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Our rankings

  • No. 1 in Australia

    We are ranked #1 in Australia and #4 in the world for graduate employability in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.

  • Research impact

    The University of Sydney is ranked #1 in Australia and #29 in the world in terms of research impact by the 2017 CWTS Leiden Rankings.

Overview

The Business School Honours Program is an additional year of intensive study that students with a superior academic record may undertake upon completion of the Bachelor of Commerce. The program is designed to challenge, inspire and set you apart to accelerate your global business career.

Information on this page is relevant to students who commenced the Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) prior to 2018. Students who commence study from 2018 can complete Honours as part of the Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies.

Honours can fast track your future, whether you want to go into advanced research study or your chosen industry.

Our program aims to produce Honours graduates who are highly motivated, organised and demonstrate superior initiative. As an Honours student, you will study advanced coursework topics and complete a research thesis. The coursework units have been developed to build your mastery of research methods and expertise in a given Business discipline.

Business School Honours graduates join an exclusive and exceptional cohort. In completing your honours thesis you will work one-on-one with an expert in the discipline to investigate a research problem and expand the existing body of knowledge within your area of study.

Success in the Honours program is driven by the applied focus of the student. If you have unanswered questions from your undergraduate degree, the program gives you the opportunity to go further.

The specialist knowledge and skills developed and applied in an honours year are sought out by employers and set you on an upward trajectory. Our alumni are now represented throughout senior positions in academia, government and the business sector.

Subject areas

Honours is available in many subject areas including the following.

Shared pool

Admission, fees and how to apply

Depends on your qualification, citizenship status

The details on this page based on your selections are a guide only, and are subject to change.

English language proficiency

Find out if you need to prove English language proficiency (depends on your country of origin and educational background).

Your fee

How to apply

For standalone honours degrees, apply directly to the University via the online application portal before the closing date. Before you apply, visit the How to Apply information for honours (and the Business School page for specific information). When you are ready to apply, select the 'Apply' button on the right-hand side of this page. For further details refer to Business School Honours on the Current Students website.

Closing dates

The deadlines to apply, and when we'll notify you of the outcome, are explained in the table below.

Round Deadline to apply Applicants notified
First round – all disciplines, except Business Analytics and Work and Organisational Studies 15 November 2022 Early to mid-December 2022
Second round – all disciplines 15 December 2022 Mid-January 2023
Third round – all disciplines 15 January 2023 Mid-February 2023

 

We strongly encourage applicants to apply as early as possible, offers are made on a rolling basis and places are limited. Separate scholarship deadlines apply - check the scholarships website for details.

Starting date

Semester 1 (February)

For standalone honours degrees, apply directly to the University via the online application portal before the closing date. Before you apply, visit the How to Apply information for honours (and the Business School page for specific information). When you are ready to apply, select the 'Apply' button on the right-hand side of this page.

Closing dates

The deadlines to apply, and when we'll notify you of the outcome, are explained in the table below.

Round Deadline to apply Applicants notified
First round – all disciplines, except Business Analytics and Work and Organisational Studies 15 November 2022 Early to mid-December 2022
Second round – all disciplines 15 December 2022 Mid-January 2023
Third round – all disciplines 15 January 2023 Mid-February 2023

 

We strongly encourage applicants to apply as early as possible, offers are made on a rolling basis and places are limited. Separate scholarship deadlines apply - check the scholarships website for details.

Starting date

Semester 1 (February)

What you'll study

The Honours Program is a full-time year of study commencing in semester one. The program has two components, course work and a thesis. Students develop the coursework and thesis research expertise, analytical problem-solving skills, and written and oral communication abilities.

Honours students study three coursework units comprising a compulsory unit in research philosophy, foundations and methods and two specialisation electives within your Discipline. Depending on the specialisation of the student, coursework may be completed in semester one or across both semester one and two.

