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Honours Policy

Entry Requirements for Honours Courses

The normal requirements for entry to BA honours are at least half of the pass degree points (usually 72 points) at 65 per cent and above, plus any additional requirements of the discipline(s) concerned (which may include specific units completed and required grades in specific units). Students should seek further information from the relevant discipline group(s).

Students who do not meet the standard requirements may still apply for admission to honours, but a special case needs to be made. Students who wish to apply for honours should approach the honours coordinator(s) of the discipline group(s) concerned shortly before they expect to complete their degree. The approval of both the discipline group(s) and the Faculty is required for honours entry.

It is Faculty policy to require that students complete all the requirements for the BA pass degree before they can be admitted to honours.

Time Limits

Students may apply to be admitted to honours within seven years of completing their BA pass degree. The honours course can be taken over two semesters full-time or three to four semesters part-time. If students encounter medical or personal difficulties that hamper their progress it is possible to extend the honours time limit by up to two semesters with special permission from the Faculty on the recommendation of the discipline group(s) concerned. Work commitments rarely justify extension of the honours time limit.

Students who do not need to extend their honours time limit, but wish to request an extension on their dissertation submission date, should discuss this with their discipline group honours coordinator in the first instance. Extensions of longer than two weeks should be reported to the Faculty via a Special Approval form and may require Faculty approval.

Structure of Honours Programmes

Honours programmes in the Faculty normally consist of a 24-point dissertation (split into two 12-point semester halves) and 24 points worth of coursework seminars (split into a combination of 6 and 12-point semester units). The exceptions to this structure are discipline groups based outside the Faculty which offer Honours programmes in the BA (eg - Industrial Relations, Economics, Geography, Mathematics and Statistics, Psychology and Fine Arts).

Joint and Cognate Honours

It is possible to take a joint honours course if a suitable programme is approved by both of the discipline groups concerned and the Faculty. Students are expected to take an absolute minimum of 18 points from each of the two disciplines to qualify for joint honours, although some disciplines may require more. Students wishing to undertake a smaller amount of study in a second discipline during their honours year may be eligible for a cognate honours programme.

Withdrawal and Revision to Honours Programme

Individual honours programmes will be approved by the Faculty when students first enrol in honours. Students wishing to make subsequent changes to their honours programme should submit a Change of Enrolment form and a revised honours programme signed by their discipline group's honours coordinator to the Faculty for approval.

Students should note that although the dissertation is split into two separate semester-long codes, it is normally treated as a single full-year component of the honours programme taken across two consecutive semesters in both part-time and full-time honours programmes. Students who withdraw from their dissertation enrolment (eg - by changing from a full-time to part-time honours programme) should note that they will require the permission of their discipline group honours coordinator and the Faculty's Academic Student Adviser if they wish to re-enrol to complete the dissertation at a later date. Students are advised to discuss the implications of any proposed revision to their honours programme with their discipline group honours coordinator and the Faculty Student Office.

Honours Results

Students enrol in a separate unit code for each of their honours components, including a separate code for each semester half of the dissertation. A mark will be allocated at the end of each semester for each individual unit enrolment, with the exception of the dissertation 1 unit (first half of the dissertation), which will be graded as AC (Assessment Continuing) as this is a part-unit only.

The results for dissertation 2 and all seminar units taken will be used to calculate the overall honours result in accordance with the formula applied in the relevant discipline group(s) (which will normally involve a proportional weighting of each honours component). Honours results will be classified as follows:

First Class Honours (H1) 80-100%
Second Class Honours Division A (2A) 70-79%
Second Class Honours Division B (2B) 60-69%
Third Class Honours 50-59%

Results for individual components and the overall honours classification will appear on a student's academic transcript.

Students who first enrolled in their honours programme prior to 2004 will have received XX (part unit only) results for their individual honours components and for the sake of consistency will continue to receive XX results for the rest of their honours enrolment. Only the overall Honours classification, which will still be calculated as described above, will appear on the academic transcript for these students. Further details of results in individual honours components are available from the relevant discipline group.

The census dates for units of study and last dates to withdraw each semester apply to honours units. Students who fail an honours unit will not be permitted to repeat it and will have their mark factored into the calculation of their overall honours result.
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