Exemptions & Advanced Standing (P4) TYNDALE COLLEGE BIBLE COLLEGE DIPLOMA UPGRADE POLICY
This Section sets out how the Tyndale College Exemptions Policy will apply in the situation where a person has graduated from a Bible (or Theological) College with a Diploma and wishes to upgrade it to a Th.Schol. certificate through Tyndale College.
GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT
1. As a generalization, a person who has completed an accredited Diploma in Theology can expect to receive exemption from between one third and one half of the work required for the Th.Schol. certificate in the Tyndale College program.
2. In more detail: The Tyndale College Th.Schol. Course requires the completion of 24 subject units together with three residential units (one for each Course level) and an exit thesis. Candidates who have completed appropriate prior work can receive credit for between 8 and 12 of these subject units, and either one or two residential units. Normally “completed prior work” will mean having studied a subject to the required level, having passed in essays/assignments in that subject, and also having passed in an examination in it. The maximum credit which can be granted is 50% of the total work required for completion of the Tyndale College Th.Schol.
3. If you have received the award of the two-year Diploma of Theology of the Australian College of Theology, or have passed in some of the subjects of this course, please refer to Equivalence and Exemptions Schedule, ACT/Tyndale, on pages 37-38.
4. If you have received the award of the two-year Diploma in Theology of the Sydney College of Divinity, you will normally receive block credit for 8 units (72 credit points) towards the Tyndale College Th.Schol., distributed according to the units which you have undertaken in your program. If you have passed in units with Credit (65%) or higher, and have received an overall level of Credit in your course, and have passed in units which are similar in content and scope to equivalent units in the Tyndale College course, you may also be able to claim advanced standing in additional Tyndale units up to a total of 50% of the Tyndale College Th.Schol. course.
5. If you have graduated from a recognized Bible College (a College which is a member of the South Pacific Association of Bible Colleges or which has similar recognition) after completing a two-year full-time Diploma Course, or its equivalent, and if the work which you have done towards this Diploma covers syllabi similar in content and scope to equivalent units in the Tyndale College course, you will be able to claim exemption from up to 8 of those Tyndale units. If you have passed in subjects with Credit (65%) or higher, and have received an overall level of Credit in your course, and have passed in additional subjects which are equivalent to Tyndale units, you may be able to claim advanced standing in additional Tyndale units up to a total of 50% of the Tyndale College Th.Schol. course.
HOW THIS WORKS IN PRACTICE
You need to compare the work which you have completed for your College’s Diploma with the requirements of the Tyndale Course, and identify areas of the total Tyndale program which you have already studied and in which you have passed. The onus is on you to do this. You then claim exemption or partial exemption in the equivalent Tyndale units, and pay the Application for Exemption fee for each such subject unit.
The following will be a guide.
1. One of the principles of the Tyndale College course is its requirement of coverage of the whole of a field. When a gap is identified in what a candidate has done, this will need to be covered by appropriate additional work, either by taking a full unit, or supplementary work in a unit.
2. Thus, in Biblical Studies, the candidate is required to have studied the whole of the Bible. If your course has included an Introduction to the whole of the Old Testament, you would normally be able to claim exemption from Unit 111. Supposing in addition you have studied in detail the books of Genesis and Deuteronomy, you can claim advanced standing in Unit 211, which covers Genesis to 1 Samuel: this means that you would only need to do the equivalent of half of this unit, that is, the books not previously covered. Similarly if your course has included an Introduction to the whole of the New Testament, you would normally be able to claim exemption from Unit 121.
3. Similarly for Church History. The Tyndale Unit 131 covers the whole of the period from Acts to the Reformation, including the reading (in English translation) of the writings of the Early Christian Fathers, and a study of the Beginnings of British Christianity (from the first to the seventh centuries), and John Wycliffe and the Lollards. Supposing that you have studied a subject “Early Church History” which (as is often the case) covers only up to (say) about 500 AD: you could enrol with Tyndale College for our supplementary unit 131A, which involves work equivalent to half a full unit, which covers the above three extra areas plus a look at what happened between 500 and 1500 AD, and which would then have upgraded your work in Early Church History to the equivalent of the Tyndale Unit 131.
FOR THOSE SEEKING ADVANCED STANDING: WHAT TO DO NEXT 1. Complete your Application for Enrolment form, and forward it to the Office with your initial fees. Even if some of the information required on the Application Form is not immediately available (especially if you are located overseas), you can commence your program immediately (as a graduate of another College you will be accepted at once provisionally) and then send later the balance of the material required to finalize your enrolment. But then, do not forget to do this!
2. Read carefully the College’s policy on exemptions in the Tyndale College Prospectus, and the subject unit descriptions, pages 19 to 26. Compare with these the syllabus for each subject you have studied in your previous course, and the extent of time and work allocated to this subject. Have you studied - and passed in - any subjects covering the same syllabus at a comparable standard?
3. A separate application is necessary for each subject unit for which you seek exemption. Obtain an Application For Exemption (AFX) form from the Tyndale office, and photocopy the number of copies you need. Fill in the information required on the Form, giving adequate information about the work you have done (not just a subject title!), the lecture hours allocated to it, how it was assessed (essay, book review, examination, etc.), and your assessment results. To assist us in the evaluation of your Application, be sure you draw attention to areas where supplementary work will be required.
4. Attach a notarized photocopy of the official statement from your College setting out your results, and send it in to Tyndale College with your Application For Exemptions forms, accompanied by the Exemption Application Fee (see page 32) for each Tyndale subject unit in which exemption is sought. You can apply for these exemptions now, or at a later stage, and thus you can provide Tyndale College with the notarized copy of your College transcript now or later.
5. Choose what you would like to do as your first Tyndale work. If you have been out of practice at studying in recent times (or in any case) you may like to start by undertaking a half unit or by doing supplementary work in a unit to upgrade it to full exemption. A good place to start is (if applicable) with the half-unit 131A, Church History to the Reformation, or with any supplementary work which you may require to do in order to complete your coverage of the full range of Doctrine in Units 141 and 142, or similarly with any supplementary work required for Unit 161.
6. You will be allocated a tutor, with whom you can be in contact by phone, mail, or email. Similarly, your work can be submitted by mail, email, or fax (some tutors).
7. Note: Subject Units can only be commenced at the start of a Semester (February and July), but it is normally possible to commence half-units or supplementary work at other times, by arrangement.
