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Programme: BIS (Multimedia)

Kindly take note of the disclaimer regarding qualifications and degree names.
Code Faculty Department
12131013 Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology Department: Information Science
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 3 years Total credits: 469 NQF level:  07

Programme information

Modern information technology offers the possibility of information products being designed and created comprising various types of media over and above the traditional text medium. Information technology therefore results in the convergence of various previously separate traditional media. There is not a single discipline that handles the combination of information products. The multimedia qualification in the department of Information science addresses this shortcoming. Any type of institution in all economic spheres, including government, may profit from a multimedia approach to information design, organisation and retrieval.

Multimedia documents include text, graphics, sound, video and animation. The purpose of this qualification is to enable students to understand the necessary concepts to build multimedia products and maintain the products. This programme is therefore a combination of theory and practice. The explosion of the web, as well as the exponential growth and power of information technology, requires the introduction of this degree following international trends.

Admission requirements

Important information for all prospective students for 2022

  • The admission requirements apply to students who apply for admission to the University of Pretoria with a National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Independent Examination Board (IEB) qualifications.
  • Applicants with qualifications other than the abovementioned should refer to:
    • Brochure: Undergraduate Programme Information 2022: Qualifications other than the NSC and IEB, available at click here.
  • Citizens from countries other than South Africa (applicants who are not South African citizens) should also refer to:
  • School of Tomorrow (SOT), Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) and General Education Development Test (GED): The University of Pretoria no longer accepts qualifications awarded by these institutions.
  • National Certificate (Vocational) (NCV) Level 4: The University of Pretoria may consider NCV candidates, provided they meet the exemption for bachelor’s status criteria and the programme requirements.

Transferring students

A transferring student is a student who, at the time of application for a degree programme at the University of Pretoria (UP) –

  • is a registered student at another tertiary institution, or was previously registered at another tertiary institution and did not complete the programme enrolled for at that institution, and is not currently enrolled at a tertiary institution, or has completed studies at another tertiary institution, but is not currently enrolled at a tertiary institution, or has started with tertiary studies at UP, then moved to another tertiary institution and wants to be readmitted at UP.

A transferring student will be considered for admission based on

  • an NSC or equivalent qualification with exemption to bachelor’s or diploma studies (whichever is applicable); and meeting the minimum faculty-specific subject requirements at NSC or tertiary level; or having completed a higher certificate at a tertiary institution with faculty-specific subjects/modules passed (equal to or more than 50%), as well as complying with faculty rules on admission;
  • previous academic performance (must have passed all modules registered for up to the closing date of application ) or as per faculty regulation/promotion requirements;
  • a certificate of good conduct.

Note: Students who have been dismissed at the previous institution due to poor academic performance, will not be considered for admission to UP.

Returning students

A returning student is a student who, at the time of application for a degree programme –

  • is a registered student at UP, and wants to transfer to another degree at UP, or was previously registered at UP and did not complete the programme enrolled for, and did not enrol at another tertiary institution in the meantime (including students who applied for leave of absence), or has completed studies at UP, but is not currently enrolled or was not enrolled at another tertiary institution after graduation.

A returning student will be considered for admission based on

  • an NSC or equivalent qualification with exemption to bachelor’s or diploma studies (whichever is applicable); and meeting the minimum faculty-specific subject requirements at NSC or tertiary level; or previous academic performance (should have a cumulative weighted average of at least 50% for the programme enrolled for);
  • having applied for and was granted leave of absence.

Note: Students who have been excluded/dismissed from a faculty due to poor academic performance may be considered for admission to another programme at UP.  The Admissions Committee may consider such students if they were not dismissed more than twice. Only ONE transfer between UP faculties will be allowed, and a maximum of two (2) transfers within a faculty.

Important faculty-specific information on undergraduate programmes for 2022

  • The closing date is an administrative admission guideline for non-selection programmes. Once a non-selection programme is full  and has reached the institutional targets, then that programme will be closed for further admissions, irrespective of the closing date. However, if the institutional targets have not been met by the closing date, then that programme will remain open for admissions until the institutional targets are met.
  • The following persons will be considered for admission: Candidates who have a certificate that is deemed by the University to be equivalent to the required National Senior Certificate (NSC) with university endorsement; candidates who are graduates from another tertiary institution or have been granted the status of a graduate of such an institution, and candidates who are graduates of another faculty at the University of Pretoria.
  • Life Orientation is excluded when calculating the APS.
  • Grade 11 results are used for the conditional admission of prospective students.
  • A valid qualification with admission to degree studies is required.
  • Minimum subject and achievement requirements, as set out below, are required.
  • All modules will be presented in English, as English is the language of tuition, communication and correspondence.

