Credit Points and EFTSL
A 12.5 credit point unit is equivalent to 0.125 Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL).
A full-time student will normally undertake 100 credit points (1 EFTSL) in a standard academic year, or 50 credit points (0.5 EFTSL) per semester.
A standard one-year course may consist of eight 12.5 credit point units, totalling 100 credit points. However, the number and structure of units can vary between courses.
Regardless of the course structure, 100 credit points (1 EFTSL) represents one year of full-time study. Enrolling in more than 100 credit points within an academic year is considered overloading.
Personal Study and Workload
The amount of study required for each unit can vary between students and may also vary throughout the semester. While you may have scheduled classes and readings each week, some weeks may involve additional assessment tasks. Some units may also have exams or major assessments scheduled during the two weeks following the end of teaching.
For specific information about your current units, check the individual Unit Guide on Canvas.
As a general guide, one credit point represents approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour of study per week during the semester. This includes both contact hours, such as lectures, classes and tutorials, and independent study, such as readings and assessment preparation.
An average 12.5 credit point unit will require approximately 8–12 hours of study per week for most students.
A standard full-time enrolment of 50 credit points per semester is equivalent to approximately 40 hours of study per week, similar to a full-time job. A part-time enrolment of 25 credit points per semester is equivalent to approximately 20 hours of study per week.
Most units are worth 12.5 credit points, although some units may have a different credit point value. Check the relevant Unit Guide or Course Handbook for the credit point value and study requirements of your units.
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 receive is: “How much paid work can I do while studying?”
Full-time students are encouraged to carefully consider their workload before taking on paid employment. As a general guide, we recommend that full-time students undertake no more than 10 hours of paid employment per week during the semester. This includes work undertaken on weekends and outside regular business hours, and applies throughout teaching and examination periods.
For students completing a thesis or placement, paid employment may need to be reduced further. These students may have ongoing research or placement commitments that continue during teaching breaks.
Part-time students should also carefully consider their overall study and work commitments. Where possible, we recommend limiting paid employment to no more than 20 hours per week.
These are general recommendations, and the amount of paid employment that is manageable will depend on your individual study load, unit requirements and other commitments.
More information
To find out more about the units and credit point structure for your course, please check 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 for support or advice.