What can I study

Anzac Walk Newcastle

Areas of study

The University of Newcastle offers a wide variety of interesting, exciting and relevant courses to our visiting Study Abroad and Exchange students.

Some popular areas of study are:

If your preferred area of study is not listed above, please see a list of all courses at the University of Newcastle in the Online Course Handbook

Choosing your courses

You can choose courses to extend and complement your core studies with more courses in the same field of study, or you can choose elective courses simply because they might be of interest to you.

To find out if you can enrol in a particular course, click on the course in the Online Course Handbook , scroll down the page until you see the 'Assumed Knowledge' or 'Requisite/Compulsory Course Components' heading. This section will tell you whether you have the prior knowledge required and / or whether enrolment into the course is restricted.

Assumed Knowledge means that the course will be taught on the understanding that students already have a certain level of knowledge. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that they meet the Assumed Knowledge specified for the course. You will still be able to enrol even if you have not completed the Assumed Knowledge courses.

Requisites, or prerequisites, are courses or other activities which must be successfully completed before you can enrol in certain courses. You will not be able to enrol if you have not met these requisites, however some of these courses may be approved for enrolment on a case by case basis.

When choosing courses, please consider the semester you are attending:

Semester 1 at University of Newcastle runs between February and June
Semester 2 at University of Newcastle runs between July and November

For more specific information on important dates during the semester, click here

Course difficulty

A course's degree of difficulty is indicated by its code number, which often signifies the year in which it is taken. For example, a course coded 1000 level (eg ACFI1001) is likely to be taken in the first year of study and a course coded 2000 level (eg MARI2900) in the second year.

You should always ensure that you have the approval from your home institution to participate in any course.

How many courses can you choose?

As part of your Australian Student Visa requirements, all Study Abroad and Exchange students must be enrolled at a full time capacity.

  • The standard full time workload is 40 units (4 courses) per semester.
  • The minimum full time workload is 30 units (3 courses) per semester.

NOTE: 1 course = 10 units = 10 hours per week of study across the 13 week semester. This will be made up of both contact (lecture, tutorials etc) and non-contact (reading, studying, assignment etc) activities.  Full-time study requires 30-40+ hours of your time each week.

Credit Equivalence Guide *

The University of
Newcastle Credit Value

Equivalent USA
Credit Value

ECTS
Credit Value

80

24

60

60

18

45

40

12

30

20

6

15

10

3

7.5

*The above credit equivalences should be taken as a guide only. Individual assessments should be made of each student record by the home institution.

Academic Matters

Teaching methods

Teaching methods and forms of assessment vary according to the course. Students are usually required to undertake a combination of lectures, tutorials and/or laboratory classes and, in some cases, fieldwork placements.

Assessment

Assessment is usually in the form of written assignments, short tests, participation in tutorials and practical work, as well as examinations in semester (or trimester) time or in the formal examination periods.

Both teaching methods and Assessment details can be found in the Online Course Handbook and are also discussed in the first lecture.

Credit transfer

It is the responsibility of all international students to negotiate the transfer of credit for studies undertaken at the University of Newcastle with their own home institution.