For any school student in the UAE planning to move between academic tracks, the UAE Ministry of Education has issued a new set of rules, with a focus on grade level, academic performance and science subject requirements.
The new rules stipulate that students can switch from one educational track to another only at the start of the school year. A student cannot apply for the change after the first two weeks of the academic year. Eligible students are expected to receive academic guidance from their schools before making a final decision.
Students who wish to advance from Grade 8 on the general track to Grade 9 on the advanced track must achieve at least 80 per cent in English, mathematics and science at the end of the previous academic year. The same applies for Grade 9 general-track students for transfer into Grade 10 advanced.
However, Grade 10 students in the general track cannot transfer into Grade 11 advanced and Grade 11 general-track students are not eligible to move into Grade 12 advanced, because they have not completed the scientific subject requirements needed for those grades, Gulf News reported.
Vice versa, students who complete a year on the advanced track can switch to general track by submitting the required voluntary transfer form. As per the new norms, Grade 8 advanced-track students can move into Grade 9 general, Grade 9 students into Grade 10 general, Grade 10 students into Grade 11 general and Grade 11 students into Grade 12 general.
Students who fail while enrolled in the advanced track will normally be transferred to the general track.
Higher education
The UAE Ministry of Education has also announced 13 digital guidance requirements that link the school track to the university specialisation, as well as the conditions for admission to higher education institutions in the country.
The requirements cover three English language objectives, according to the university program level, two for medicine and dentistry, two for pharmacy, three for engineering, and one requirement for law.
Students must have an average of 80% in English for a Bachelor's degree, and 70% for a higher diploma and a diploma.
The guide also stipulated that for medicine and dentistry, the average must be 90% in mathematics along with two subjects from chemistry, biology, and physics. For pharmacy, it is 80% in mathematics and two subjects from the three scientific subjects, as well. For engineering, it is 80% in both mathematics and physics and one subject from chemistry or biology, compared to 70% in mathematics for law.
