Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Social Work

There’s considerable freedom of choice in what to study in the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree, but there are a few requirements that you will have to follow. These requirements are listed here and explained in detail below.

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

What are credit points?

• Students doing an Arts / Social Work degree are able to choose to study in a wide range of subject areas. These include the compulsory subject areas of Social Work, Sociology, and Psychology, as well as in other subject areas of choice in Arts, for example, History, Japanese, Philosophy, Music, and Linguistics.
• 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’, depending on the level at which it is taught and the amount of work required. From 2006, most units of study at the University of Sydney are worth 6 credit points each.

How do I get 240 credit points?

• Most people studying full time take five years to complete the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree.
• Full-time students usually earn their 240 credit points by taking units of study worth a total of 48 credit points per year (generally a total of 24 credit points per semester) over the five years of their degree, that is:
• 48 credit points x 5 years = 240 credit points!

• In the first three years of candidature, you study Arts components and Social Work components, to meet the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree. This leaves you the final two years (Years 4 and 5) to complete the remaining Social Work components, and to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree.
• In Years 4 and 5 of your degree program, you’ll probably take 48 credit points per year if you are studying full-time.
• 48 credit points x 2 years = 96 credit points!
• The units of study that you will take to earn these 96 credit points in the final two years of your five year Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree are the same as the units of study that students doing a straight Bachelor of Social Work degree do in the final two years (Years 3 and 4) of their four-year degree
• You can consult the Faculty of Education and Social Work Handbook, in print or online, to find out more about these requirements.

What is the Table of Units of Study for the Bachelor of Arts?

• This is a list of all the units of study that students taking a Bachelor of Arts can study. You can take them in the Bachelor of Arts component (the first three years) of your Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree program.
• The Arts table of units of study has two parts: Part A and Part B.

What is Part A in the 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’.
• All Part A units come from subject areas taught within the Faculty of Arts.

What is Part B of the Arts Table of Units of Study?

• ‘Part B’ refers to the units of study that are listed in the Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Handbook, ‘Table of Units of Study: Part B’.
• Part B units come subject areas taught in the Faculties of Science, Economics & Business, and Education & Social Work.
• Detailed information on Part B units of study can be found in the relevant faculty handbook.

What are junior credit points?

• You start your degree by taking ‘junior’ units of study. They form a foundation for more advanced ‘senior’ units. Junior units of study are worth 3 or 6 junior credit points each , most commonly 6.
• Junior units are sometimes called 1000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 1XXX, e.g. CHNS1101, LNGS1005, SCLG1001, etc.

How do I get 48 junior credit points?

• Most full-time students take units of study worth a total of 48 junior credit points in their first year (generally a total of 24 credit points in each semester). It is important to remember that 48 credit points is also the maximum number allowed in first year.
• If you’re studying part-time, it is usually recommended that you do a minimum of 18 junior credit points in your first year of enrolment, so that you are eligible to meet progression requirements to be able continue on to your second year.

What junior units should I do?

• To make up 48 credit points in your first year, most students take four 6 credit point junior units. However, you will need to make sure to include any junior prerequisites you may need for your Arts (Part A) senior requirements (see below).
• You can check the Faculty of Arts Handbook, in print or online, the online Table of Units of Study or the Unit of Study Database to find out if there are any prerequisites for senior units in the subjects you plan to study.
• Put in place any required junior units, and then consider your further choices.

Let's look at the remaining junior requirement:

• There’s not much choice here! There are only two junior units of Sociology on offer, so you’ll have to take both of them. They are:
• ‘Introduction to Sociology 1 (SCLG1001) and
  ‘Introduction to Sociology 2 (SCLG1002).

Here's an example of how you might put together 48 junior credit points in your first year if you're studying full-time:

• The pattern of units you choose may differ from that given in the example above (e.g. if you are taking some 3 credit point junior units). Just remember, if you’re aiming to complete the Bachelor of Arts part of your degree in three years, to make sure your units add up to 48 credit points over the first year.

Why can I do no more than 48 junior credit points from the Arts Table?

• While junior units give you an excellent introduction to a subject, and function as a foundation for further study, they aren’t, in themselves, sufficient to provide you with substantial expertise in a subject area. Junior units of study are necessary, but not sufficient, for a Bachelor’s degree!

