Examinations

Home / Transfer Credit / Examinations

AP, IB & A-level exams

The University of California awards unit credits for the following exams and scores:

  • Advanced Placement (AP) – score of 3, 4 or 5
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level – score of 5, 6 or 7
  • GCE, Singapore-Cambridge and Hong Kong Advanced Level (A-levels) – score of A, B or C

The University awards these units as quarter unit credits, which are converted by the Central Evaluation Unit to semester units by multiplying the unit value by 0.67 (e.g. an exam valued at 8 quarter units is awarded 5.36 semester units; 4 quarter units is awarded 2.68 semester units).

Not all AP, IB and A-level exams have been approved to earn unit credits and duplicate credit will not be awarded for exams taken in the same content area (i.e. AP Biology and IB Biology HL). In these cases, credit is awarded for the duplicate exam with the higher transfer credit value.

More information on which exams have been approved to earn credit.

How do I earn exam credits?

Credits are awarded for official, final exam scores received directly from the testing agency or other authorized organization. The credits are awarded in two steps:

    1. Receipt and posting of the official scores
      Once your official scores are received, either electronically or by paper, they are added to your Berkeley record. Use the Exam Results Report in CalCentral to confirm receipt of your exam scores.

      If your exam scores do not appear in the Exam Results Report within 3-4 weeks after you requested they be sent, please open a CSC case.

    2. Awarding of credits
      For newly admitted students, unit credits are awarded by the fifth week of instruction for the upcoming semester. If official scores are received after instruction begins, the unit credits are posted within 1-2 weeks of receiving your exam scores. Unit credits awarded for all eligible scores are posted to the Transfer Credit Report in CalCentral, My Academics.

      Unit credits do not need to be awarded in order for an exam score to satisfy a degree requirement. Since there is a processing period between receiving your scores and awarding the credits, you may begin to see exam scores satisfying degree requirements in the Academic Progress Report (APR) before unit credits are posted.

ACT & SAT exams

While the ACT or SAT exam are no longer required for admission to the University of California, scores from these exams may still be used to satisfy degree requirements.

If you intend to use an ACT or SAT exam score to satisfy a degree requirement, you must request to have your official scores sent to Berkeley via the testing agency’s website. Be sure to use the college code 0444 for ACT and 4833 for SAT. 

Once your official scores are received, they will be added to your Berkeley record. Use the Exam Results Report in CalCentral to confirm receipt of your exam scores. If your exam scores do not appear in the Exam Results Report within 2-3 weeks after you requested they be sent, please open a CSC case.

FAQ