The Bachelor of Planning program provides academic education and applied learning leading to professional qualifications in planning. The program is of four years full time duration with an additional mandatory year of work experience, normally taken after completing Semester 1 of Year 3.

Planning has as its focus the management and development of urban and rural areas; ranging from small local precincts to metropolitan areas and regions. The planner's task is often to integrate and coordinate the aims and actions of a large number of government and private organisations and individuals to provide an equitable and efficient distribution of resources. Working at the interface of development and the environment, this involves collecting and analysing information; identifying needs and options; making forecasts; preparing policies, plans and programs for implementation; exercising development control; investigating development proposals; and evaluating results, communicating outcomes and consultation.

The objectives of the program are to create an awareness of the context in which planning operates, impart knowledge of how planning can influence the community and the physical environment, equip students with the competence to apply this knowledge at different levels in a wide range of situations, create an understanding of the contribution other disciplines can make to planning and vice versa, and develop skills in policy formulation, land use allocation and control, design and communication.

The program is structured to allow students to study a secondary specialisation in a particular area or to sample a wide range of educational experiences from across the University.

*Note: The 12UoC of Interdisciplinary Learning Courses can be undertaken at any stage from the end of Year 2 to the end of Year 5 including summer terms.

Additionally, students are not required to undertake the other elective and general educaton requirements in the exact order as indicated in the above program structure. This structure provides a suggested order for the completion of these elective and general education requirements, however a student can choose to do them in a different sequence. For example, a student may choose to complete an open elective in S2 of Yr 2 and undertake the 6 UoC of general education in Yr 5.

An indicative list of Interdisciplinary Learning Courses is below:

Students would choose 2 courses from the suite of offerings to total a minimum of 12UoC in interdisciplinary studies.

Embedding Interdisciplinary Education within programs is part of a wider Faculty curriculum development and program review process, it is the intent that the list of interdisciplinary learning courses will be expanded as new interdisciplinary courses are developed.

An indicative List of Specified Planning Electives is below:

Bachelor of Planning Master of Environmental Management
PLANH13360

Honours are awarded in the Bachelor of Planning degree on the basis of quality of performance throughout the whole program and in accordance with current faculty policy. For the purpose of calculating Honours at graduation, the Honours value of each course is indicated by the units of credit associated with that course. Units of credit generally reflect the workload required of students in courses in which grades are awarded. Honours grades are Class 1, Class 2 Division 1, or Class 2 Division 2.

1. The degree of Bachelor of Planning is awarded at either Pass or Honours level after the successful completion of a minimum of 240 units of credit.

2. To fulfil these requirements, students must complete:

3. The standard duration of the program is 5 years, consisting of 8 semesters of full-time study plus 2 semesters of required work experience, with each semester worth 24 units of credit.

4. General Education courses may not be taken before a student enters Year 2 of the program.

Refer to General Education

FBE Electives must be chosen from elective courses offered by the Faculty of Built Environment they are identified by a BENV prefix.

Open electives can be chosen from any courses offered by any Faculty at UNSW for which the student meets prerequisite or other enrolment requirments. The exceptions are those specific General Education GEN prefix courses which cannot be counted as open electives. Open electives do not need to be taken outside the Faculty, students can choose FBE electives as open electiives.

During the program, students must undertake 48 weeks of approved employment related to the program. The program assists with placements in state government agencies, planning consultants, private firms, and local councils. This is normally undertaken in the twelve months following Semester 1 of Year 3 as indicated in the Program Schedule. Work experience requirements must be completed prior to graduation. The type of employment proposed must be submitted to the Program Head for approval.

Progression

Courses are to be taken in the year sequence listed above, except with the permission of the Head of the Planning and Urban Development Program.

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

The Bachelor of Planning Degree is recognised by the Planning Institute of Australia as an academic qualification for Corporate Membership after at least one additional year of practical experience following graduation. Corporate Membership of the Planning Institute of Australia confers reciprocal recognition in many countries.