Honours at UNSW (1 Viewer)

[MoonlightSonata]

News Update

The Academic Board has rejected the purely WAM-based Honours model because there was not enough emphasis on research. A new proposal is being submitted to the Board involving research. According to the student representatives who sit on the Academic Board, it will probably require:

(a) Rankings -- First-class: top 10% (WAM is usually about 80), Second-class: next 20% (WAM is usually about 75); AND

(b) Research -- Either 3 law research essays of over 3,000 words composed over the student's degree OR the Research Thesis subject (8 UoC - it goes for one semester).


Keep in mind this is not yet set in concrete and also the Board must approve.

 

[Frigid]

(a) 80+ WAM for first-class Honours / 75+ WAM for second-class Honours; AND

that will give make 1st class very, very, very exclusive. >_<

 

[MoonlightSonata]

that will give make 1st class very, very, very exclusive. >_<

Oh, I made a mistake sorry -- it's looking to be based on rankings rather than WAM per se:

First-class: top 10% (WAM is usually about 80)
Second-class: next 20% (WAM is usually about 75)

So first-class is even more exclusive than what I said previously

(Edit: Law WAM of course)

 

[M@C D@DDY]

so basically the top 10% of students are entitled to a first class honours provided that they satisfy criteria b to a satisfactory standard?

 

[Frigid]

*sigh* that sucks. i'm just outside that by like...... 2 and a bit WAM.

must get more 80s

 

[MoonlightSonata]

so basically the top 10% of students are entitled to a first class honours provided that they satisfy criteria b to a satisfactory standard?

If that proposal is accepted, yes

 

[wheredanton]

News Update

The Academic Board has rejected the purely WAM-based Honours model because there was not enough emphasis on research. A new proposal is being submitted to the Board involving research. According to the student representatives who sit on the Academic Board, it will probably require:

(a) Rankings -- First-class: top 10% (WAM is usually about 80), Second-class: next 20% (WAM is usually about 75); AND

(b) Research -- Either 3 law research essays of over 3,000 words composed over the student's degree OR the Research Thesis subject (8 UoC - it goes for one semester).


Keep in mind this is not yet set in concrete and also the Board must approve.

I agree with the research. However the 3 law research essays over the student's degree is an easy requirement. It should simply be that anyone who satisfies the mark requirement must do a thesis. That's how they do it at usyd and uts right?

It kinda feels weird though. Now I feel I've got something to work towards.

 

[Frigid]

I agree with the research. However the 3 law research essays over the student's degree is an easy requirement. It should simply be that anyone who satisfies the mark requirement must do a thesis. That's how they do it at usyd and uts right?

USyd does not have a Honours research component at the momenthttp://www.usyd.edu.au/handbooks/law/09_undergrad_faculty_policies.shtml:

6. Honours

6.1 Honours in the Bachelor of Laws is awarded on the basis of the Weighted Average Mark (WAM). All law units of study are weighted equally for the purpose of WAM calculation. The WAM is therefore the mean (average) of results in all law units of study attempted. Units of study with a result of Absent fail (AF) or Discontinued – fail (DF) are assigned a mark of zero (0) for the purpose of WAM calculation. Units undertaken at other institutions (exchange program, cross-institutional study, etc.) do not contribute towards the WAM. Two levels of honours are awarded: Honours Class I (WAM of 75% and above) and Honours Class II (WAM of 70% - 74.9%). Students with a WAM below 70% will be awarded the degree at ‘Pass’ level.

UTS Honours is awarded as followshttp://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/law/faculty/ug.html:

2.1 To qualify for an award of the degree with Honours a student shall:

1. successfully complete the subject 76040 Research Thesis
2. subject to (e) and (f) below, obtain an Honours mark, calculated in accordance with the formula 'Sum of All' (UTS law subject credit points x mark) divisible by the 'sum of all law subject credit points' such that:
1. for First Class Honours – no less than 75.00
2. for Second Class Honours – in the range of 70.00 and 74.99
3. please note that in calculating the Honours mark, rounding occurs to two decimal places.
3. not fail any subject after the first semester of study
4. successfully complete not less than 96 credit points of law subjects within the Faculty of Law
5. for the purpose of the calculation in (b), students may discount up to three of their worst subjects provided that at least 12 UTS Bachelor of Laws subjects are included in the calculation, and
6. a student's Honours mark shall include the mark obtained by the student in the subject Research Thesis notwithstanding that such a mark might be one of their worst subjects.

2.2 In exceptional circumstances the Faculty's Undergraduate Programs Committee may modify or dispense with the requirements of Regulation 2.1(c) and (d), subject to appeal to the Faculty Board in Law.

it is of interest to note that subject 76040 Research Thesishttp://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/subjects/76040.html at UTS requires a supervised thesis of 8000 to 12000 words.

as to whether three 3000 research essays are worth the academic weight of one extended thesis of that length, i express no opinion.

edit (coz I'm bored):

MONASH

17.1 The award of honours shall be based on the average of the weighted percentage grades awarded to a candidate in each law unit taken in the Monash Faculty of Law as part of his or her degree.

17.2 A bonus of 20 per cent will be applied to the mark obtained in 'Honours research subject 512' [LAW5207]. This bonus will apply solely for the purpose of calculating the award of honours and classification of honours.

Honours are awarded based on percentage cut-offs:

Honours I: top 5%
Honours IIA: next 10%
Honours IIB: next 10%
Honours III: next 10%
Total: top 35%

Although not necessary for the award of Honours, many of the Faculty’s top students elect to enrol in Research Unit 512http://www.monash.edu/pubs/handbooks/units/LAW5207.html, which involves the writing of a 12,000-15,000 word thesis under the supervision of an academic member of staff. To be eligible for this unit, students must have an HWA of 65% of better for their Law degree up to and including their penultimate year.

UMELBOURNE's schemehttp://undergraduate.law.unimelb.edu.au/index.cfm?objectId=30B176D9-B0D0-AB80-E2FD9344650DC09C is too confusing for me, but involves a mixture of WAM and a substantial piece of legal writing (5000+ words) in one of their elective subjects.

UQ

Honours students must undertake two specific courses: LAWS5213 - Legal Research and Seminars; and LAWS5214 - Honours Research Project.

To meet the honours prerequisite requirements a student must –

1. gain a GPA of 5.7 in level 1, 2 and 3 compulsory law courses (level 1 courses = LAWS1XXX; level 2 courses = LAWS2XXX etc); and
2. be currently enrolled in the LLB program; and
3. satisfy the Head of School that they have the necessary qualifications to undertake honours in law.

ADELAIDE

either, automatic Honourshttp://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/student/honours(auto).html, where GPA equal or greater than 5.0, or

by Thesishttp://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/student/honoursdissertation.html, competitive entry (25 students per year) based on academic merit.

and finally, our good friends at ANU

long and convoluted pdf documenthttp://law.anu.edu.au/Undergraduate/webdocuments/Policy on Award of Honours Jan06 .pdf, basically 70% WAM + 30% thesis. Thesis is to be of 11000 to 13000 words (but i think this is including footnotes).

 

[Summer Rain]

Thats great research frigid, you should get your honours based on this research .

Its not fair that Sydney uni awards first class honours from for Wams75 upwards while UNSW requires a wam of 80 or upwards and you don't even have to do any additional research to get it.

Sydney uni is a lazy bunch. That's another reason for me to transfer