The recommended and maximum course workload limits are to help you maintain a good balance between your study and personal life.
Recommended workload
If you're a full-time student, we recommend you take four courses (60 credits) each semester, totalling eight courses (120 credits) per academic year.
You can take fewer courses than this, but if you're reliant on StudyLink to fund your study, you need to check their rules.
For a 15-credit single-semester course, you should expect to take 150 hours of study over the whole semester.
If you want to do more courses during your year, you can continue your study at Summer School. This is shorter than a standard semester, with courses being offered from mid-November to mid-February. We recommend you take no more than two courses during Summer School.
Maximum workload
The maximum student workload we have set is no more than 12 courses (180 credits) in an academic year.
You can structure this as:
- not more than five courses (75 credits) each semester (totalling 10 courses, or 150 credits, for the year) with up to two more courses (30 credits) at Summer School
- or, if you're not taking the maximum allowance of five courses each semester, you can take up to, but not more than, four courses (60 credits) at Summer School.
Credits for double semester courses are assigned in equal parts for each semester.
Studying the maximum workload
You can only study the maximum workload if you:
- pass all your credits in your most recent enrolment period
- achieve a minimum B grade average across all courses.
New students will not usually be considered to study a maximum workload.
If you fail some or all of your courses during a semester or enrolment period, we may put workload limits on your study.
Get help with your workload
You can talk to our team of Academic Advisers if you:
- need help with planning your workload
- want to study the maximum workload, or
- have questions.
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