Time commitment to study
Time management plays a key role in relation to successful university study. Students need to keep in mind that as well as scheduled contact hours for lectures, tutorials and seminars a considerable additional time commitment is needed to complete the academic requirements of each subject.
The Faculty recommends that full-time students do not undertake more than 10 hours of paid work per week.
Students must make sure that they have sufficient time and resources to successfully complete their studies. On-going work commitments will not usually be grounds for extensions for the submission of work or for special consideration.
A subject-specific time commitment to study will be provided by your lecturer or tutor at the beginning of semester to help you schedule your workload and successfully manage your time during the semester. Below are estimates of the total time commitment required to study a 12.5-point single semester subject in the Faculty of Arts.
Total time commitment to study a standard 12.5-point Arts subject:
First year level
(Undergraduate degrees, concurrent diplomas, graduate certificates, graduate diplomas)
- 36 contact hours per semester
- 30 hours of class preparation and reading per semester
- 30 hours of assessment-related tasks per semester
- 96 hours total time commitment per semester
- 8 hours total time commitment per week
Second and third year level
(Undergraduate degrees, concurrent diplomas, graduate certificates, graduate diplomas)
- 30 contact hours per semester
- 36 hours of class preparation and reading per semester
- 36 hours of assessment-related tasks per semester
- 102 hours total time commitment per semester
- 8.5 hours total time commitment per week
Fourth year and postgraduate
(Honours programs, postgraduate certificates, postgraduate diplomas, coursework masters)
- 24 contact hours per semester
- 36 hours of class preparation and reading per semester
- 60 hours of assessment-related tasks per semester
- 120 hours total time commitment per semester
- 10 hours total time commitment per week
Total time commitment to study a language acquisition subject:
First, second and third year level
(Undergraduate degrees, concurrent diplomas, graduate certificates, graduate diplomas)
- 36-48 contact hours per semester
- 36-48 hours of class preparation and reading per semester
- 36-48 hours of assessment-related tasks per semester
- 108-144 hours total time commitment per semester
- 9-12 hours total time commitment per week
Fourth year and postgraduate level
(Honours programs, postgraduate certificates, postgraduate diplomas, coursework masters)
- 24 contact hours per semester
- 48-60 hours of class preparation and reading per semester
- 48-60 hours of assessment-related tasks per semester
- 120-144 hours total time commitment per semester
- 10-12 hours total time commitment per week