General information
Most general bachelors' degrees and many of the specialised bachelors' degrees have honours degrees allied to them (e.g. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts with Honours). They usually involve more papers in the subject of the degree and a research report or dissertation.
It is possible to undertake honours degrees in more than one subject, or to take a combined honours degree (involving a blend of papers from two subjects).
Honours degrees are awarded at first class, second class and third class level.
Additional year of study
In most subjects, the honours degree is a postgraduate degree, requiring an additional year of study after completion of a general three-year bachelor's degree (application for the honours degree normally takes place near the end of the bachelor's degree).
Professional programmes
In other cases (particularly professional programmes), the honours degree is an undergraduate degree requiring additional work. Some take no longer than the corresponding ordinary degree. Others are a four-year degree without corresponding ordinary degree.
Honours degrees at the University of Otago
The following honours degrees are offered at the University of Otago.
- Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA(Hons))
- Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours (BBiomedSc(Hons))
- Bachelor of Dental Surgery with Honours (BDS(Hons))
- Bachelor of Dental Technology with Honours (BDentTech(Hons))
- Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Software Engineering (BE(Hons)) (Software Engineering)
- Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB(Hons))
- Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours (BMedSc(Hons))
- Bachelor of Music with Honours (MusB(Hons))
- Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons))
- Bachelor of Social Work with Honours (BSW(Hons))
- Bachelor of Surveying with Honours (BSurv(Hons))
- Bachelor of Physiotherapy with Honours (BPhty(Hons))
- Bachelor of Radiation Therapy with Honours (BRT(Hons))
- Bachelor of Theology with Honours (BTheol(Hons))
The BA(Hons), BSc(Hons), BTheol(Hons) and MusB(Hons) degrees are one-year postgraduate programmes, undertaken after completion of the corresponding ordinary three-year bachelors' degrees (BA, BSc, etc.).
Applying for an honours degree
You apply for most honours degrees towards the end of your bachelor degree programme, but for the BEng(Hons) in Software Engineering, you apply directly to the honours degree as there is no ordinary programme.
The due date for applications for most honours programmes is 10 December.
See the application due dates page for other programmes.