University of Pretoria website: click here

Minimum requirements

Achievement level

English Home Language or English First Additional Language

Mathematics

APS

NSC/IEB

NSC/IEB

4

5

30

Other programme-specific information

Please Note:

The semester in which these modules are offered may vary from year to year.

Students who wish to continue with a BScHons (CS) should consult the Computer Science department for the correct admission requirements to the degree. COS 301 and three COS electives are compulsory admission requirements for BScHons (CS).

Promotion to next study year

Refer also to General Academic Regulation G4.

  1. A student must pass all the modules of the first year of study, before he or she is permitted to register for any module of the third year of study. Module prerequisites remain applicable. Exceptions to this rule will be considered by the relevant head of department and the Dean.
  2. A new first-year student, who has failed in all the prescribed modules of the programme at the end of the first semester, will not be permitted to proceed to the second semester in the School of Information Technology.
  3. A student who has not passed at least 70% of the credits of the current year of study after the November examinations will not be re-admitted to the School of Information Technology.
  4. Students who fail a module for a second time, forfeit the privilege of registering for any modules of an advanced year of study.
  5. Students whose academic progress is not acceptable can be suspended from further studies. Refer to the following important regulation: G4 and/or regulations as they appear for the applicable programmes.
  6. A student who is excluded from further studies in terms of the stipulations of the above-mentioned regulations will be notified in writing by the Dean or admissions committee at the end of the relevant semester.
  7. A student who has been excluded from further studies may apply in writing to the admissions committee of the School of Information Technology for readmission on or before 12 January.
  8. Should the student be readmitted by the admissions committee, strict conditions will be set which the student must comply with in order to proceed with studies.
  9. Should the student not be readmitted to further studies by the admissions committee, he/she will be informed in writing.
  10. Students who are not readmitted by the admissions committee have the right to appeal to the Senate Committee for Admission, Evaluation and Academic Support.
  11. Any decision taken by the Senate Committee for Admission, Evaluation and Academic Support is final.

Pass with distinction

A degree (undergraduate) in the School of IT is conferred with distinction on a student who did not repeat any module of his/her final year, obtained a weighted average of at least 75% (not rounded) in all the prescribed modules for the final year, provided that a subminimum of 65% is obtained in each of these modules and provided that the degree is completed in the prescribed minimum period of time. Ad hoc cases will be considered by the Dean, in consultation with the relevant head of department.

Minimum credits: 144

Fundamental modules

Core modules

  • Module content:

    The focus is on object-oriented (OO) programming. Concepts including inheritance and multiple inheritance, polymorphism, operator overloading, memory management (static and dynamic binding), interfaces, encapsulation, reuse, etc. will be covered in the module. The module teaches sound program design with the emphasis on modular code, leading to well structured, robust and documented programs. A modern OO programming language is used as the vehicle to develop these skills. The module will introduce the student to basic data structures, lists, stacks and queues.

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  • Module content:

    Fundamental concepts of modern operating systems in terms of their structure and the mechanisms they use are studied in this module. After completing this module, students will have gained, as outcomes, knowledge of real time, multimedia and multiple processor systems, as these will be defined and analysed. In addition, students will have gained knowledge on modern design issues of process management, deadlock and concurrency control, memory management, input/output management, file systems and operating system security. In order to experience a hands-on approach to the knowledge students would have gained from studying the abovementioned concepts, students will have produced a number of practical implementations of these concepts using the Windows and Linux operating systems.

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  • Module content:

    This module introduces imperative computer programming, which is a fundamental building block of computer science. The process of constructing a program for solving a given problem, of editing it, compiling (both manually and automatically), running and debugging it, is covered from the beginning. The aim is to master the elements of a programming language and be able to put them together in order to construct programs using types, control structures, arrays, functions and libraries. An introduction to object orientation will be given. After completing this module, the student should understand the fundamental elements of a program, the importance of good program design and user-friendly interfaces. Students should be able to conduct basic program analysis and write complete elementary programs.

