Credit Points and EFTSL
A 12.5 credit point unit is worth 0.125 of an Equivalent Full Time Student Load (EFTSL).
A full-time student will normally take 100 credit points (which is 1 EFTSL) in a normal academic year, or 50 credit points (0.5 EFTSL) per Semester.
A standard one-year course will have 8 x 12.5 credit point units e.g. 100 credit point, but the actual number of units can vary a lot from course to course. A year of full-time study will always be worth 100 credit points though, and anything more than that is considered ‘overloading’.
Personal Study and Workload
How much study you will need to do per subject will vary from student to student and also be more or less at different times for different subjects. While you may have readings and classes every week, some weeks will have additional assessments, and some units have exams or major assessments that happen in the two weeks after the end of teaching. Check your individual unit guide on Canvas for specific details about your current subjects.
As a general rule one credit point is equivalent to 45 mins to 1 hour of study per week per semester (including both your contact hours such as classes or tutes and private study such as readings and assessment work).
The average 12.5 credit point unit will take 8-12 hours of time per week for most students. A standard full-time 50 credit point enrolment load is the equivalent of a 40 hours per week job while a part-time 25 credit point load is equivalent to a 20 hour per week job.
Most units are 12.5 credit points but some are more. Check the unit guide or Course Handbook to confirm.
Classes and Contact Hours
Most standard coursework units will have one 3 hour seminar per week of contact time during the ‘teaching weeks’ or ‘teaching term’ for the semester of enrolment. Intensives, placements, research, and some special topic units may vary from this pattern. Seminars are normally a combination of both lecture and tutorial style teaching, but again this can vary from unit to unit depending on what is being taught.
Contact hours may be more or less for some units (e.g. a lot more for placement, fewer for thesis).
Online and Blended Mode Programs
Requirements for the Master of Clinical Psychology (Post Registration) and Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science are different to the on campus programs. Please check you Course Handbook or contact your Course Coordinator for more information on how classes, tutorials and support sessions are organised for your program.
Assessment Load
Most standard 12.5 credit point units for a postgraduate course will have around 5000 words of formal assessments, or an equivalent workload, in addition to scheduled classes and preparation work such as weekly readings or online tasks.
Paid employment
One of the most common questions we are asked is ‘how much paid work can I do while studying?’.
We recommend that full-time students do not undertake more than 10 hours of paid employment per week (this includes weekend and after-hours work) during the semester, including all teaching and exam periods. For thesis or placement students, paid work may have to be limited even during teaching break time also due to on-going research or placement workloads.
Part-time students should also seriously consider and limit paid work hours where possible. We recommend no more than 20 hours per week of paid employment for part-time students if possible.
More information
To find out more about the units and credit point structure for your course, check out your Course Handbook.
If you have further questions about your specific situation or need help managing your work load, contact your Course or Program Coordinators or you teachers for support or advice.