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Handbook How-To

How do I use the Handbook to choose subjects?

The Handbook is an essential tool when planning your course. This FAQ is a guide on using the Handbook to choose your subjects.

Finding which subjects are available in your course

You can view the available subjects for a course in the ‘Course Structure’ section of a course page. If the full course’s available subjects are not all listed there, also click through to other pages from the ‘Majors, Minors and Specialisations’ section.

Visit our Course planning page for more information on how to plan your course.

Tip: Search for a course using the course code rather than course name (eg B-ARTS rather than Bachelor of Arts, MC-ENVSC rather than Master of Environmental Science), since many courses at the University have similar names. To check what your course code is, visit the Current Enrolments page in my.unimelb.

Searching and filtering for specific subjects

You can search for subjects by selecting the 'Subjects' tab. To narrow your search results, use the filter panel on the right-hand side of the search page to filter based on criteria such as:

What level it is (eg Level 1, Level 2)
When the subject is running
What study area it falls into
Whether it is available as breadth in your course
Whether it has any quotas or requisite restrictions.

Checking whether you can enrol in a subject

Before attempting to enrol in a subject, always check its Handbook entry for any references to enrolment conditions. These can include:

Requisites (prerequisites, corequisites and disallowed subject combinations)
Special application/selection processes
Quotas (subject size restrictions).

See the University Handbook subject page FAQ for more information.

Identifying which subjects you can take as 'breadth' (undergraduate courses only)

If you are an undergraduate student, you may need to complete breadth subjects as part of your course.

To find which subjects you can take as breadth:

Go to the Handbook
Select the ‘Subjects' tab
Select your course from the ‘Breadth in Courses’ filter on the right-hand sidepanel.

Viewing Handbooks from previous years

Most students who commenced prior to the current calendar year will be studying their course according to the course structure as it was when they commenced their studies. To view your course as it was when you commenced at the University, please:

For editions from 2017 and onwards: select your commencing year from the ‘Version’ filter on the Handbook search page.
For pre-2017 editions: visit the Handbook Archive.

Please be aware that the content of subjects may have changed, old subjects may no longer be taught and new ones, shown in newer editions of the Handbook, may have been introduced for you to study.

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Last updated: Dec. 10, 2021, 6:15 p.m.