Could I do less than 48 junior credit points?

• Yes, but … for two reasons, it’s not a good idea to skimp on them!
• Firstly, remember that junior units 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 specialize in.

What are senior credit points?

• ‘Senior’ units of study build on the foundation of learning established by junior units in a particular subject area. From 2006, most senior units will be 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. SPAN2601, JCTC2606, ARBC3601, etc.

How would I get my senior credit points?

• You can’t start taking senior units of study until you have the appropriate foundation of junior units in place. In some cases this means that you have to take junior units in the same subject area as prerequisites for your senior units. You’ll need to check the Faculty of Arts Handbook to find out if there are any prerequisites for senior units in the subject areas that interest you.
• Most full time students in the BA/BSW program will start to take senior units of study in their second year, and continue in the third year. At this stage many students narrow down the range of subject areas in which they are studying, perhaps taking units of study from just two or three subject areas, rather than three or four as in the first year.
• Most full-time students will take 24 senior credit points per semester (a total of 48 credit points each year).

Can I take more than 24 credit points per semester?

• You might want to take more than the usual number of 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 (but no more than) 30 credit points per semester in your second and third years. However, be aware that 30 credit points in a single semester is a very heavy load. It’s 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!)
• Once again, it’s probably a good idea to put in place the required senior units first, and then consider what choices you have left. Let’s look at the remaining senior requirements.

What is a major in the Faculty of Arts?

• 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. (The minimum number of senior credit points you can have to qualify for your major is 32.)
• Remember that senior units of study in Arts have 2XXX or 3XXX codes. Of course you need to have the appropriate junior (1XXX) prerequisites in place before you can do these senior units of study.

What are the recommended and compulsory units of study in Sociology?

• We’ve already discussed the required junior units in Sociology (see above under Requirement 4).
• In second or third year, you should do the following units in Sociology and Social Policy: SCPL2601 'Australian Social Policy' and SCLG2602
  ‘Sociological Inquiry: Research Methods'
• The number of units of study and credit points to fulfil this requirement may change.

Can I choose to do a major in Sociology if I wish to?

• Yes. By doing just four more senior Sociology units of study in addition to the two mentioned above, you can complete a major in Sociology if you want to. You could use your Sociology major to satisfy Requirement 6 (at least one major from Arts (Part A)), or you could do a major in Sociology in addition to another Arts (Part A) major.
• The number of units of study and credit points to complete this requirement may change in 2006.

What are intermediate credit points?

• In the Faculty of Arts, units of study are classified simply as either ‘junior’ or ‘senior’. However, in the Faculty of Science, in which Psychology is taught, units of study are classified as ‘junior’, ‘intermediate’, or ‘senior’.
• In Science, from 2006 intermediate units will be worth 6 credit points each and have 2XXX codes, and senior units will be worth 6 credit points, with 3XXX codes.

Which intermediate or senior units of study should I do?

• To satisfy Requirement 8, you must take EITHER:
• 
  *
• Two senior units of study in Psychology for Social Work from the Faculty of Education & Social Work:
• ‘Psychology for Social Work 201 (SCWK 2XXX), and
  ‘Psychology for Social Work 202 (SCWK 2XXX), OR
• Two intermediate units of study in Psychology from the Faculty of Science.
• Note that intermediate units of study in Psychology all have junior prerequisites in Psychology.
• The number of units of study and credit points to complete this requirement may change in 2006

• The unit prescribed for 2006 is KOCR2600 Indigenous Australia: An Introduction.

• Here is an example of how you might put together your requirements and choices together over the second and third years of your degree:

• 48 senior credit points in Year 2 and 48 in Year 3 add up to 96 senior 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 … you’ve satisfied the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts component of your Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree!

So...what happens after the first three years?

• At this time, the supervision of your candidature will be transferred from the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Education & Social Work.
• By the time you get to Years 4 and 5 of your degree you will have completed the Bachelor of Arts component (144 credit points), and will focus only on the remaining Social Work components of your degree.
• You’ll take Social Work units of study worth 48 credit points per year over the final two years, adding up to a further 96 credit points in Social Work.
• 144 credit points earned in your Bachelor of Arts component
  + 96 credit points in Social Work
  = 240 credit points in total
• = your Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degree!!!

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Social Work - Degree Overview