The thesis is a 20,000-word research-based dissertation on a topic in which the student has a strong intellectual interest. The research should identify an area for investigation which makes a relevant contribution to and extends the body of knowledge in the student's chosen domain. The quality of the research design, development of research question, application of appropriate methodologies and interpretation of findings, as well as the student's ability to effectively communicate this research are assessed in the thesis. Students will work on their thesis across their candidature in the program.

Sample study plan

Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) (Honours)

Year Sem  Units of study 
1 1 Honours semester one
  2 Honours semester two

Applying for honours

All honours commence in Semester 1, there is no mid-year intake. If you’re offered a place in honours, you can't defer your offer, you will need to reapply the following year. Your new application will be assessed for the subsequent intake, and it is not guaranteed that you’ll receive an offer.

If you intend to apply during the final semester of your undergraduate degree or combined undergraduate degree, it's recommended you complete all degree requirements during Semester 2. If you complete requirements during summer, you may not be awarded your degree in time for offers.

Applications are assessed in rounds. These are listed below in the table of key dates. We encourage you to apply for the earliest possible round as places may not be available in later rounds. Generally, you’ll be assessed in the round you submitted a valid application. However, we may also consider your application during a later round.

Key dates

The deadlines to apply, and when we'll notify you of the outcome, are explained in the table below.

Round Deadline to apply Applicants notified
First round – all disciplines, except Business Analytics and Work and Organisational Studies 15 November 2022 Early to mid-December 2022
Second round – all disciplines 15 December 2022 Mid-January 2023
Third round – all disciplines 15 January 2023 Mid-February 2023

 

Admission criteria

The minimum entry requirement to the Business School Honours Program is a completed pass degree with a minimum Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 65 across all units of study taken, and a minimum of 70 in units completed in the major relating to the intended specialisation in the Honours Program. Students are required to have a major in the field of study in which they intend to undertake their Honours Year. Entry requirements may be waived for an applicant by the Associate Dean (Programs) and Honours Program Director only in exceptional circumstances.

Places in the program are offered competitively and where there are appropriate supervisory resources. Preference may be given to applicants with a higher academic standard, applicants who have completed additional, relevant undergraduate units of study, and/or applicants who have a demonstrated research interest and ability within a specialisation.

Credit for previous study

For more information about the University’s credit policy, please see the Credit for Previous Studies page.

Professional accreditation

The University of Sydney Business School is actively involved in quality assurance and accreditation activities aimed at further enhancing the quality of our teaching, research and community-related programs. We strive for excellence and this has earned us the top international accreditations available to business schools and enabled us to forge strategic alliances.

These include: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International); EQUIS, the quality assurance arm of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD); and CEMS the Global Alliance in Management Education. The Business School is the only Australian business school to be admitted to CEMS, which is a prestigious alliance of 17 renowned European business schools, nine non-European academic institutions, and 60 of the world's leading multinational corporations.

Career Pathways

  • An honours year is an investment in your future career opportunities, and allows students to develop a wide range of additional skills that are highly prized by employers in industry and government.
  • Honours graduates are recognised as possessing levels of knowledge and skill well beyond those obtained by pass degree graduates.
  • The honours program provides you with an opportunity to upskill in the areas of research, analytics and problem solving, communication and presentation.
  • As an honours student, you stand out to an employer as having exceptional ability relevant to a variety of careers in the business world.

Future study

Research and scholarship are the foundations of everything we do. It is an expression of our engagement with our academic colleagues in Australia and internationally, and with the professional and the business community. The University of Sydney Business School has an outstanding reputation for the quality of its research across a wide range of academic disciplines. The honours year in the Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) is an essential research training pathway to our higher degree by research programs, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil). The postgraduate research programs offered by the Business School attract a large number of domestic and international students each year. With more than 180 research students currently enrolled, we have one of the largest and most diverse higher degrees by research programs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Domestic students

International students

Other courses in
Anna Bezuglova

Anna Bezuglova

Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) (Marketing and International Business)

 
“Studying at the Business School has given me some incredible opportunities, including working and studying in Paris and Los Angeles. These invaluable experiences have developed me professionally and personally, and helped me clarify what I want to do after graduation.”

 

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.