Admission to the Honours Year

The Honours year can be taken full-time or part-time in one of the following streams: 

• Applied Mathematics
• Pure Mathematics
• Statistics, 
• Quantitative Data Science or 
• Physical Oceanography.  

If you are an Advanced Mathematics or Advanced Science student, then the Honours year is built into your degree. All other students will have to enrol in a new stand-alone Honours year (program 4500). See the section on How to Apply, below.  Please note that you will also need to apply in through the "Apply Online" form and also the "Intention to take Honours" survey (if you are not in an embedded Honours program)- by visiting this link. 

Honours Course Selection

Please complete this form for Honours course selection once you have submitted your on-line application to commence Honours. Ensure you have discussed the courses with your supervisor.  You will be enrolled and class registered by the School into your choices.

Entry requirements

To enter Honours in Mathematics or Statistics, students must have either:

• Completed a Mathematics or Statistics major in the Science and/or Advanced Science program, including at least 30 units of credit in Level III or above Mathematics; or
• Completed Stage 3 of one of the plans in the Advanced Mathematics, or the Physical Oceanography plan in the Advanced Science program; or
• Completed a suitable Mathematics or Statistics degree at another university.

To enter Honours in Quantitative Data Science you must have either:

• Completed the Bachelor of Data Science and Decision program (any stream) but including at least 18 units of credit in Level III MATH or DATA courses; or
• Completed a suitable quantitatively based data science bachelor's degree at UNSW or any other university.

In addition, students will normally be required to have:

• An average above 70% in their Level III or above Mathematics courses
• An average above 70% in core Level III Mathematics courses for the specialisation in which they will undertake Honours.
  • For Applied Mathematics, these core courses will be determined in consultation with the Applied Honours Coordinator.
  • For Pure Mathematics, these courses are MATH3611, MATH3701, and MATH3711.
  • For Statistics, these core courses are those in the Statistics major.
  • For Quantitative Data Science, students must have completed the Bachelor in Data Science and Decision program including at least 18UOC in level III MATH or DATA course or completed a bachelor degree which includes at least three level III, or higher level, courses in mathematics or statistics, and at least two level III, or higher level, courses in computer science and/or business that are listed as electives in program 3959. 

With the permission of the Honours Coordinator a student may be allowed into Honours without having satisfied the specific departmental requirements, and instead have shown some evidence of the ability to undertake independent study. Students must also have permission of the appropriate Honours Coordinator.

Students are able to undertake Honours full-time or part-time. You should consult your Honours Coordinator as to your enrolment.

To obtain this permission, you should, as early as possible, consult with the appropriate Honours Coordinator:

Please see our Staff Directory for their phone and room numbers. 

In order that you have sufficient background to attempt the courses in the Honours year, it is recommended that you discuss your selection of Level III courses with your Honours Coordinator or another academic adviser.

The programs of many of our students (such as joint degree students) require careful planning, so please drop by and see one of the coordinators for a chat whenever you need advice - even if your Honours year is many years away.

Other students who are sufficiently well prepared may enrol in individual Honours courses under the course number.

How to apply?

If you are a current UNSW student in an embedded Honours Program such as Advanced Maths, and you wish to start your Honours year, you must apply by completing the Intention to Undertake Honours form (see below). There are now three rounds, depending on which Term you would like to begin your Honours year.

In the Term before you begin honours (T1,T2 or T3), contact academics whose research you are interested in to discuss possible projects.

The application deadline for Term 3 2023 admission is 4th August 2023.  Please complete and submit the online Intention to Undertake Honours form to the Science Student Office for applications from embedded Honours and Standalone Honours.  The website will remain open for late applicants.

If you are enrolled into the Bachelor of Science, or have graduated from another university, you also need to apply for the one-year degree Bachelor of Science (Honours) using UNSW’s “Apply Online” system.

After application, see above Honours Course Selection.

For assistance with research projects and supervisors, please contact the appropriate Honours Coordinator.

Entry for students outside of UNSW

Students who are interested in transferring to UNSW to complete or undertake their Honours year should consult the appropriate Honours Coordinator as soon as possible to ascertain whether this is feasible. Because our Honours courses are based around the background knowledge obtained in the first three years of the UNSW degree, even students with excellent three-year degrees from elsewhere sometimes lack the background to attempt a full quota of courses. In such cases we often recommend that students complete an extra semester at UNSW before starting Honours in order to fill in some of the missing prerequisites.

Even if you were a UNSW student, if it has been six months since you finished your undergraduate degree then you will need to re-apply for admission to UNSW.

• Apply online for students undertaking the single year Honours Program 4500