Undergraduate Entry Requirements
Candidates wishing to be enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam to pursue the various undergraduate degree and non-degree programmes have to fulfil the general minimum entry requirements as well as the additional entry requirements specific to each academic programme. Candidates applying for programmes under the IUCEA Students’ Exchange Programme must fulfil the entry qualifications for similar programmes at the University of Dar es Salaam in addition to meeting the requirements of the admitting University whose decision shall be final.
1: Admission Requirements for Undergraduate Degree Programmes
1.1 General Minimum Entry Requirements
A candidate shall be deemed eligible for consideration for admission to a first-degree programme of the University of Dar es Salaam if he/she meets one of the following qualifications:
(a) Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (C.S.E.E.) or equivalent, with passes in five approved subjects, three of which must be at Credit level obtained prior to sitting for the Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (A.C.S.E.E.) or equivalent;
and
(b) Two principal level passes in appropriate subjects in the A.C.S.E.E. or equivalent with total points from three subjects not below 5 (for Arts programmes) and 2 (for Science-based programmes) based on the following grade-to-point conversion scale: A = 5; B = 4; C = 3; D = 2; E = 1; S = 0.5 and F = 0 points.
[Note: Principal level passes in Divinity/Islamic Knowledge are not counted]
Or
(c) An appropriate equivalent Diploma of not less than Second class/Credit level or B grade obtained from a college fully registered by NACTE and approved by the UDSM Senate. For Diplomas that are further classified into Upper and Lower classes, the requirement shall be an Upper Second class or B+ average.
Note: Applicants from countries which follow an 8-4-4 education system need to complete at least one year of study at a university in their own countries before they can be considered for admission into the University of Dar es Salaam.
(d) A minimum score of 100 obtained from the Mature Age Entry Examination (MAEE) consisting of a score of at least 50 in Paper I and 50 in Paper II. MAEE was introduced in order to give the opportunity to exceptionally well-qualified Tanzanian candidates who wish to study for a first degree at the University of Dar es Salaam but do not possess qualifications that satisfy the University’s Direct/Equivalent entry requirements. To qualify for MAEE, one must be 25 years of age or older on the 1st of August of the year in which admission is sought. In addition, one must have obtained at least three credits in approved subjects at the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination or completed Form VI at least five years before the 1st of September of the year in which admission is sought.
1.2 Additional Entry Requirements
In addition to the general minimum entry requirements, there are additional qualifications, specific to the various degree programmes, as shown in the UDSM prospectus.
MODE OF APPLICATION
i) Applicants under the Direct Entry Scheme
The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), in collaboration with University Institutions, the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE), and other higher education institutions in the country has established a Central Admission System (CAS) which will be operational starting with the 2010/2011 admissions.
Applicants with direct qualifications (i.e., those who have completed A-level secondary education (Form VI)), will have to apply through the Central Admission System as advertised by the TCU.
ii) Applicants under Equivalent Qualifications
Equivalent Applicants with Diplomas in Education, NTA level 6 and NON-NTA level 6 recognized by TCU/NACTE will also apply through CAS. Other equivalent applicants (such as post-form VI certificates, and bachelor degree holders) will continue lodging their applications with the University of Dar es Salaam. All University of Dar es Salaam undergraduate degree programmes are advertised in the local media (newspapers) and on the University’s website. All applications are submitted by filling in the requisite application forms and not in the form of letters. Applicants are urged to apply after the programmes have been advertised and not before. Applicants are advised to obtain Application Forms and Instructions to Applicants from the Directorate of Undergraduate Studies through the following address:
Director of Undergraduate Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, P. O. Box 35091 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Tel: 022-2410513 E-mail: dus@udsm.ac.tz
Application forms and Instructions to Applicants can also be obtained at the offices of the Regional Education Officers in Mainland Tanzania, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education for Zanzibar, or can be downloaded from the University website at www.udsm.ac.tz
When filling out the application forms, applicants must:
(a) carefully read the accompanying ‘Instructions to Applicants’ before attempting to fill out the forms.
(b) give full particulars of citizenship (including a copy of the birth certificate) and enclose photocopies of “O” level and equivalent qualifications (diploma) Certificates. Applicants with diploma qualifications obtained outside the country must submit a translation by the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) indicating equivalent grades to Tanzanian ones. This is in addition to submitting the original grades.
(c) pay a non-refundable application fee of T.Shs. 20,000/= for Tanzanians and USD 45 for Non-Tanzanians. Applications without the required application fee will not be processed. Applicants must ascertain themselves that they possess the minimum entry qualifications before they pay the fees as the fees will not be refunded under any circumstances.
(d) deposit all fees into the University of Dar es Salaam NBC Bank Account number 040103001709 (UDSM branch) OR CRDB Account number 01J088967000 (UDSM Branch) and submit the original pay-in-slip together with the application forms.