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  • Module content:

    This module introduces concepts and terminology related to the computer science discipline. General topics covered include the history of computing, machine level representation of data, Boolean logic and gates, basic computer systems organisation, algorithms and complexity and automata theory. The module also introduces some of the subdisciplines of computer science, such as computer networks, database systems, compilers, information security and intelligent systems. The module also focues on modelling of algorithms.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed – requires departmental selection. Open to BIT, BSc:IT and BSc CS students.
    Mark-up Languages. This module explores the role of mark-up languages in the information environment; the difference between the logical structure and the appearance of documents; the study of HTML, CSS and XHTML; the building of websites and basic information architecture.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed – requires departmental selection.
    Multimedia for the Web. This module introduces the process of creating and editing images, animation, basic interactive content, and sound for the web using multimedia authoring tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash (with basic ActionScript), and Adobe Audition.

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  • Module content:

    Introduction to Information Science. This module is an introduction to the study field of information science and its various professions. Key concepts that will be discussed include the following: the human as information processor and user; the life-cycle of information in terms of processes, products and role-players; as well as the communication of information. The social-ethical impact of globalisation is included as a key concern, with reference to Africa, the 4th Industrial Revolution and other revolutions to come are addressed as well as core principles such as equity, diversity and inclusion.

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  • Module content:

    Organisation and representation of information. This module offers a brief overview of the basic principles and processes underlying the organisation, representation, and structuring of information. The process of organising information on the web (such as social networking sites), in multimedia formats, by means of document image processing and in databases is dealt with. Themes on the representation of information through the creation of metadata include various general and domain specific metadata schemas such as Dublin Core for the web, as well as the various retrieval and management tools available for metadata. Practical classes include basic HTML and the design of web pages incorporating and applying what was covered in theory.

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  • Module content:

    Information and communication technology. This module offers a brief overview of hardware and software and telecommunications technologies. Various networks, network applications. intranets, internet, the World Wide Web, deep web and cloud computing are discussed. Computer ethics, ICTs, e-commerce, ergonomics, mobile computing technology and the influence that new trends and developments such as the 4th Industrial Revolution and virtual reality have on the creation and distribution of information are covered in this module. The practical component focuses on the introduction to the coding language, Python. 

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  • Module content:

    *Only for students who specialise in BIS Multimedia
    Introduction to elements and principles of design, typography and layout. Application of visual principles and techniques. Media characteristics. The design process.

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Minimum credits: 184

Fundamental modules

  • Module content:

    This module is integrated into all undergraduate academic programmes offered by the Faculty. Main objectives: execution of a community project aimed at achieving a beneficial impact on a section of a socio-economically underprivileged community located in socio-economically deprived areas our society; awareness of personal, social and cultural values and an understanding of social issues; and development of life skills.

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Core modules

  • Module content:

    Data abstraction is a fundamental concept in the design and implementation of correct and efficient software. In prior modules, students are introduced to the basic data structures of lists, stacks and queues. This module continues with advanced data structures such as trees, hash tables, heaps and graphs, and goes into depth with the algorithms needed to manipulate them efficiently. Classical algorithms for sorting, searching, traversing, packing and game playing are included, with an emphasis on comparative implementations and efficiency. At the end of this module, students will be able to identify and recognise all the classical data structures; implement them in different ways; know how to measure the efficiency of implementations and algorithms; and have further developed their programming skills, especially with recursion and polymorphism.

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  • Module content:

    The module will introduce the concepts of model-driven analysis and design as a mechanism to develop and evaluate complex software systems. Systems will be decomposed into known entities, such as design patterns, classes, relationships, execution loops and process flow, in order to model the semantic aspects of the system in terms of structure and behaviour. An appropriate tool will be used to support the software modelling. The role of the software model in the enterprise will be highlighted. Students who successfully complete this module will be able to concep-tualise and analyse problems and abstract a solution.

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  • Module content:

    This module will introduce the student to netcentric systems by focusing on the development of systems for the web, mobile devices and the cloud.  To lay the foundation on which the rest of the module can follow, traditional web-based programming languages such as HTML5, JavaScript, CSS and Python will be covered differentiating between client-side and server-side computation.  Persistence of web-based data will be included for both client and server-based computation.  These technologies will be extended and applied to mobile platforms where the availability of a connection, location-services and mobile device limitations play a role.  For cloud platforms, aspects relating to task partitioning, security, virtualisation, cloud storage and access to the shared data stores, data synchronisation, partitioning and replication are considered. In order to practically demonstrate that a student has reached these outcomes, students will be required to use, integrate and maintain the necessary software and hardware by completing a number of smaller practical assignments where after integrating all these technologies into a comprehensive and practical programming project is required.

