Uni jargon and terms

Here’s an explanation of some of the terms we use at the University.

Majors

Majors are the subject(s) you focus on throughout your degree. For example, you can take a Bachelor of Arts with a major in History. You will take courses in your major subject through to your final year. Your major will normally make up about a third of the courses in your degree.

Courses

Courses are blocks of work that are taught over one or sometimes two trimesters—they’re often referred to as ‘papers’ by other universities.

Each course is taught at a certain level: 100 level is first year, 200 and 300 level are more advanced, although there are some exceptions.

Course codes

Each course has a code of four letters and three numbers. The letters show the subject and the numbers show the level of study. For example, MARK 101 is a 100-level Marketing course and MARK 202 is a 200-level Marketing course.

Points

Each course is worth a certain number of points. Each course you pass adds points to the total needed for your degree.

Trimesters

The year is divided into three trimesters.

Trimester 1	(1/3)	February to July
Trimester 2	(2/3)	July to November
Trimester 3	(3/3)	November to February

A course usually takes one trimester to complete. Most students study during Trimesters 1 and 2; only a small number of students choose to study during Trimester 3.