Prospective Students
ACADEMIC YEAR
BGST’s Academic Year runs from July to June each year in two semesters. Semester 1 runs from July – December, while Semester 2 runs from January – June.
CATEGORIES OF STUDENTS
BGST students are classified as follows:
PART-TIME OR FULL-TIME STUDENTS
Most students typically study at BGST on a part-time basis. If students take up 9 or more credits in a semester, they will be considered as a student with full-time load.
PROGRAMME STUDENTS
These are students who wish to take up studies leading to a BGST’s Graduate Certificate, Diploma or Master. Students may enrol on a full-time or part-time basis.
NON-PROGRAMME STUDENTS
These are students who wish to take courses, in areas of interests to them, without enrolling into the Graduate Certificate, Diploma or Master programmes. If a student wishes to become a programme student later, he/she may do so by going through a Programme Admissions Application.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
International students refer to any student who is not a Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident, intending to study at BGST. International students on a student pass are automatically considered as full-time students. They must fulfil a minimum of 15 credits per semester.
International Students Info
International Students Admission FAQ's
LEARNING MODES: LIVE | SPL
BGST adapts to the “Open University” principle to theological education with the learning modes described below. Please refer to Course Registration for more details.
LIVE CLASS (LIVE)
These are lectures and tutorials conducted live in person or live via an online format, e.g., zoom. For Live courses, registration should preferably be done at least two weeks before the course begins.
SELF-PACED LEARNING (SPL)
This is primarily self-directed learning. Lectures may be in audio or visual format. Each student will have a tutor assigned for each SPL course. Students may register for SPL at anytime and are allowed to set their own time frame and pace of study. Students are to note that all audio-visual materials of the course must be viewed and listened to, and all assignments completed within 6 months from the registration of the course. Students may take up to 50% of the total credits required by their programme in the form of SPL.
LEARNING MODE CONVERSION
Students may convert from Live course to SPL or vice versa by submitting a Learning Mode Course Change Form, giving reason(s) for the change.
AUDIT COURSE | CREDIT COURSE
The essence of theological education is in the learning. As such, we recognise that there are students who have enrolled with us just to gain theological principles and applications to their work and life. In this regard, they may not want to pursue academic qualifications.
We offer such students an option to take up their course of study as an Audit Course, while students who desire for qualifications can pursue their course of study with Credit Course. Audit students do not have to fulfil the assignment requirements. However, they are encouraged to do class exercises and assignments to get the maximum benefit from the courses.
AUDIT-CREDIT COURSE CONVERSION
Students may change their course rom Audit to Credit anytime throughout the course upon payment of the fee difference. Students may also change from Credit to Audit. This, however, must be done by the 2nd lecture, beyond which there will be no refund of the fee difference. The last day to add or drop Live courses is the working day before the 3rd lecture for a 3-credit course and the working day before the 2nd lecture for a 1.5 credit course. All Credit-Audit course changes are to be made through the Admin Office with a Course Change Form.
COURSE TYPES: CORE | ELECTIVE | ETC
BGST course curriculum is organised around the following course types.
CORE COURSES
For programme study, a number of core courses are required to be taken. These courses are usually foundational in nature and aim to introduce a particular area of study. The number of core courses increases as one moves from the diploma to master programmes. Core courses are usually 3 credit courses.
ELECTIVE COURSES
For each programme, a certain number of credits is allocated to elective courses. Students have complete freedom as to which courses they will take as electives. Depending on programme, allocated number of elective credits are required to be attained. Electives courses are usually 1.5 credit courses.
GUIDED STUDIES
Students are given the opportunity to pursue areas of personal interests, provided a faculty member is available to supervise the studies. These guided courses carry 1.5 credits each.
THESIS | PROJECT
Students who intend to work on a Research Thesis or Ministry Research Project must first complete the Guided Study in the topic relevant to the thesis or project. These carry 4.5 credits each.
PRACTICAL TRAINING
These courses (e.g., Field Education) may stretch over periods longer than one semester. Special regulations apply for these. Details will be provided for such courses.