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  • Module content:

    Computer science courses mostly deal with sequential programs. This module looks at the fundamentals of concurrency; what it means, how it can be exploited, and what facilities are available to determine program correctness. Concurrent systems are designed, analysed and implemented.

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  • Module content:

    This module provides the foundations on which other modules build by enabling a deeper understanding of how software interacts with hardware. It will teach the design and operation of modern digital computers by studying each of the components that make up a digital computer and the interaction between these components. Specific areas of interest, but not limited to, are: representation of data on the machine-level; organisation of the machine on the assembly level; the architecture and organisation of memory; inter- and intra-component interfacing and communication; data paths and control; and parallelism. Topic-level detail and learning outcomes for each of these areas are given by the first 6 units of ‘Architecture and Organisation’ knowledge area as specified by the ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curriculum 2013.
    The concepts presented in the theory lectures will be reinforced during the practical sessions by requiring design and implementation of the concepts in simulators and assembly language using an open source operating system.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed – requires departmental selection.
    Advanced Markup Languages 1. This module investigates XML and its related technologies (such as XSLT, XPath, XSL-FO, DTD, XML Schema, and namespaces) as a vital part of the web development process.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed - requires departmental selection.
    Multimedia and hypermedia theory. This module offers the opportunity to make a thorough study of the theory and applications of multimedia and hypermedia. This includes: multimedia products, multimedia authoring tools, hypermedia databases, digital publications on the World Wide Web, New Media, as well as information architecture, websites and the social realities and impact of the World Wide Web.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed - requires departmental selection.
    Advanced Markup Languages 2. This module assumes knowledge of dynamic scripts and basic web based technologies such as PHP as well as the use of relational databases like MySQL. The module explores the interplay between scripting languages, databases, and current industry standard web technologies, from both the server-side and client-side perspectives. The module has a focus on developing hands-on practical skills.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed - requires departmental selection.
    Copy-editing. This module offers an introduction to copy-editing as a phase in the publishing process. Topics covered are the role of the copy-editor in the publishing value chain; the levels of editing; the responsibilities of the copy-editor towards the manuscript, the author and the publishing house; the responsibilities and skills of the proof-reader; typical problems in texts; proof-reading and copy-editing symbols and the mark-up of texts; as well as legal and ethical aspects of editing. Learners are also equipped with practical skills in proofreading and copy-editing both digital and print-based texts.

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  • Module content:

    *Requires VIO 102
    *Only for students who specialise in BIS Multimedia
    Visual analysis and interpretation. Design function and specific applications in the electronic environment. Aesthetic, functional and communicative evaluation of design.

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Minimum credits: 141

Core modules

  • Module content:

    *Closed – requires departmental selection.
    The module enables students to combine all their knowledge gained through out their studies to create a functional game. The course consists of extensive game design theory teaching. The students create a game by following an iterative design process, extensive documentation and in depth play testing and usability testing. The final product is a creative, innovative and complete game.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed - requires departmental selection.
    Human-computer Interaction. This module involves a study of human-computer interaction and human-information interaction; humans as computer and information users; and the ethical aspects relating to the creation of multimedia information products. A detailed study of the role, composition and functioning of an interface, underlying principles in the design and evaluation of interfaces, will also be undertaken.

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  • Module content:

    *Closed - requires departmental selection.
    Trends. This module deals with technical aspects of multimedia hardware and software, digital video and audio formats and compression; and version management. A detailed study of the latest developments in mark-up languages and related technologies will also be undertaken.

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Elective modules

  • Module content:

    The module exposes students to problems associated with software development on an industrial scale. Overall goals of the module are: to become familiar with the latest trends in software engineering; to understand the software engineering process and to appreciate its complexity; to be exposed to a variety of methodologies for tackling different stages of the software lifecycle; to understand and apply the concepts of systems administration and maintenance; to complete the development of a fairly large object orientation-based software product. The focus of the module is on a project that lasts the whole year. The project is completed in groups of approximately four (4) students and teaches students to take responsibility for a variety of roles within a group, and to understand the different requirements for these; to experience the advantages and problems of working in a group; professionalism with regards to particularly colleagues and clients.
    After the successful completion of this module, the student will be able to: understand the psychology of a client; work in groups; and have an appreciation for planning, designing, implementing and maintaining large projects. These qualities should place the students in a position in which they are able to handle software development in the corporate environment.

