Bachelor of Advanced Computing FAQ

Our Bachelor of Advanced Computing is one of Australia’s most innovative computing courses, offering you the opportunity to study the following computing majors:

• Computer Science, 
• Cybersecurity,
• Software Development, and 
• Computational Data Science

You can combine your computing skills with a second major from over 100 study areas including music, commerce, science and the arts, and develop the well-rounded perspective highly valued by employers.

The common and fundamental programming languages taught in the Bachelor of Advanced Computing are Java, Python and C.

Additional programming languages are available to learn depending on units of study selected.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Advanced Computing will have the knowledge and technical skills to pursue the following careers depending on their choice of major:

• Computer Science: Application Analyst, Applications Developer, Games Developer, IT Consultant, Software Engineer, UX Designer, Web Designer/Developer.
• Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity Analyst, Cybersecurity Architect, Cybersecurity Engineer, Cybersecurity Consultant.
• Software Development: Software Developer, Software Architect, Requirements Engineer, Database Designer, Software Tester, Project Manager.
• Computational Data Science: Data Scientist, Data Architect, Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Data/Analytics Manager, Business Intelligence Manager.

There are plenty of ways Bachelor of Advanced Computing students can obtain industry placements and internships while at university. 

The Faculty of Engineering proudly has a network of over 1200 industry partners providing students with work placements, internships, capstone projects and graduate employment opportunities as well as the chance to work on computer science-related research projects as part of its Engineering Vacation Research Internship program.

There is no requirement for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Advanced Computing to undertake a work placement as part of their studies, but students can enhance their learning experience by doing so!

There is no agreed upon definition of the terms and their meanings evolve over time. We prefer "computing" over "IT" in the degree name because the term "computing" covers broader ground than "IT" and it is not attached to a particular department or occupation title.  

It is hard to compare two degrees simply by name. Students are encouraged to make the comparison based on the actual course structure, including core units, flexibility and majors offered. 

The Bachelor of Advanced Computing focuses on the designing and creation of technologies, whereas the Bachelor of Design Computing uses these technologies in the area of designing.

A Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Software) degree is a combination of undertaking the Bachelor of Advanced Computing majoring in Software Development, with some additional hardware subjects.

Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Advanced Computing majoring in Software Development during their fourth year also learn advanced topics such as deep learning, natural language processing and cloud computing, while those students studying a Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Software) study topics around the themes of quality assurance, engineering management and industry standards.

The Bachelor of Advanced Computing and the Bachelor of Engineering Honours are two different degrees with different structures.

The Computer Science major of the Bachelor of Advanced Computing and the Software Engineering stream in Bachelor of Engineering Honours share a number of common fundamental computing skills including mathematical modelling, programming, data modelling and more. You will see overlapping units in first and second year of study.

The Computer Science major of the Bachelor of Advanced Computing focuses on principles and techniques needed to solve tasks efficiently with computation and how to implement those solutions in software. A major in Computer Science will provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to innovate in information technology and create fundamentally new IT solutions to future challenges.

The Software engineering stream of the Bachelor of Engineering Honours focuses on the overall process of analysing, designing, implementing and testing various software systems. You will learn the theory of computing systems, the structure of software, and the nature and limitations of hardware to ensure that the underlying systems will work properly.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Advanced Computing can choose to take units covering advanced topics such as deep learning, natural language processing and cloud computing in their fourth year, while students studying a Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Software) study topics around the themes of quality assurance, engineering management and industry standards.

The Bachelor of Advanced Computing majoring in Computational Data Science is relatively specified and places a lot more emphasis on units relating to coding and computing as it prepares students to analyse data using a computing approach.

The Bachelor of Science majoring in Data Science is designed to develop critical thinking about data and its use, core technical skills required and an appreciation for the context in which that data was collected.

The Bachelor of Advanced Computing has been designed in its structure to allow students to undertake an extra year of in-depth study in advanced computing topics unavailable via the shared pool.

There are also a select number of units available to students studying the Bachelor of Advanced Computing which are not able to be completed by selecting a computing major in the shared pool.

Additionally, our Computational Data Science major is not available to students via the shared pool and can only be taken via our Bachelor of Advanced Computing majoring in Computational Data Science.

Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Advanced Computing have the option to exit early with a Bachelor of Computing degree after completing the required 144 credit points. This is equivalent to a three year Bachelor's degree. The Bachelor of Computing degree is an ACS accredited degree.

Students are required to complete a major from the School of Computer Science; they can optionally complete a minor offered by the School of Computer Science or another school. 

The Bachelor of Advanced Computing has a Mathematics course prerequisites.

Students studying the Bachelor of Advanced Computing undertake a series of maths units which may include calculus, discrete math, linear algebra and foundation of data science.

Therefore, there is an assumed knowledge students have completed Mathematics Extension 1 and/or Mathematics Extension 2.

You can apply credit from previous study online during your degree application process or after you have accepted the offer.

Yes! There is no requirement of prior programming knowledge to start the Bachelor of Advanced Computing.

Students unable to enrol directly into the Bachelor of Advanced Computing may be able to enrol in another degree such as the Bachelor of Science and select from one of the three computing majors.

Depending on their marks, they may apply for the Bachelor of Advanced Computing through the university internal course transfer online.

Information on scholarships that are available for this program can be found at the Faculty of Engineering Scholarships website.