Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)

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

What are 'credit points'?

• Students doing a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree are able to choose to study in a wide range of subject areas - for example, Psychology, History, Japanese, Philosophy and Art History & Theory.
• 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'. Most units of study taught at the University of Sydney are worth 6 credit points each.

How do I get 192 credit points?

• Most people studying full time take four years to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree.
• Full-time students usually earn their 192 credit points by taking units of study worth a total of 48 credit points per year (usually 24 credit points per semester) over the four years of their degree, that is:

48 credit points x 4 years = 192 credit points!

What are junior credit points?

• 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 3 or 6 junior credit points each, most commonly 6. They are sometimes referred to as 1000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 1XXX, e.g. JPNS1111, ASNS1001, PSYC1002, etc.

Can I do more than 48 junior credit points?

• Yes, you can take up to 72 junior credit points in your Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree. You can take the remaining 24 junior credit points in later 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' credit points instead.

Can I do less than 48 junior credit points?

• This will only be possible if the Arts and Science majors you plan to take do not have any 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.

Which junior Psychology units should I complete?

• You should complete both PSYC1001 Psychology 1001 (Semester 1) and PSYC1002 Psychology 1002 (Semester 2) to satisfy this requirement. These two units will provide the foundation for your intermediate and senior Psychology units of study.

What are intermediate credit points?

• In the Faculty of Science, in which the subject area of Psychology is taught, units of study are classified as 'junior', 'intermediate', or 'senior'. Intermediate units are worth 6 credit points and have 2XXX codes.
• Intermediate units of study build on the foundation of learning established by junior units of study in a particular subject area, and themselves form a foundation for more advanced, ‘senior’ units.

Which intermediate Psychology units should I complete?

• You should complete the following units of study to meet this requirement:
  PSYC2011 Brain and Behaviour
  PSYC2012 Statistics & Research Methods for Psych
  PSYC2013 Cognitive and Social Psychology
  PSYC2014 Personality and Differential Psychology
• Each of these units are worth 6 credit points each, thereby meeting the requirement for 24 intermediate credit points.
• These units may change from year to year. Always check with the Department of Psychology to ensure that you are meeting the requirements of the Psychology major.

What are senior credit points?

• In the Faculty of Arts, units of study are classified simply as either 'junior' or 'senior'. Senior units in the Faculty of Arts are worth 6 senior credit points each. Senior units in Arts are sometimes called 2000 and 3000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 2XXX or 3XXX, e.g. INMS2601, LNGS2605, ARBC3601, etc.
• In the Faculty of Science, units of study are classified as 'junior', 'intermediate', or 'senior'. Senior units are worth 6 credit points, with 3XXX codes.

Which senior units of study should I complete to meet this requirement?

• You must complete PSYC3010 Advanced Statistics for Psychology. You must also complete at least one of the following:
  PSYC3011 Learning and Behaviour
  PSYC3012 Cognition, Language and Thought
  PSYC3013 Perceptual Systems
  PSYC3014 Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience
• You must complete all senior units with a Distinction average or better.
• You may include HPSC3023 Psychology and Psychiatry: History & Phil in the required 30 senior credit points.
• The Department of Psychology, in consultation with the Faculty of Arts, may specify particular Psychology senior units as compulsory, and/or as prerequisites for Psychology IV Honours.

What are 4000-level units of study?

• These are units of study with generic codes that you enrol in for your Honours year. Being generic, they do not reflect the nature of the coursework that you may undertake. Your enrolment will be as follows:
  PSYC4011 Semester 1
  PSYC4012 Semester 1
  PSYC4013 Semester 2
  PSYC4014 Semester 2

What mark must I attain in my Honours year?

• You must attain a minimum of 65 to pass your Honours year.

What is Part A in the Arts Table of Units of Study?

• '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.

Can I complete less than 60 credit points from Arts (Part A)?

• No; you must complete a minimum of 60 credit points from Part A. This is to provide you with a broad knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

What about the remaining credit points that I need to make up my degree?

• In addition to the required credit points in Pscychology and the minimum of 60 credit points in Arts (Part A), you need a further 18 credit points to complete your degree. These addition credit points may come from either Part A or Part B of the Arts Table of Units of Study.
• Part B units come from subject areas taught in the Faculties of Science, Economics & Business, and Education & Social Work.
• Note that you do not have to take additional units from another Faculty; you can choose to take up to 18 credit points from Arts (Part A) if you wish to.

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 normally 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 may need to have the appropriate junior (1XXX) prerequisites in place before you can do these senior units of study.

Here is an example of how you might put together the requirements for your Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree:

When you sum the credit points earned in Year 1 (48) with those earned in Years 2, 3, and 4 (144), you can see they add up to 192 credit points ... i.e. your Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree!

Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) Degree Overview page