Bachelor of Arts and Sciences

These requirements apply to students commening this degree in 2006 and onwards. Students who commenced the degree in 2005 should consult the Arts Undergraduate Handbook 2005 for their requirements.

There's plenty of freedom of choice in what to study in an Arts and Sciences degree, but there are a few requirements that you will need to follow. These requirements are listed here and explained in detail below.

Let's go through what each of these means in turn:

What are credit points?

• Students doing a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree are able to study in a wide range of subject areas. These include the required Legal Studies and Economics/Business subjects, as well as other subject areas in their choice in Arts and Sciences, such as languages, geography, philosophy, psychology and history.
• A semester-length component in a particular subject area is called a 'unit of study'.
• Each unit of study is worth a certain number of 'credit points''. From 2006, all units of study in the Faculty of Arts are worth 6 credit points each.

How do I get 144 credit points?

• Most people studying full time take three years to complete a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree.
• Full time students usually earn their 144 credit points by taking units of study worth a total of 48 credit points per year (usually 24 credit points per semester) over the three years of their degree, that is:
  48 credit points X 3 years = 144 credit points!!

Requirements 2 & 3 both involve 'junior' units of study

You start your degree by taking 'junior' units of study. They form a foundation for more advanced 'intermediate' and 'senior' units. Junior units of study are worth 6 junior credit points. They are sometimes referred to as 1000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 1XXX e.g. ASNS1001.

What junior units of study should I do in my first year of study?

• Most full-time students take units of study worth 48 credit points in their first year (generally 24 credit points in each semester). It is important to remember that 48 credit points is also the maximum number allowed in first year.
• To make up these 48 credit points in your first year, you can take various combinations of junior units as long as you include the requirements.
• You must include any prerequisites you may need for your Arts (Part A) and Science intermediate/senior requirements. You'll need to check the Faculty of Arts and Science Handbooks to find out if there are prerequisites for the senior units you plan to study.
• You must include a minimum of 12 credit points from units in the Faculty of Economics and Business. Most students will fulfil this requirement by doing junior units of study. These credit points must come from units of study listed in the Faculty of Economics and Business Handbook, excluding Accounting, Finance and Marketing units.
• You must also include a minimum of 12 credit points in Legal Studies. In 2007 the two Legal Studies units are:

SLSS1001 Introduction to Socio-Legal Studies and;

SLSS1003 Law and Contemporary Society

• Here is an example of how you might put together 48 junior credit points in your first year, if you intended completing a major in units from the Faculty of Arts:

• The pattern of units you choose may vary from the example above.
• If you're aiming to complete your degree over three years, just remember to make sure your units add up to 48 credit points over the year, and that you have the correct core and prerequisite units.

Can I do more than 48 junior credit points?

• Yes, you can take up to 72 junior credit points in your Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree. You can take the remaining 24 credit points in your second and third years if you want to. But, it is okay if you choose to stay with just the 48 credit points that you've already got in your first year, and add extra intermediate or senior units instead.

Can I do less than 48 junior credit points?

• This could be possible if the Arts or Science units you plan to take do not have specific junior prerequisites. But, for two reasons, it's not a good idea to skimp on junior credit points!
• Firstly, remember that junior credit points form a foundation for further study. In some cases this is a necessary foundation for more advanced study in a particular subject area. In all cases, junior units provide an opportunity to work at developing the skills and ways of thinking that you will need for more advanced learning at the tertiary level.
• Secondly, junior units of study offer you the chance to sample a range of subject areas and gain a variety of learning experiences, even in subjects that you may not go on to specialise in.

What are 'senior' and 'intermediate' credit points?

• 'Senior' and 'Intermediate' units of study build on the foundation of learning established by junior units of study in a particular subject area.
• In the Faculty of Arts, units of study are classified as either junior or senior. From 2006 all senior units of study are 6 senior credit points each. They are somtimes called 2000 or 3000 level units because their study codes all have the form 2XXX or 3XXX.
• In the Faculty of Science, units of study are classified as either junior, intermediate or senior. Intermediate units are worth 6 credit points and have the form 2XXX. Senior units are also worth 6 credit points and have the form 3XXX.

How would I get 72 senior or intermediate credit points?

• Most full time students in the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences program will start to take intermediate and senior units in their second year, after having put the appropriate foundation of junior units in place in the first year. At this stage, many students narrow down the range of subject areas in which they are studying.
• You can get the credit points required to complete your degree over your second and third years by choosing subjects that add up to 24 credit points in each semester.
  24 credit points X 4 semesters = 96 credit points
  These 96 senior credit points plus the 48 credit points earned in Year 1 equals 144.
• If all of the 96 credit points you take over the second and third years are from intermediate or senior units, then you'll have more than the required 72 intermediate or senior credit points. If you prefer, you could choose instead to stay with just 72 intermediate or senior credit points and make up the additional 24 credit points needed for your degree with extra junior units of study. It's your choice!

Could I do more than 24 credit points per semester?

• You might want to take more than 24 credit points in one semester - perhaps to make up for a unit of study that you have failed, or to try to get through your degree more quickly.
• You are permitted to do up to 30 credit points per semester in your second and third years. However, by aware that 30 credit points in a single semester is a very heavy load. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to do your best in each unit you take (and very unlikely that you'll have a life while you do it!)

What intermediate/senior units should I do?

• It's a good idea to first put in place the intermediate/senior units that are required, and then consider your other choices. Let's look at the remaining requirements.

What's a major in a Faculty of Arts subject area?

• To earn a major in a subject area from Part A in the Faculty of Arts, students will complete 36 senior credit points in that subject area.
• Remember that senior units of study in Arts have 2XXX or 3XXX codes. Of course you need to have the appropriate junior prerequisites in place before you can do these senior units of study.

What is Part A in the Faculty of Arts?

• Part A refers to the units of study that are listed in the Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Handbook, Table of Units of Study: Part A. These all come from subject areas taught within the Faculty of Arts.

What is a major in the Faculty of Science?

• In most subject ares in the Faculty of Science, you get a major when you've done 24 senior credit points in THAT subject area. Remember that senior units of study in Science have 3XXX codes.
• 24 senior credit points might sound like less work than what's involved in an Arts major, but remember that, in Science, you need to have not only the appropriate junior prequisites but also the appropriate intermediate prerequisites in place, before you can these senior units of study.
• There are some subject areas in the Faculty of Science that have slightly different requirements for a major. Please check the Science Handbook to make sure of the requirements in the subject(s) in which you intend to major.

Could I do more than one major?

• Yes, you could complete both an Arts major and a Science major in your Arts and science degree. You may even be able to complete two Arts majors if you want to, but this would take careful planning, and would limit your choices in other subject areas.
• Below we've given you an example of how you might structure your degree if you wanted to complete a major from Arts (Part A) as well as a major from Science (Table I):

• These credit points must come from the units of study listed in Part A in the Faculty of Arts Handbook.
• If you've chosen to do a major in Arts (Part A) subject area, then of course you have already more than satisfied this requirement.

• These credit points must come from units of study listed in Table 1 in the Faculty of Science handbook.
• If you've chosen to do a major in a Science subject area, then of course you have already more than satisfied this requirement.

Here is an example of how you might put together the requirements for your Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in your second and third years.

• 48 intermediate or senior credit points in each of Years 2 and 3 add up to 96 intermediate and senior credit points, which more than satisfies Requirement 4 of at least 72 senior or intermediate credit points.
• When you sum the credit points earned in Year 1 (48) with those earned in Years 2 and 3 (96) you can see that they add up to 144 credit points ... i.e. your Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree!!

Bachelor of Arts and Sciences - Degree overview