Breadth subjects

A breadth subject is a subject from a different area of study to the degree that you are enrolled in. Breadth subjects are only available to undergraduate students.

Watch this short video to learn more about choosing breadth subjects.

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What is breadth?

Breadth is a key feature of your Melbourne curriculum undergraduate degree that allows you to study a wide range of subjects from outside your home faculty. It’s a requirement of your course that a certain number of subjects are dedicated to breadth. Through breadth, you will develop a broader range of skills and can explore interests that may not traditionally be available within your main field of study.

University Breadth Subjects (UNIB)

In addition to the breadth subjects available to you from other faculties, you can also choose a University Breadth Subject (UNIB) which examines current critical issues using approaches and techniques from multiple disciplines. Designed and taught in partnership among the University’s faculties and schools, these subjects address topics through diverse disciplinary lenses. You will learn how to synthesise ideas from different fields and collaborate in multidisciplinary settings. These skills are needed in solving many of the world’s challenges and are highly valued by employers.

What are the benefits?

Breadth has been designed to encourage and enable you to:

  • Develop skills that complement your major/specialisation
  • Pursue interests outside of your main study area
  • Take advantage of specially designed multidisciplinary UNIB subjects
  • Meet prerequisites for graduate courses in non-cognate disciplines.

How breadth can enrich your degree and career

  • Example one: Nadege (biomedicine student)

    Nadege is a biomedicine student who will be working closely with patients during her career in medicine. She can broaden her awareness of societal inequalities and cultural diversity by taking Sociology and Anthropology (Arts) subjects as breadth.

  • Example two: Daniel (arts student)

    Daniel is an arts student majoring in Politics and International Relations. He can increase his scope for a career in public policy and development by studying Economics (Commerce) subjects as breadth to develop analytical problem-solving skills and an understanding of national economies.

  • Example three: Dirk (science student)

    Dirk is a science student planning for a career as a laboratory scientist and researcher. By taking Media and Communications (Arts) subjects as breadth, he can refine the writing skills he needs to write for scientific news and technical scientific journals.

  • Example four: Alicia (commerce student)

    Alicia is a commerce student majoring in Finance and Marketing, planning for a career in advertising. She loves being creative and is looking for an outlet that will allow her to explore her interests in drawing, painting and design, so she chooses Visual Art (Fine Art) subjects as breadth.

  • Example five: Su Mei (design student )

    Su Mei is a design student majoring in Architecture. She has decided to pursue graduate study and can meet the entry requirements for the Master of Architectural Engineering by studying the pre-requisite science and mathematics subjects as breadth.*

    *A maximum of 37.5 points of breadth can be taken at level 1. Additional pre-requisite subjects required can be taken through the Community Access Program.

  • Example six: Christina (international student with English as a second language)

    Christina is an international student with English as a second language. She can improve and refine her communication skills by taking Academic English (Arts) subjects as breadth, available in most Melbourne curriculum courses.

What are the rules?

The majority of Melbourne curriculum undergraduate degrees include the same basic breadth rules.

You must complete a minimum of 50 points of breadth subjects.

You can complete a maximum of 37.5 points of level 1 breadth subjects.

Students completing the Bachelor of Agriculture or the Bachelor of Oral Health cannot enrol into breadth subjects within their degrees.

Current breadth rules may differ from previous years' rules. You should check your course in the Handbook, for the year you commenced, to find your specific breadth rules.

