Need information on our business programs? Start your search at the UNSW Business School website.
Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks.

The Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Design (Hons) (B Com BDes (Hons)) is a 5 year dual award program which combines a highly valued business qualification with a qualification designed for those who may wish to work as designers across a wide range of fields, or who wish to understand the role of design in contemporary business. The B Com component provides students with the fundamentals of business and the opportunity to explore their interests in one of a range of business disciplines. The BDes (Hons) component offers students strong fundamentals in design combined with flexibility to explore a wide variety of design disciplines.

The Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) is a highly valued business qualification that can open the door to a wide variety of career options for graduates. The degree is also flexible enough to allow students to design a degree which aligns with their interests and career ambitions in accounting, finance, human resource management, marketing, information systems or Taxation. Students also have the option to design their BCom degree with a broader business focus through management, international business, business economics or business law specialisations.

The Bachelor of Design (Honours) provides an education to students who wish to enter a range of different areas of the design profession, including graphic design, media design, film and television production and post-production, illustration, publications, interiors, theatre, exhibitions, display, festivals and furnishings, ceramics, textiles, jewellery and object design. This program recognises UNSW Art and Design's particular strengths to provide an undergraduate program which emphasises an integrated approach to design rather than a focus on narrow vocational specialisations. These strengths are its ability to offer design from a creative and cross disciplinary base, its courses in visual arts, media arts and art theory, its engagement with technology and its relationship with industry.

On successful completion of the BCom, students will have the ability to:

The B Design (Honours) program aims to provide students with a sound knowledge base for entry into a wide range of design related professions. Students will acquire an understanding of the history and theory of design, in addition to design practice.

The Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Design (Honours) consists of 96 UOC of Commerce courses and 144 UOC of Design courses as detailed in the following table:

 

B Commerce component

Note: A maximum of 60 UOC of Level 1 courses are able to be counted towards a Bachelor of Commerce component of this degree.

Compulsory core courses account for 24 UOC (4 courses)

Flexible core courses account for 24 UOC (4 courses). Students should choose four courses from the following list:

Major requirements: 48 UOC in an approved disciplinary stream offered by the UNSW Business School (See Table A), containing at least 18 UOC at level 3. (Note that the 48 UOC includes the first disciplinary course(s) in the Core (Compulsory or Flexible). This means that, for the majority of majors, students will complete 42 UOC in specified disciplinary courses outside the core.)

UNSW Business School Elective: 0-12UOC in UNSW Business School courses to ensure a student completes a minimum of 96 UOC of Business courses within the BCom. The exact number of courses to complete will depend on the major chosen.


Table A

Approved Majors from within the UNSW Business School:

B Design (Honours)

The BDes (Hons) consists of a design core that provides a depth of engagement with design studies (144 UOC).


Level 1 core courses:

Two Design Streams (24 UOC each) (refer details below)

Contextual Studies (12 UOC) (refer details below)

Plus the following compulsory courses:

Design Studios

Students must choose two from the following Design Studios:

Ceramics (24UOC)

Graphics Media (24UOC)

Jewellery (24UOC)

Object Design (24UOC)

Spatial Design (24UOC)

Textiles (24UOC)


Contextual Studies

Students must complete 12UOC in Contextual Studies, from approved courses (as listed below):

B Commerce

High achieving students may undertake honours in the area of their business major by enrolling in 4501 BCom(Hons) program.

B Design (Honours)

Honours is awarded on the basis of meritorious performance across the whole program, and performance in the Honours Research Project.

Students will be considered for the award of honours according to the following scale, which includes the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) for all completed courses, and results from the Honours research project.

B Commerce component

Please refer to the Program Structure for the academic requirements relating to this program.
Rules relating to the award of the degree of BCom shall apply wherever relevant. Students are advised to consult the Academic Rules for further information.

B Design (Honours) component

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

The Academic Rules for the BDesign (Hons) and the online enrolment facility provide students with a wide range of course choices. The online enrolment facility checks that students meet the enrolment requirements for individual courses but not that a course complies with Program Rules. Students are responsible for ensuring they are enrolling in accordance with the Academic Rules outlined above. Students should not assume that because they have enrolled in a course online that the course is automatically credited to their degree program.

For further information, please refer to the Professional Recognition of Programs in the UNSW Online Handbook.

Please note that these requirements may be subject to change. Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks

Contact the UNSW Business School Student Centre for advice.
tel: + 61 2 9385 3189
location: Level 1, room 1028, Quadrangle Building
Forms, policies and procedures
Frequently asked questions

Contact the UNSW Art & Design Student Centre for advice on the BDes(Hons) component
UNSW Art & Design
e-mail: artdesign@unsw.edu.au
tel: + 61 2 8936 0684
location: D Block Ground Floor, UNSW Paddington Campus