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  • Module content:

    The main objective of this module is to introduce a selection of topics from artificial intelligence (AI), and to provide the student with the background to implement AI techniques for solving complex problems.
    This module will cover topics from classical AI, as well as more recent AI paradigms. These topics include: search methods, game playing, knowledge representation and reasoning, machine learning, neural networks, genetic algorithms, artificial life, planning methods, and intelligent agents. In the practical part of this module, students will get experience in implementing
    (1) game trees and evolving game-playing agents;
    (2) a neural network and applying it to solve a real-world problem; and
    (3) a genetic algorithm and applying it to solve a real-world problem.

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  • Module content:

    This module builds on a prior introductory module on database technology and provides more advanced theoretical and practical study material for managing large volumes of data, for example, noSQL database systems and MapReduce. The module will consider file system models, for example Hadoop, relevant for big data storage, manipulation at scale, mining and visualisation.  Basic knowledge of parallel decomposition concepts will be included.

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  • Module content:

    This module develops an appreciation of the fundamentals and design principles for information assurance and security. Students will develop a clear understanding of the basic information security services and mechanisms, enabling them to design and evaluate the integration of solutions into the user application environment. Emphasis will be placed on services such as authorisation and confidentiality. Students will  acquire knowledge and skills of Security Models such as the Bell-LaPadula, Harrison-Ruzzo Ullman and Chinese Wall Model. Students will develop a detailed understanding of the confidentiality service by focusing on cryptology and the practical implementation thereof. The student will be introduced to professional and philosophical ethics. At the end of the module students will be able to engage in a debate regarding the impact (local and global) of computers on individuals, organisations and society. The professionalism of IT staff will be discussed against national and international codes of practices such as those of the CSSA, ACM and IEEE.

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  • Module content:

    The objective of this module is to acquaint the student with the terminology of communication systems and to establish a thorough understanding of exactly how data is transferred in such communication networks, as well as applications that can be found in such environments. The study material includes: concepts and terminology, the hierarchy of protocols according to the OSI and TCP/IP models, protocols on the data level, physical level and network level as well as higher level protocols. The practical component of the module involves programming TCP/IP sockets using a high level language. The emphasis throughout is on the technical aspects underlying the operation of networks, rather than the application of networks.

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  • Module content:

    Programming languages are the backbone for software development. Each language has its own different syntax and semantics, but there are many common concepts that can be studied and then illustrated through the languages. The module concentrates on issues of object orientation, including delegation, iteration and polymorphism. It surveys how languages provide the basic building blocks for data and control, as well as exception handling and concurrency. At the end of the module, students will be able to appreciate the rich history behind programming languages, leading to independent principles that evolve over time. They will be skilled at using a variety of programming languages, including new paradigms such as functional, logical and scripting, and will know how to learn a new language with ease. From this experience, they will be able to apply evaluation criteria for choosing an appropriate programming language in a given scenario.

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  • Module content:

    This module will introduce the student to the fundamentals of compiler construction. These include: the structural difference between a high-level and a von-Neumann language, the meaning of syntax and semantics and what semantics-preserving correctness means; the concepts of regular expressions, finite automata, context-free grammars in the context of programming languages; the need to construct parse-trees for given programmes; the application of data structures and algorithms for the purpose of code-analysis, code-optimisation and register-allocation; and the limits of code-analysis in terms of undecideability and the halting problem.
    After successful completion of the module, the student will have an understanding of the importance of compilers and will understand how to implement a compiler, in terms of its components, the scanner, parser, type checker and code-generator for a given grammar.

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  • Module content:

    The aim of this module is to acquire a sound knowledge of the basic theory of interactive computer graphics and basic computer graphics programming techniques. The theory will cover graphics systems and models, graphics programming, input and interaction, geometric objects and transformations, viewing in 3D, shading, rendering techniques, and introduce advanced concepts, such as object-oriented computer graphics and discrete techniques. The module includes a practical component that enables students to apply and test their knowledge in computer graphics. The OpenGL graphics library and the C programming language will be used for this purpose.

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The regulations and rules for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

The General Academic Regulations (G Regulations) and General Student Rules apply to all faculties and registered students of the University, as well as all prospective students who have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Pretoria. On registering for a programme, the student bears the responsibility of ensuring that they familiarise themselves with the General Academic Regulations applicable to their registration, as well as the relevant faculty-specific and programme-specific regulations and information as stipulated in the relevant yearbook. Ignorance concerning these regulations will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression, or basis for an exception to any of the aforementioned regulations.

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