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About course structures

The course structure will outline the requirements for your course or degree. It tells you what units and how many points you need to complete in order to graduate in your chosen degree. Specifics will depend on what type of student you are:

  • Undergrad students
  • Postgrad students
  • Honours students -  you are required to plan your enrolment with your supervisor to make sure it reflects both the content and the pace of your study. This should be completed on the Honours Program of Study form attached with your offer letter, by the end of week one.
  • Research masters or doctoral students - you are not able to complete your enrolment online. You will be sent enrolment information from either your Faculty Office or the Graduate Research Office.

Your course structure is contained in your course handbook which you can find using your course planning page.

Some terms you'll come across

Unit Set

You will see the term "unit sets" used interchangeably with majors, minors or other specialisations. 

Teaching period

This represents the time period in which the unit will be taught. S1 means Semester 1 and S2 is Semester 2.

S1 and S2 are the most common for an undergraduate degree, but there are many variations of teaching periods and the index of these can be found in the Handbook.

Unit Mode

This indicates if the unit is available either Internally (Int) or Externally (Ext).

Pre-requesites

The course structure will also list any prerequisites. A prerequisite is a requirement that must be completed before you start a unit. This is important as a unit may assume that you have a certain level of understanding about a topic.

Double majors

Murdoch course structures encourage students to take double majors. Recommended double majors are included in your course handbook.

You should decide before finalising your enrolment if you are going to complete a second major and/or a minor as those extra units will take the place of some or all of your general electives.

Your second major or minor does not have to be from the same School or Faculty as your first major, therefore you have a wide choice. You will have the opportunity to add the title of your second major and/or minor to your record during the enrolment process in MyInfo. However enrolment in some majors is restricted and therefore you may not be guaranteed a place in the major, regardless of whether or not you have studied some or all of the units.

If you need help selecting a second major or minors, you can get help at your course advice session during Orientation Week.

Now you've found out a little about course structures, you can go on to choosing your units.