Assumed knowledge

You don't need to have studied specific subjects at school to apply for our undergraduate courses, except for our Bachelor of Education courses, which have specific prerequisite subjects that you must have studied.

For all our other courses, we assume you have a minimum level of knowledge in certain subject areas before you start your course. We call this 'assumed knowledge'.

You can still apply if you don't have the assumed knowledge for your course, but we strongly encourage you to undertake bridging courses to get the knowledge you'll need.

What's the assumed knowledge for my course?

All of our courses have English (which includes English for ESL learners) with an exit of four semesters sound achievement (4, SA) as assumed knowledge.

From 2021, in addition to English (Units 3 & 4, C) the following Queensland Year 12 subjects are also acceptable:

Literature
English and Literature
English as an Additional Language (Units 3 & 4).

If you're currently in high school and set to finish school in 2020 or later, there will be some changes. Find out more about starting uni in 2021 and beyond.

Some courses have additional assumed knowledge in one or more of the following subjects:

2018 and 2019 Queensland OP subjects	2020 and onward Queensland ATAR subjects
Maths A (4,SA)	General Mathematics (Units 3 & 4 C)
Maths B (4,SA)	Mathematical Methods (Units 3 & 4, C)
Maths C (4,SA)	Specialist Mathematics (Units 3 & 4, C)
Biology (4,SA)	Biology (Units 3 & 4, C
Chemistry (4,SA)	Chemistry (Units 3 & 4, C)
Physics (4,SA)	Physics (Units 3 & 4, C)

Check your course information to find out what the assumed knowledge is for your course.

Bachelor of Education courses

Our Bachelor of Education courses have prerequisite subjects instead of assumed knowledge.

That means you must have studied the required subjects to gain entry to these courses.

Prerequisite subjects for the Bachelor of Education

How much knowledge do I need?

We assume that you have knowledge equivalent to four semesters at high school level (Years 11 and 12) with at least Sound Achievement (SA).

You'll see this in course information as (4, SA).

I don't have the assumed knowledge for my course

If you don't have the assumed knowledge you might have trouble keeping up in your classes.

You can do extra studies to help you catch up on what you've missed.

For English

You can successfully complete a year of vocational or tertiary study (university or TAFE) or complete one of the other options listed in our assumed knowledge equivalent subjects.

For Maths, Chemistry and Physics

We recommend that you complete bridging or preparatory studies before or during your first semester.

We offer paid bridging courses through our Continuing Professional Education (CPE) unit, or you can complete one of the other options listed in our assumed knowledge equivalent subjects.

Recommended study

Some courses also list subjects as recommended study.

If you've completed these subjects at school it may help you understand the material in your course.

But if you haven't, you won't be disadvantaged or need to catch up on anything.

I didn't complete Year 12 in Queensland

Check our assumed knowledge equivalent subjects to see if you have equivalent knowledge if you've completed:

Year 12 in another state
the International Baccalaureate (IB)
studies at university or TAFE.