Students who perform well, with a GPA of 5.0 or greater, during the Bachelor of Social Science program or equivalent program and/or relevant discipline major, may undertake a further year of full-time (or equivalent part-time) study to obtain an Honours degree. The Honours program allows students to further develop their specific areas of interest.

Students can undertake the Honours program in one of the following discipline areas:

• Criminology
• Global Indigenous Studies
• Human Services
• History
• Human Geography and the Environment
• HR Management and Industrial Relations
• Leisure and Tourism management
• Linguistics
• Politics and International Relations
• Sociology and Anthropology

Total units required:

80 units

Program duration:

1 year full-time or part-time equivalent up to 3 years maximum.

International students studying this program on campus are required to enrol full time to comply with their student visa requirements and complete their study in the standard minimum program duration. International students requiring enrolment advice should review the program plan corresponding to the semester and year of commencement and can contact their Program Advisor at ProgramAdvice@newcastle.edu.au

Program requirements:

This program requires the successful completion of 80 units of compulsory courses from one of the following discipline areas:

• Criminology
• Global Indigenous Studies
• Human Services
• History
• HR Management and Industrial Relations
• Human Geography and the Environment
• Leisure and Tourism
• Linguistics
• Tourism and Event Management
• Politics and International Relations
• Sociology and Anthropology

Students who wish to complete the Honours program in two discipline areas should apply to the Program Convenor.

Students must complete the Honours theory courses prior to undertaking the Honours Thesis courses.

Program learning outcomes:

On successful completion of the program students will have:

• coherent and advanced knowledge of the underlying principles and concepts in one or more disciplines and knowledge of research principles and methods
• cognitive skills to review, analyse, consolidate and synthesise knowledge to identify and provide solutions to complex problems with intellectual independence
• cognitive and technical skills to demonstrate a broad understanding of a body of knowledge and theoretical concepts with advanced understanding in some areas
• cognitive skills to exercise critical thinking and judgement in developing new understanding
• technical skills to design and use research in a project
• communication skills to present a clear and coherent exposition of knowledge and ideas to a variety of audiences
• demonstrated the application of knowledge and skills with initiative and judgement in professional practice and/or scholarship
• demonstrated the application of knowledge and skills to adapt knowledge and skills in diverse contexts
• demonstrated the application of knowledge and skills with responsibility and accountability for own learning and practice and in collaboration with others within broad parameters
• demonstrated the application of knowledge and skills to plan and execute project work and/or a piece of research and scholarship with some independence
• Knowledge: the advanced capacity to research, analyse, and apply knowledge from disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives within the Bachelor of Social Science Honours.
• Critical thinking and research skills: the advanced ability to identify high-quality information and critically analyse it as a user, researcher and producer, with a focus on well-reasoned argumentation.
• Communication: the advanced capacity to communicate effectively to a diverse audience across various forms of communication (e.g. written, oral, visual, and digital).
• Intercultural competence: the advanced ability to engage with a range of diverse perspectives from which knowledge, beliefs, and values are developed and maintained from the local to the regional and global levels.
• Work readiness: an advanced capacity to engage in teamwork, initiative, problem solving, ethical decision-making, and project management.

Admission to our undergraduate degree programs usually requires successful completion of a senior secondary school qualification similar to the Higher School Certificate (HSC).

TOEFL paper-based test score of 500;

TOEFL internet-based score of 60;

IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0;

PTE GSE score of 50;

Cambridge English: Advanced score of 52.