Bachelor's degrees
Overview
Flexible yet focused, UC’s bachelor's degree qualifications equip you to solve the problems of the future. Whether you already have your career path mapped out, or are open to new possibilities, you can tailor your studies to suit your interests and goals.
Some qualifications are specialised, with most of your courses already set into a programme, while others allow much more flexibility, so you can study multiple and diverse combinations of subjects.
Bachelor's degrees are the first qualification you can study at university after secondary school. UC also offers a number of undergraduate certificates and diplomas if you want to complete a shorter programme.
There are a number of bachelor's degrees on offer at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Communication
- Bachelor of Criminal Justice
- Bachelor of Data Science
- Bachelor of Digital Screen with Honours
- Bachelor of Engineering with Honours
- Bachelor of Environmental Science with Honours
- Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Bachelor of Forestry Science
- Bachelor of Health Sciences
- Bachelor of Laws
- Bachelor of Māori Innovation
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Product Design
- Bachelor of Science
- Bachelor of Social and Environmental Sustainability
- Bachelor of Social Work with Honours
- Bachelor of Speech and Language Pathology with Honours
- Bachelor of Sport
- Ako: Bachelor of Teaching and Learning
- Bachelor of Youth and Community Leadership
- Conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Commerce
- Conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Science
- Conjoint Bachelor of Commerce and Science
- Conjoint Bachelor of Engineering with Honours and Commerce
- Conjoint Bachelor of Engineering with Honours and Product Design
- Conjoint Bachelor of Engineering with Honours and Arts
- Conjoint Bachelor of Engineering with Honours and Social and Environmental Sustainability
- Conjoint Bachelor of Product Design and Commerce
- Conjoint Bachelor of Product Design and Science
Double and conjoint degrees
It is also possible to combine and graduate with two bachelor's degrees at the same time. Find out more about Double and Conjoint degrees.
Entry for bachelor's degrees require University Entrance to gain admission to UC. If you gained your qualifications overseas, these will need to be assessed to ensure they are of an equivalent standard.
Some bachelor's degrees have additional requirements. Check the details of your selected degree and courses to make sure you meet these.
You are also required to meet UC’s English language requirements if English is your additional language.
Find out how to apply for undergraduate qualifications.
Your bachelor’s degree usually takes three or four years of full-time study to complete. Most bachelor's degrees can also be studied part-time for up to 10 years.
Three-year degrees require 360 points of study. Four-year degrees, such as the Bachelor of Forestry Science, require 480 points of study.
Semesters
The year is divided into two semesters — the first from March to July, and the second from July to October. A course usually takes one semester to complete, however some may run over both semesters (known as 'whole year' courses).
UC also offers a summer study period from November to February. You may choose to study in the summer semester to complete your qualification in a shorter time frame, to prepare for another course you wish to take during the other semesters, to take an interest course, or to catch up on a failed course.
Subjects
A bachelor's degree will allow you to study across a broad range of subjects. A subject is a particular area of study that the University offers courses in eg, English, Management, or Geology.
Browse Subjects to explore your study options so you can get an idea of everything that is on offer.
Major subjects
Studying towards a bachelor's degree, you will develop a deep understanding of a particular study area from first to final year. This core subject area is called your 'major'. With over 100 major subjects to choose from at undergraduate level, you can select a major that fits with your career aspirations and allows you to develop in-depth knowledge.
For some degrees, such as a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, or Bachelor of Sport, you can also choose to do a 'double major' and specialise in two subjects. This will not increase your workload or the length of your degree. Provided you meet the requirements for both majors at the end of the first year, you can decide whether you want to continue and take a double major, or whether you want to focus on one subject and take the other as a ‘minor’.
Minor subjects
A 'minor' offers a similar focus for your degree as your 'major' subject, but requires less courses and is an addition to your core degree knowledge. Most students take a minor to complement their major subject or career aspirations, or as a different subject area that they are particularly interested in. Not all bachelor's degrees at UC offer a minor.
Minor subjects offered within the Bachelor of Arts, Commerce, Digital Screen, Health Sciences, Science, Sport, and Youth and Community Leadership are shared across these degrees, allowing you to choose your minor from a wide variety of options.
Some bachelor's degrees have specific course requirements for majors and minors; visit the University Regulations website for more details.
Courses
Courses are blocks of work that are usually taught over one semester. When you pass a course, you gain points (usually 15 or 30 points per course). Every course you pass adds points to the total required for your degree. First-year students usually only take 100-level courses, although there are some exceptions. Other universities sometimes refer to courses as ‘papers’.
Browse Courses to see what options are available in your preferred subjects, or discover new interests.
Course codes
Each course has a code of four letters and three numbers. The letters show the subject and the numbers show the level. For example, MATH101 is a Mathematics course at 100-level, and ENGL201 is an English course at 200-level.
Course prerequisites
You usually have to pass certain courses in a subject – called prerequisites – before you can continue on to 200-level courses in your second year and beyond. This is because some courses follow on from previous or introductory knowledge gained from other courses into more advanced topics.
Successfully completing an undergraduate degree will allow you to continue on to a wide range of graduate and postgraduate qualifications such as:
See Tuition Fee Structure for more information