The Advanced Science/Social Science dual degree program enables students to complete a major in Advanced Science, in addition to a program of study in Social Science offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The duration of this dual degree is normally five years full-time.

For questions regarding the Bachelor of Social Science requirements for the program, students should consult staff in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Student Centre. For questions relating to the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) component of the program, students should consult the Science Student Centre.

Please refer to the program objectives as listed for the 3972 Bachelor of Science(Advanced) program and the 3420 Bachelor of Social Science program.

A total of 240 units of credit is required to complete this dual degree program. Students must satisfy the following requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) and Bachelor of Social Science components. Where the requirements for the two programs are completed in less than 240 units of credit due to overlapping courses, students must make up the remaining units of credit from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Science.

When taken as part of a dual degree program, a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) is comprised of 144 units of credit which includes:

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) in dual degree mode are as follows:

   1.  Students must complete a minimum of 144 units of credit for the Bachelor of Science (Advanced);

   2.  Students must complete at least one approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced) major, and this must be declared before enrolling in level II courses. Details of approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced) majors and how to declare a major can be found on the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page;

   3.  SCIF1121 Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice (6 units of credit) or SCIF1131 Science: Technological & Professional Perspectives (6 units of credit) must be completed in first year;

   4.  An Honours Year of 48 units of credit must be completed. For information regarding the admission requirements and application process for honours, please see the information under 'Honours' on the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page;

   5.  In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, SCIF1121/1131, and honours, students must take 'science' courses so that the major plus SCIF1121/1131, plus Honours year plus 'science' courses total 144 units of credit. Details of what courses consitute 'science' courses can be found in Table 1 on the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page;

   6.  Students must complete at least 24 units of credit of 'science' level I courses;

Most majors in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) already satisfy this requirement, for example, the Molecular Biology major requires BIOS1101, BABS1201, CHEM1011, CHEM1021 and 6 units of credit of Mathematics. This is a total of 30 units of credit of science level I courses, therefore, no more level I science courses are required. Where a major does not include at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses, students will need to choose additional level I science courses to bring the total to 24 units of credit. For example, Psychology requires PSYC1001 and PSYC1011, therefore, students will need to choose an additional 12 units of credit of science level I courses. These science level I courses also count towards the 144 units of credit requirement at rule number 5.

   7.   A minimum of 30 units of credit of level III courses must be completed;

Typically Advanced Science majors contain 18 -30 units of credit of level III courses. Therefore students may be required to take an additional 0-12 units of credit of level III courses which must be 'science' courses such that a total of 30 units of credit at level III is completed. These additional level III courses should be completed in a student's major area of study, or a complementary area that will be beneficial for a student's chosen honours area. Students completing a double major will typically meet this requirement through completion of level III courses for the second major. These additional level III science courses count towards the 144 units of credit requirement at rule number 6 above.

   8.  Where offered in a particular major students must take higher versions of courses. Any variation to this must be approved by the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) or nominee.

This rule only applies to courses typically at level II and III in a major (or in some cases level I courses considered to be core for the major). It does not apply to fundamental knowledge building level I courses in a major. Not all Bachelor of Science (Advanced) majors have advanced level courses, but where a major does, Advanced Science students must take these higher level courses. Please refer to the Advanced Science plan entries in this Handbook which indicate where higher courses must be taken.

   9.  No student may commence level II courses until 30 units of credit of level I courses have been successfully completed. (This is 30 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree program and not just courses for the Science component);

   10.  Students may commence level III courses upon successful completion of 72 units of credit. (This is 72 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree program and not just courses for the Science component);

   11.  Progression to stages 2, 3, and 4 is subject to academic performance. Students will be required to attain a weighted average mark (WAM) of 70 in each semester. Where students do not maintain this minimum level of academic performance, they will be transferred to the Bachelor of Science program.

Students wishing to complete a double major in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) when taken as part of a dual degree at UNSW, should be aware that it will be very difficult to complete two majors within 144 units of credit. Therefore where a dual degree student would like to undertake a double major, they should be aware that it may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students.

For information on Honours and applying for Honours, students should refer to the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page. Students may not enrol in the Honours Year in this dual degree program until they have satisfied all requirements for a 3 year single degree. That is, 144 UOC. In the case of the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) / Bachelor of Social Science program, this means students must have completed at least 96 UOC from the BSc (Adv) plus 48 UOC from the BSocSc before commencing Honours for the BSc (Adv).

When taken as part of a dual degree program, a Bachelor of Social Science is comprised of:

Social Science core requirements

The following compulsory courses (42 UOC) form the Social Science Core:

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Available Social Science majors

For details on the majors available in the Bachelor of Social Science, please see the 3420 Bachelor of Social Science program page.

ACADEMIC RULES

To qualify for the award of a Bachelor of Social Science at Pass level, a student must:

Honours

High achieving students may apply for entry to Honours in the Bachelor of Social Sciences. Honours in the Bachelor of Social Sciences is an additional year of study (two years part-time) which allows a student to further explore the Social Sciences in greater depth. For more information about Honours, students should refer to the 3420 Bachelor of Social Science program page.

For program rules and requirements, please refer to the Program Structure section above.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html