For those using telegraphic transfer, the Swift Code is NLCBTZTX for NBC Bank, and CORUTZTZ for CRDB Bank.
iii) Applicants under the Mature Age Entry Scheme
In order to give an opportunity to exceptionally well-qualified Tanzania candidates who wish to study for a first degree at the University of Dar es Salaam but do not possess qualifications which satisfy the University’s Direct Entry Requirements, the University of Dar es Salaam offers an alternative method of entry by the Mature Age Scheme for persons who satisfy the following conditions:
(a) Candidates must be 25 years of age or older on the 1st of August of the year in which admission is sought;
(b) Candidates should have attempted the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination and obtained at least 3 credits in approved subjects or completed Form VI, at least 5 years before the 1st of August of the year in which admission is sought;
(c) Candidates should be able to show: -
- That they have attended extra-mural classes or residential courses, in which case a recommendation from the extra-mural class tutors will be necessary. Or
- That they have attended a residential course at any Adult Education Institute, in which case recommendation from the institute attended will be necessary. Or
- That they can obtain from a person acceptable to the University a recommendation that they are qualified to benefit from university education.
(d) No candidate who has previously attended one of the former Colleges of the University of East Africa or this University shall be readmitted to the University under these regulations to a course for which he/she failed to qualify during previous attendance unless the candidate produces evidence of further study satisfactory to the University; and if, in the opinion of the University, candidates have complied successfully with conditions (a) to (d) above, they will be required to take a Special Entrance Examination.
(e) Non-Tanzanians are not eligible for the mature age entry scheme. Candidates who comply with conditions 1(i) to (v) above may be admitted to the University of Dar es Salaam.
REGULATIONS ON STUDENT CREDIT TRANSFER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM
1. General Regulations
1.1 Student credit transfer is allowed between Universities only. 1.2 Credit transfer applies to both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. 1.3 Credit transfer can only be allowed if such credits have been obtained within a period of not more than two years. 1.4 Students discontinued from other universities are not allowed to transfer credits to the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). 1.5 Students will be required to undertake at least ¨ø of degree programme credit unit at UDSM. Maximum credit allowable for transfer, therefore, is ¨÷ of the required credit units of a UDSM degree programme. 1.6 UDSM students on study-abroad programmes shall be allowed to transfer credits obtained from other universities to UDSM.
2. Conditions Governing Credit Transfer from other Universities to UDSM
2.1 The higher education institution from which a student wants to transfer credit must be a university with full accreditation by a recognized body in the country assigned to deal with such matters, and the accreditation status of the institution shall be independently verified by UDSM and the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU). If in doubt, UDSM reserves the right to give any applicant a performance verification test or reject the application.
2.2 The applying student must have an active degree programme registration at his/her institution.
2.3 The applicant’s academic entry qualifications in the previous university shall be similar to that required by UDSM including the respective programme’s cut-off points in the relevant year.
3. Conditions Governing Credit Transfer from UDSM to other Universities
Transfer of credits from UDSM to other universities will be governed by the regulations of the receiving university.
4. Criteria for Establishing Equivalency of Courses
4.1 The course must be from a programme of the same level as that of UDSM, i.e., Bachelor’s degree course for undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses for postgraduate. Courses at intermediate levels such as Advanced Diploma, or Higher Diploma levels are not acceptable.
4.2 The course must have a theoretical component, i.e., involving final examination, excluding clinical-based courses.
4.3 Course content must be at least 75% similar to that of the UDSM course.
4.4 The number of teaching hours used to cover the course must not be less than 75% of those used at UDSM.
4.5 Once a course has been accepted as being equivalent to a UDSM course as per the criteria, the course shall be given the same number of units as that of the course at UDSM, regardless of the units in the other university.
5. Rules for Grades Conversion
5.1 Conversion of grades shall be done by anchoring the pass mark of the other university to that of UDSM and accordingly determining the range of marks in the other university for the UDSM grades.
5.2 In the case where only grades (and not scored marks) are available, the lower equivalent grade shall be assumed.
6. Procedures and Administration of Student Credit Transfer
6.1 Applications for credit transfer should be submitted to the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), in writing, and attached with copies of all required supporting documents.
6.2 All applications shall be scrutinized by relevant committees responsible for admission at the Department, Faculty/Institute/School/College and the Directorate of Undergraduate Studies or Graduate School (for Postgraduate applicants) levels before reaching the Senate for approval.
6.3 Students transferring from other universities to UDSM shall apply for credit transfer at least three months before the beginning of the semester they want to join. Cases of UDSM’s study-abroad students shall be dealt with on case-by-case basis.
6.4 Supporting documents for credit transfer applications shall include the following: Official transcripts (to be sent by the other university), A letter of introduction/recommendation from the previous university, A course description, catalogue or syllabus (to include the number of hours of teaching, method of assessment and grading system), An official translation of the original documents (in case of non-English documents), Photo-attached personal identification documents, e.g., a birth certificate, passport or ID Certified copies of the original certificates used to gain admission into the previous university.
6.5 The following are reasons that shall be acceptable for credit transfer, in addition to meeting credit transfer criteria: Courses not offered at the university of registration (applies only for short-term transfers), Illness (to be certified by UDSM medical officer in-charge), Exchange programmes, Refugee situation, Returning resident.
6.6 Credit transfer applicants must pay a non-refundable fee to be determined from time to time; however, UDSM students on study-abroad programmes need not pay such fees as they had already paid the fee when applying for admission into the University.