Majors, Minors & Approved Electives

A Major requires you to pass at least 24 units of courses (with no more than 6 units at Level I) within one discipline area. The majority of courses are worth 3 units each, therefore a Major equates to 8 courses.

The exceptions are a Major in either Psychology or International Business, for which you must complete 33 and 27 units respectively.

A Minor requires you to pass at least 18 units of courses (with no more than 6 units and Level I) within one discipline area. The majority of courses are worth 3 units each, therefore a Minor equates to 6 courses.

A Minor must be in a different discipline to your major or primary area of study.

Approved electives are compulsory courses that you must study towards your degree; however you have the flexibility to choose from a list of approved courses.

The degrees which require Approved Electives or Cognates are as follows: Bachelor of Development Studies, Bachelor of Environmental Policy and Management, Bachelor of International Studies, Bachelor of Media, Bachelor of Social Sciences and the Bachelor of Languages.

General elective courses can be chosen from Humanities & Social Sciences (H&SS) or other Faculties. For H&SS electives, see our courses page. H&SS courses are divided into Level I (first year) and Advanced Level (second and third year).

For other Faculties’ courses, search the Course Planner. Ensure that there are no prerequisites that will prevent you from taking the courses. Also, please be aware how many courses from other Faculties you are allowed to study towards your Study Plan.

Bachelor of Arts students must complete both a Major and Minor sequence.

The other degrees which require a Minor sequence are the Bachelor of Development Studies, Bachelor of International Studies and the Bachelor of Environmental Policy and Management.

Yes, you can study one of the Commerce areas listed above as either a Major or Minor. However, these discipline areas can only be taken alongside a Humanities & Social Sciences Major. As this is the case, you can only study these disciplines as part of a single Bachelor of Arts i.e. not a double degree.

Please note that these courses do not count as Humanities & Social Sciences courses, and can only be studied as a Major, Minor or in the free choice elective space of your degree.