Understanding your Bachelor of Social Science Program

The information below explains some of the terms used and the requirements of your Bachelor of Social Science program.

Programs, Courses and Units

At UQ we refer to your degree as a program and a subject as a course.

Courses

Most UQ courses are 2 units in value.

If you are a full-time student you will undertake 8 units (4 courses) each semester.

Units

To complete the Bachelor of Social Science program you must successfully complete 48 units, which usually equates to 24 courses.

As you progress you will complete courses at Level 1, Level 2 and then Level 3. You must complete no more than 24 units of level 1 courses.

In order to complete the Bachelor of Social Science program you must complete 48 units comprised of:

16 units of core courses
16 units of a major

16 units of a second major or general electives

Within your major, there are compulsory courses, which you must pass to complete your major, and elective courses, which you can select to form the rest of your major.

Make sure you read the program requirements to ensure you understand the requirements of your degree.

Planning your Program

At UQ, a standard full-time workload is 16 units over the year – this breaks down to 8 units (or four courses) each semester.

Please use the PDF below for the semester in which you commenced your Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc) program to draft an enrolment plan. This planner should be read in conjunction with your program requirements (select your year of commencement from the dropdown box).

You don’t have to decide what courses you want to do for your whole program at the start of your first semester – we only ask you to choose courses one year at a time.

So, all you need to worry about at this stage is choosing four courses for your first semester of study and four courses for your second semester of study, taking into account all compulsory core courses.

The Starting at UQ website provides a guide for completing your enrolment.