Subject quotas
At first-year level the extra-faculty subjects (accounting, economics, legal process and computer science) are normally subject to quotas. Other first-year subjects may also have quotas, as have some second and third-year subjects.
It is important that students with firm preferences in terms of the subjects they wish to study within the structure of the BSc should direct inquiries to the relevant faculty office for first-year quotas and the relevant department for second and third-year quotas. Quota selection is based on academic merit of students and/or candidature in a designated course and is administered by the relevant faculty or department.
It should be noted that financial constraints may make it necessary to reduce the number of subjects and optional units being offered, although the faculty would only withdraw the offering of any listed subjects in exceptional circumstances.
Timetables
With the degree of flexibility provided in the course, it is inevitable that there are combinations of subjects which cannot be taken, simply because of timetabling problems. However, experience over a relatively long period of time, and the provision of multiple timetabled classes in a number of subjects, have made it possible to reduce these problems to a minimum. At first-year level, where four disciplines are taken, there are several hundred possible combinations of subjects and very few are unavailable due to timetable clashes. First-year students have their enrolments automatically checked for timetable problems at the time of enrolment, and shortly after completion of the enrolment process each student is issued with a personalised computer-generated timetable for each subject chosen. Later-year students should refer to the lecture timetable provided by the faculty office in December when planning a second or third-year program. Students wishing to enrol in a combination of subjects from different year levels or different faculties should carefully consider the timetable implications.
Subject nomenclature
Each subject has a code of letters (eg CHM for chemistry) followed by four numbers where the first number is the year (1 for the first etc), the last is the semester (1 or 2) and the middle two are sequential numbers used to designate the subject (except in computer science where the last three are the subject numbers and in geography and environmental science where the last digit indicates the campus where the subject is offered). At the top of the outline for each subject, the number of credit points the subject is worth is shown, eg `6 points.'
Point value of the degree
To qualify for the BSc a student must earn 144 credit points, forty-eight in each of three years (for a full-time student with no failures)
Description of the structure of each degreeThe BSc course offers an extensive choice of major study areas. While the emphasis is on increasing understanding and appreciation of basic science, students may also include a three-year sequence in an interfaculty subject.