Course planner tour and help , Mahere kaupapa me te āwhina

Watch the tour and read our help for the course planner.

Overview

The boxes in the course planner represent the structure of the qualification you have selected. Each box represents a course that must be passed at some stage to complete the qualification.

You must also meet the requirements listed in the summary section at the bottom of the page.

The courses are from the current qualification regulations and are subject to change. There is no guarantee courses will be available in future years.

Watch the tour

Watch our quick course planner tour.

Accessing the course planner

The course planner is available on our website and in the student portal. Currently, it is only available for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science.

To access the course planner on the website:

  1. Go to the qualification or specialisation page, eg Bachelor of Arts.
  2. Scroll down to the Plan your courses section and click the Course planner button.

To access the course planner in the student portal:

  1. Log in to the student portal.
  2. Go to the Qualification and courses tab.
  3. Click the Course planner button.

Note: If you are enrolled, or eligible to enrol, in more than 1 qualification you will not be able to view the course planner.

How many courses to study each year

If you're a full-time student, we recommend you take 4 courses (60 credits) each semester, totalling 8 courses (120 credits) per academic year.

When you plan your study, consider that:

  • a 15-credit single-semester course typically needs 10 to 12.5 hours of study each week
  • a 15-credit double-semester course typically takes about five to 6.5 hours of study each week.

Find out more about recommended and maximum student workloads

Our academic advisers can help you choose courses that meet your life situation, academic background and goals. You can also view our guide to planning your courses for step-by-step guidance.

Course levels

Each course is numbered using 6 digits. The fourth number represents the level of the course.

For example, in course 219206 Communication and Technological Change, the fourth number is a 2, so it is a 200-level course.

In general, each level represents a different year of full-time study. So, 100-level courses are first-year courses, 200-level courses are second-year courses and so on.

Selecting and planning courses

Compulsory courses

Boxes which already have a course number displayed in them represent compulsory courses. Click on the Select course icon in the bottom right-hand side of the box to plan when you want to study the course.

When you select the study year you will also be able to select the semester and location if this information is available and the enrolment date has not passed.

Boxes with lists of courses to choose from

In these boxes, the courses you can choose from will be restricted by the requirements listed in the box. For example, if a box says “Psychology 200-level course list” then you will be able to select from a list of psychology courses at the 200 level.

Click the Select course icon in the bottom right-hand side of the box to view the course options. You can filter the course list by entering a keyword or course number in the search. Click on a course in the list to select when you plan to study the course.

Elective courses

In boxes that say “Elective course” you can choose from a range of courses.

To plan an elective course, click the Select course icon in the bottom right-hand side of the box. You can filter the course list by entering a keyword or course number in the search. Click on a course in the list to select when you want to study the course.

Prerequisites, corequisites and restrictions

Some courses will have prerequisites, corequisites or restrictions.

Prerequisites are courses that need to be completed before moving on to the next one. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.

Corequisites are courses that must be completed at the same time as another course.

Restrictions are courses where their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the courses to study and credit to your qualification.

Course statuses

The courses in the course planner can have the following statuses.

Status Meaning
Not planned You have not planned a course for this box, or not planned when you want to study a compulsory course.
Planned You have planned the course but have not selected a study year.
Planned <year> You have planned the course and selected a study year.
Planned <year and semester code> You have planned the course and selected a study year and semester.

When viewing the course planner within the student portal, courses can have the following additional statuses.

Status Meaning
To be submitted You have started your enrolment in the course but have not yet submitted it.

You need to return to your course enrolment and submit your changes so we can assess them.
Pending Your course enrolment has been submitted and is now being assessed by us.
Offered You have an Offer of Enrolment for the course waiting to be accepted.
Offered* You have a conditional Offer of Enrolment for the course waiting to be accepted.
Enrolled You have completed course enrolment and accepted your Offer of Enrolment for the course.
Enrolled* You have accepted a conditional Offer of Place for your qualification, completed course enrolment and accepted your Offer of Enrolment.

The conditions in your Offer of Place will need to be met by the time you commence your studies.
Credit You have received credit for prior learning for the course.
Completed You have completed and passed the course.

Semester codes

Code Full description Details
S1FS Semester One Full Semester The course will run for all of Semester One.
S2FS Semester Two Full Semester The course will run for all of Semester Two.
SSHL Summer School The course will run for all of Summer School.
DBLE Double Semester The course will run over both Semester One and Semester Two.
xxNx Non-standard semester The course will run for a full semester but will start earlier or later than the normal start date.

It will therefore finish earlier or later than the normal semester end date.
xxBx Block period The course has a shorter teaching period that falls within a semester.
FLYR Full year The course will run over the full calendar year. These are usually PhD courses.

View the semester start and end dates

Credit summary section

When planning your courses you need to check that you meet the requirements listed in the Credit summary section. Compulsory courses are automatically included in the credits you have selected, even when you haven’t planned when you want to study them.

Click on a requirement to view the courses that are associated with them.

Courses that don’t fit into this qualification section

This section may be displayed when viewing the course planner in the student portal. Courses can appear in this section for many reasons including regulation changes and when you have too many courses against a requirement. For example, you may have too many 200-level psychology courses.

In some cases, courses that are no longer offered will appear in this section when they can be included in the qualification. To check whether they are included:

  1. In the student portal go to the Qualification and courses tab.
  2. In the Qualification progress section click the qualification overview link.

If you have any questions about courses in this section please contact us.

Printing or creating a PDF of the course planner

If you are viewing the course planner outside of the student portal your selections will not be saved. We recommend you print the course planner or save it as a PDF before you leave the page.

Desktop computers

  1. When viewing the course planner press Ctrl + P (PC) or Command + P (Mac).
  2. To print the planner, from the Printer or Destination drop-down select a printer and then click Print.
  3. To create a PDF, select the appropriate option from the drop-down list.

Mobile devices using Chrome

  1. At the top right, tap the three vertical dots and then Share.
  2. Tap Print.
  3. To print the planner, from the drop-down list select a printer and tap Print.
  4. To create a PDF, from the drop-down list select Save as PDF and then tap the PDF download icon.

Additional advice for choosing courses

Some of the qualification pages on our website have information about the typical pattern for courses in the Qualification structure section.

You can also view general advice about choosing courses.

Guide to planning your courses

Our academic advisers can also help you to choose and plan your qualification and courses.

Academic advisers

Contact us

If you would like help with using the course planner or choosing your courses please contact us.