In a bold move by NUS to reduce the obsession with grades, how its freshmen perform in exams may no longer count in their final mark. The initiative, already in place at its medical school, will be rolled out in phases to other faculties, which could inclsude law and engineering, from as early as this year, revealed NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan. Details are still being worked out for what NUS has called its "grade-free" system, which will be extended to the whole school over the next few years. But while there will still be tests and exams, first-year students will no longer get A to F grades. Instead they will just be given a distinction, pass, or fail in their modules – and these will not form part of their Cumulative Average Point, which determines the quality of the degree awarded at the end of their course. While SMU and NTU do not have a similar policy for first-year students, several courses are graded on a pass-fail basis.