Progression in and beyond UM is a key element for student success. Student progression is carried out periodically during the year depending on the programme start date and the type of programme that the student is following. At the University of Malta, there are two entry points for undergraduate programmes and five entry points for postgraduate programmes, namely:
The Progression process varies according to the programme type that the student is following as indicated below.
The progression of Undergraduate students is carried out in the summer months for students who commence their studies in October and in March/April for February students. Following the publication of all study-unit results, the Faculty Manager/Officer in charge of the respective FICS computes the progression decisions for each student according to the provisions laid down in the General Regulations for University Undergraduate Awards, 2019. There are refreshable reports which are specifically designed to display the results data from the students’ system for the computation of the students’ eligibility for progression. These decisions are submitted through a task available on the FICS staff’s eSIMS portal and submitted to the central administration for further checking and processing. The decisions submitted by FICS are verified with the SIMS automatically generated progression statuses and students’ results which are calculated by the automated progression rules set in place in terms of the said Regulations. Once verified, the record for the new academic year is created. On the first day of the online enrolment period, these students receive an email on their university email account requesting them to enrol for the next academic year.
Furthermore, during the months of July and August, continuing students are required to choose the study-units that they will be following during the following academic year. The registration of study-units is done through an online task on the students’ portal, where students have the facility to choose the study-units that they will be following during the following academic year according to the programme of study published on the course finder facility. As from this academic year 2022/23, the majority of first-year students were also given the opportunity to register online for their elective, optional, DegreePlus and extra English study-units. This initiative consolidates the University’s vision to transfer all of its processes online.
Certain programmes require students to choose particular areas of study before progressing from a year to another. In such cases, these students have the facility to choose their preferred area of study through an eSIMS task designed specifically for the purpose. This exercise is also carried out in August. Following the student’s choice, the Faculty Manager/Officer in charge of the respective FICS and the progression team within SIMS Office calculate the eligibility of such students and process their records accordingly. Within a few weeks from choosing their new area/s of study, these students are also required to complete the online registration for study-units that they intend to follow during the following academic year. In the first weeks of October, the students would then be able to enrol for their programme.
The progression of second-cycle programmes is carried out during the summer months for students who commenced their studies in October whilst those who commenced in February are progressed in March/April. The records of students registered for mainly-by-research programmes, commencing in April, June or December are progressed to the following academic year after twelve months following a positive recommendation from their supervisor.
The progression of students following postgraduate programmes is carried out following the publication of results. The Faculty Manager/Officer in charge of the respective FICS calculates the eligibility of such students by referring to the data available on the refreshable reports. Decisions for such students are afterwards submitted through the Student Progression Process task available on the staff’s online portal. Once the decisions are submitted to the central administration, the records of the students are verified with the students’ results and progressed to the following academic year. On the first day of the online enrolment period, these students receive an email on their University email account requesting them to enrol for the next academic year.
University students are eligible to progress from a year to another depending on the results obtained. However, students who fall short from obtaining all the required ECTS credits to progress regularly to the subsequent year, have the following options:
| Progession status | Programme type | Description |
| Conditional progression | Undergraduate & postgraduate | Progress conditionally to the following programme year if a student fails in nor more than 12 ECTS. During the next academic year, the student is to follow the programme for the current year + the referred incomplete study-units from the previous year. |
| Extension year | Undergraduate | Remain registered inb the same programme year but follows the incomplete study-units (Fail or Absent) only. Assessment opportunities are incremented. |
| Repeating year | Undergraduate | Repeating the year in its entirety - results for the failed academic year are cancelled. |
| Additional year | Undergraduate | Changing an area of study with the option of keeping the results of the other successfully completed area. |
Progression of doctoral students is carried out in June of each year. Supervisors are requested to submit a progress report to the Faculty Doctoral Committee with their recommendations. The Doctoral Committee Administrator informs the SIMS Office by filling in the respective progression forms according to the Faculty Doctoral Committee‘s recommendation. Progression is then carried out in line with the Doctor of Philosophy Regulations, 2008. Once the record is updated, the student receives an email asking them to enrol for the next academic year through their eSIMS portal.