Honours equivalence
Building your honours equivalence case
Applicants who are applying for entry without honours or Masters by Research qualifications will be required to provide supplementary information to support their application. This is referred to as Honours equivalence. To build a case for honours equivalence, the applicant will need to demonstrate
that they have previously undertaken research and generated outputs at an honours level standard in terms of both quantity and quality. This will require the applicant to have:
- undertaken research or research-related activity for approximately 6 to 9 months full-time or part-time equivalent as evidenced by exhibitions of creative work or peer reviewed publications or reports; or
- undertaken research as part of a coursework masters.
The research produced must be at an level equivalent to a first or second class honours (upper division) with publications or a minor thesis of at least 15,000 words and other supporting activity.
A case for honours equivalence based on Masters by Coursework
If the research has been undertaken during a Masters by Coursework then the following guidelines can be used to determine whether the quantity of research is sufficient to meet entry requirements; in the following examples, a semester is considered to be six months of full-time study. The percentage values below relate to the proportion of research-related work carried out during the degree and do not relate to the grades received.
| Research project | Research-related coursework (e.g. research methods study) | |
|---|---|---|
| Equiv 1 | 75% of credit points for at least 1 semester of full-time study | 25% of credit points for at least o1 semester of full-time study |
| Equiv 2 | 50% of credit points for at least 1 semester of full-time study | 50% of credit points for at least o1 semester of full-time study |
| Equiv 3 | 25% of credit points for at least 1 semester of full-time study | 75% of credit points for at least o1 semester of full-time study |
The applicant should provide information on all postgraduate study undertaken, together with transcripts, including detail on the weight (credit points) of any research or research-related components of the course(s). Where an overseas qualification is listed, an assessment of the comparability of the qualification with Australian qualifications by an independent source, for example Australian Education International (through the National Office of Overseas Skills recognition) should be included, where possible.
Applicants can support their case by the submission of evidence of awards or prizes based on research outcomes, and evidence of involvement in the production of refereed publications or other appropriate outputs. The latter should include copies of papers, an assessment of the applicant's contribution to the paper(s), and detail of the type of publication and any evidence of independent assessment.
A case for honours equivalence based on professional research experience
If you research has been undertaken in the course of employment, or other research related activity, the following evidence can be used to make the case that the quantity and quality of research is sufficient to meet entry requirements;
- Type and length of employment in a research related position
- Duties and activities undertaken in the course of employment
- Evidence of peer reviewed publications or reports produced in relation to your employment or activity
- Evidence of exhibitions or publications of creative work with peer review
- Evidence of awards or prizes received
Applicants can support their case by the submission of evidence of awards or prizes based on research outcomes, and evidence of involvement in the production of refereed publications or other appropriate outputs. The latter should include copies of papers, an assessment of the applicant's contribution to the paper(s), and detail of the type of publication and any evidence of independent assessment.