Incoming Exchange

The standard academic calendar consists of two main semesters:​

• Semester 1: August – December ​
• Semester 2: January – May​

Each semester normally includes 12-13 weeks of instruction and 2 weeks of examinations.​

For more information on NUS academic calendar, and to access the updated calendar for a given year, please visit the Office of the University Registrar webpage here.

During ONLINE APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION

At the point of online application for admission to NUS via the Online Application System, you will be required to select and rank the courses you wish to read at NUS. The Admission Letter of Offer from the Office of the University Registrar will reflect the Law courses allocated to you based on your selection, eligibility and available places. File Your Exchange Application with Office of the University Registrar

During COURSE REGISTRATION (‘Add/Drop’ Period)

You will be able to request for changes to your allocated courses during the course registration exercise which takes place around two weeks prior to start of the semester. You can submit a course request to add or drop courses. Allocation of courses will be subject to eligibility and available places. More information can be found on the CourseReg website here.

​A. Workload and Credit Considerations

NUS adopts the term ‘unit’ to measure the workload of our students. The normal workload for a NUS law students is 17-23 units per semester.​

To apply/obtain a Student’s Pass for your exchange at NUS, a minimum of 12 units per semester is required. An exchange student at NUS Law typically takes 15 to 20 units of courses per semester, which works out to 3 to 4 courses. ​

Students who have never studied law in English or who come from civil law jurisdictions are advised to take up to 15 units if their home university permits it.​

Home institutions will typically decide how many courses or credits their students must read at NUS. In some instances, home institutions reserve the discretion to approve the list of courses taken by their students at NUS. Thus, in determining the number of courses/units to request for, exchange students should seek advice and permission from their home university on (a) the list of courses as well as (b) the minimum or maximum number of units they are required to read while on exchange at NUS.

B. Courses Available to Exchange Students.

Exchange students are strongly advised to read up the information on the Faculty of Law's website pertaining to Course Description, Course Pre-requisites, and Class and Examination Timetable. This website will contain the most updated information about courses offered at FoL.​

All exchange students are to choose from the ‘Elective Courses' that are available to NUS Third and Final year LLB students. This would refer to law electives with course codes of Level 4000, i.e. LL4XXXV / LL4XXX.

​C. Course Pre-Requisites​

Exchange students wishing to study with our faculty should have completed at least 2 years of law courses at their home institutions before their exchange semester.​

You should have read the equivalent of ‘NUS Compulsory Core Law courses” in order to meet the prerequisites to NUS Law elective courses. Typically, this means that you have completed sufficient courses particularly in areas of Tort Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law and Constitution/Administrative Law. You should upload all transcripts from your home university during your application to show that you have met the pre-requisites for the courses you are applying for.​

Some courses may have pre-requisites/preclusions beyond the NUS compulsory core law courses and you are expected to have met those requirements before applying to read them in NUS. 

​D. Courses Not Available to Exchange Students (Non-Graduating Students)​

The following courses are not open to exchange students:​

• Civil Justice & Process (LL4011V)​
• International Legal Process (LL4033V)​
• International Moots & Competition (LL4203)​
• Mediation (LL4044V)​
• Negotiation (LL4045V)​
• The Law Clinic (LL4094V)​
• Employment Law & Migrant Workers Clinic (LL4261V)​

Non-graduating students are not permitted to read the compulsory law courses that NUS students read during their first two years of law studies. These courses have course codes LL1XXX, LL2XXX, LL3XXX.

E. Advice for Students from Non-Common Law Jurisdiction​

Students from law schools in non-common law countries would usually not have studied certain basic common law courses such as Principles of Property Law, Equity & Trusts, and you may not be familiar with common law methods of reasoning and analysis. You may thus be at a severe disadvantage if you choose to read advanced elective courses that require a background in the common law. Such courses have a very heavy reading list of cases, and experience has shown that students from non-common law jurisdictions who opt for such courses suffer a disadvantage.​

Consequently, non-graduating students from non-common law jurisdictions are generally advised not to choose from the following courses:​

• Principles of Conflict of Laws​
• Personal Property Law​
• Principles of Restitution​
• International Commercial Litigation

F. Courses in Other Faculties (Non-Law Courses)​​

Students may also, with approval of your home institution, take courses in other Faculties at NUS, if your timetable permits and if places in those courses are available. You are required to inform the Faculty of Law for our records. However, as an exchange student with the Law faculty, students must read a minimum of 2 Law courses.​​

You can find other information relevant to student exchange, application and course selection at the following websites:​

• The A-Z  Exchange Guide by NUS Global Relations Office​
• Office of the University Registrar​
• Faculty of Law​
• Office of Student Affairs