but offered at the Faculty of Arts & Science (FAS) on the St. George campus, are awarded the FAS course and include a “1” for course level and are not eligible for program admission, program requirements or program prerequisites at UTSC. For example, the IB course “German B” is listed at GER1**H and can be used for breadth requirement (BR=Arts), but is not eligible for program use.

Subjects not listed below may still be considered for transfer credit. The University of Toronto Scarborough reserves the right to change transfer credit policies without notice.

Duplication of Material

Subject to confirmation of the above transfer credits, please refer to the UTSC Calendar to review course descriptions and exclusions since the content may overlap with studies for which you have received transfer credit; for instance, studies receiving LGGA**Y may have significant overlap with UTSC language courses. Choose wisely to ensure you are taking courses at the correct level of study.

 

Course Name Transfer Credit Given Credit Value Subject Area/ Breadth Program Admission Program Require-ments Program Pre-requisites Notes
Accounting MGTA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Anthropology ANTA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Applied Business No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Applied Information and Communication Technology SSCA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Arabic No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Art VPSA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No Yes No Consult program advisor for program exception.
Art and Design VPSA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No Yes No Consult program advisor for program exception.
Biology BIOA**H, BIOA**H 1.0 A01, A02 (BR=NatSci) Yes Yes Yes You have the equivalent of BIOA01 and BIOA02.
Biology A BIOA**H 0.5 (BR=NatSci) Yes Yes Yes You have the equivalent of BIOA01.
Biology B BIOA**H, BIOA**H 1 A01, A02 (BR=NatSci) Yes Yes Yes You have the equivalent of BIOA01 and BIOA02. 
Business MGTA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Business and Economics SSCA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Chemistry CHMA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) No No No  
Chinese LGGA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
Chinese History GASA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No Yes Yes  
Classical Arabic No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Classical Civilization CLAA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No Yes Yes  
Classics CLAA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No Yes Yes  
Computer Science/Computer Studies/Computing CSCA**H 0.5 (BR=Quant) No No No  
Design and Technology No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Digital Technology SSCA*Y 1.0 N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Drama/Drama and Theatre Studies THRA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A Yes No Consult program advisor for program exception.
Dress and Textiles No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Economics No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Economics A  No Credit  N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Economics and Public Affairs

POLA**H

SSCA**H

0.5

0.5

(BR=SocBeh)

(BR=SocBeh)

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

 
Electronics No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
English ENGA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
English General No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
English Language No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
English Language and Literature ENGA**H3 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
English Literature HUMA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
Film Studies HUMA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
Food Studies No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
French FREA**H 0.5 A01 (BR=Arts) Yes Yes Yes No credit is given to native speakers. You have the equivalent of FREA01H3.
Further Mathematics No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
General Studies No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Geography GGRA**H 0.5 (BR=NatSci) Yes No Yes Consult program advisor for program exception.
Geology EESA**H 0.5 (BR=NatSci) No No Yes Consult program advisor for program exception/prerequisites to an EES course
German GER1**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Global Perspectives SSCA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Government and Politics POLA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) Yes Yes Yes  
Graphical Communications No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Greek No Credit  N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Health and Social Care HLTA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) TBD TBD TBD  
Hindi LGGA**Y 1.0 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Hinduism RLGA**Y 1.0 (BR=HisPhil) No No No  
History HISA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No Yes Yes  
History of Art VPHA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A Yes No Consult program advisor for program exception.
History of East Asia GASA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No Yes Yes  
Home Economics No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Human Biology BIOA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) Yes No No  
Information & Communication Technology CSCA**H 0.5 (BR=Quant) No No No  
Islamic Studies No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Italian ITA1**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Japanese No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Latin LAT1**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Law TRN1**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) Yes No Yes Consult program advisor for program exception.
Leisure Studies No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Liberal Studies SSCA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Marine Science SCIA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) No No No  
Mathematics No Credit No credit N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Mathematics-Pure/Core No Credit No credit N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Media Studies MDSA**H 0.5 A01 (BR=Arts) Yes Yes Yes You have the equivalent of MDSA01H.
Modern Greek No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Modern Hebrew No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Music MUZA**Y 1.0 (BR=Arts) N/A No No  
Music Technology No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Persian No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Philosophy PHLA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) Yes Yes Yes  
Physical Education No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Physical Sciences SCIA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) No No No  
Physics PHYA**H, PHYA**H 1.0 A11, A22 (BR=NatSci) Yes Yes Yes You have the equivalent of PHYA11 and PHYA22 but not PHYA10 and PHYA21.
Politics  POLA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) Yes  Yes  Yes  
Psychology PSYA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Religious Studies RLGA**H 0.5 (BR=HisPhil) No No No The Religion Programs are currently suspended.
Russian Language SLA1**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Social Biology BIOA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) Yes No Yes  
Sociology SOCA**H 0.5 (BR=SocBeh) No No No  
Spanish SPA1**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) N/A N/A N/A  
Statistics STAA**Y 1.0 (BR=Quant) No No No  
Tamil No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Thinking Skills No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Travel and Tourism No Credit N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A  
Urdu LGGA**H 0.5 (BR=Arts) No No No  
Zoology BIOA**Y 1.0 (BR=NatSci) No No Yes