Breadth requirements for your course

  • Bachelor of Arts
    • Bachelor of Arts students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 25 points (two subjects) available for the student to select either breadth or Arts electives as free subjects.
    • At least 12.5 points and a maximum of 37.5 points of breadth must be taken at Level 1.
    • Students who undertake a major in Psychology will complete 125 points of Psychology subjects with 100 points taken as Arts elective subjects and 25 points (12.5 of Level 2, and 12.5 of Level 3) taken as breadth. Students require a further 25 points of breadth, with another 25 points available for students to select either breadth or Arts electives as free subjects.
    • Students who undertake a major in Economics will complete 112.5 points of Economics subjects, with 37.5 points taken as Arts elective subjects and 75 points taken as breadth. No further breadth subjects are allowed.
    • Students who undertake a major in Chinese at Entry Point 1 will complete 125 points with 100 points taken as arts electives and 25 points as free subjects, leaving 50 points of of breadth to complete.
    • Bachelor of Arts students are able to enrol in language subjects as breadth. Please note that students wishing to complete a major in a particular language cannot enrol in them as breadth.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for the Bachelor of Arts.
  • Bachelor of Biomedicine
    • Bachelor of Biomedicine students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 25 points (two subjects) available for the student to select either breadth or Biomedicine electives as free subjects.
    • A maximum of 37.5 points of breadth can be taken at Level 1.
    • Not all subjects offered in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Environments, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Commerce are available as breadth to students in the Bachelor of Biomedicine.
    • Subjects from Science or Environments that are considered to have similar or overlapping content may not be available as breadth to Bachelor of Biomedicine students.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for the Bachelor of Biomedicine.
  • Bachelor of Commerce
    • Bachelor of Commerce students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 12.5 points (one subject) available for the student to select either breadth or Commerce electives as a free subject.
    • A maximum of 37.5 points of breadth can be taken at Level 1.
    • Students pursuing accreditation in Actuarial Studies will take 75 to 87.5 points of breadth and free subjects, including two breadth subjects that are not Mathematics.
    • Students can choose to complete Mathematics subjects as breadth to meet the Quantitative Requirement for the course. Please refer to the Handbook for further information.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for the Bachelor of Commerce.
  • Bachelor of Design
    • Bachelor of Design students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 25 points (two subjects) available for the student to select either breadth or Design electives as free subjects.
    • A maximum of 37.5 points of breadth can be taken at Level 1.
    • The breadth options for Bachelor of Design students are restricted depending on the major that has been selected. Please refer to the Handbook.
      • Please note: these restrictions don’t apply in the first 100 credit points of study.
  • Bachelor of Environments
    • Bachelor of Environments students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 25 points (two subjects) available for the student to select either breadth or Environments electives as free subjects.
    • A maximum of 37.5 points of breadth can be taken at Level 1.
    • Please note that double majors are available to students who commence the Bachelor of Environments from 2015 onwards. The subjects that comprise the second major may be enrolled as breadth, free points and elective subjects. This means that a student undertaking a double major may enrol in less than the required 50 points of breadth. Students should seek further advice from Stop 1 regarding their subject choice.
    • The breadth options for Bachelor of Environments students are restricted depending on the major that has been selected.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for Bachelor of Environments.
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts
    • Bachelor of Fine Arts students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), including at least 12.5 points at Level 2 or 3.
    • Bachelor of Fine Arts students who commenced prior to 2021 are not required to take any breadth subjects as it was not a Melbourne Curriculum degree. However, with the update to the curriculum in 2021, continuing students who have space available for an elective can choose to use that elective space to take breadth subjects if they prefer. Students will need to submit an Enrolment Assistance Form if they wish to make the change to their study plan.
  • Bachelor of Music
    • Bachelor of Music students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 12.5 points (one subject) available for the student to select either breadth or Music electives as a free subject.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for Bachelor of Music.
  • Bachelor of Science
    • Bachelor of Science students complete a breadth component of 50 points (four subjects), with another 12.5 points (one subject) available for the student to select either breadth or Science electives as a free subject.
    • Not all subjects offered in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Environments and Bachelor of Commerce are available as breadth to students in the Bachelor of Science.
    • Subjects from Biomedicine or Environments that are considered to have similar or overlapping content may not be available as breadth to Bachelor of Science students.
    • Please refer to the Handbook for available breadth subjects for Bachelor of Science.

To find which breadth subjects you can study as part of your course:

  1. Visit the Handbook
  2. Select the Subjects tab.
  3. On the right-hand side of the page, navigate to Breadth in Courses and select your course.
  4. Use the filters on the right-hand side of the page to narrow your search results (eg study periods, areas of study, level of study, etc). You can also select View advanced fields to narrow the results down to breadth subjects with (or without) requisites or quota limits.

Breadth tracks

If you want to use your breadth to focus on a particular study area, you can also use the Handbook to view the University's breadth tracks.

  • Breadth tracks have been developed to help you to choose coherent sequences of breadth subjects.
  • A breadth track is a grouping of three or more subjects that will allow you to progressively develop knowledge and skills in a study area.
  • Breadth tracks are optional and subjects in a track need to be added to the breadth component of your study plan individually.
  • Breadth tracks will not appear as specialisations on your academic transcript.

See our how do I use the Handbook to choose subjects? FAQ for more Handbook search tips.

How breadth affects entry into graduate courses

Each graduate course has its own entry requirements, including entry scores and subject prerequisites, which are used to assess applications during the selection process.

Entry scores

Each faculty uses a different calculation to assess applications for its graduate courses. This may be calculating the average mark of all your studies, which will include breadth subjects, or only considering the studies you have completed that are directly relevant to the study area. As these practices vary, you should check the specific entry scores that will be used to assess applications for the graduate courses you are interested. Check the University’s course search and seek advice about planning for graduate study.

Subject prerequisites

For graduate courses in disciplines different from your main field of study, you may be able to use your breadth subject allocation to complete subject prerequisites needed to be considered for entry. For example, you can meet the entry requirements for the Master of Engineering through the Bachelor of Commerce. The subject prerequisites for each graduate course is listed under its entry requirements, which can be found using the University’s course search.

If you can’t study all of the prerequisite subjects within the breadth rules of your course, you may be able to take extra subjects via the Community Access Program.

Need help with planning your course and subjects?

Submit an online enquiry or book an appointment with one of our course advisers, who can help you with course rules and structure, choosing subjects, using the Study Plan, checking you're on track to graduate and more. Please add your My Course Planner link to any enquiry or appointment booking.

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