Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours)

This is a one-year honours degree for students who have already completed a bachelor degree in computer science or a closely related field. It's the fourth year of study that sits on top of a three-year undergraduate pass degree, and it leads to an AQF Level 8 Bachelor Honours qualification. At Griffith, the year is built around a supervised research project in computer science, plus coursework in research methods and advanced topics. You'll work with an academic supervisor, define a research question, review the literature, and produce a thesis or major technical report. The exact project depends on your supervisor's expertise and your interests, areas like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, software engineering, human-computer interaction and theoretical computer science are all plausible, but confirm the current research strengths with the school before you apply.

How the year is structured

Honours years in Australian universities are usually full-time over two semesters, or part-time over a longer period. You'll enrol in a set of units, typically a research methods unit, one or two advanced coursework units, and a substantial research project spread across the year. Each unit carries credit points, and you need to pass all of them to graduate. There is no separate placement requirement in most computer science honours programmes, but some projects are done with industry partners or research groups, which gives you a taste of applied work. If you're considering this pathway, check the handbook for the exact unit list, credit points and any prerequisites.

What you'll actually do

You'll spend a lot of time reading papers, writing code, running experiments, and writing up results. The skills you build are the ones that matter in research and senior technical work: framing a problem, choosing the right methods, evaluating your own results honestly, and explaining your work to both technical and non-technical audiences. You'll also get better at managing a long project, setting milestones, dealing with setbacks, and meeting deadlines. Those are the same skills that employers look for when they hire research assistants, data scientists, or software engineers who can own a problem from start to finish.

Who this suits

This degree suits someone who has finished a computer science bachelor degree and wants to go deeper before entering the workforce or starting a PhD. It's also a good fit if you're already working in tech and want to move into a research-heavy role, or if you're an international student looking for a qualification that can lead to post-study work in Australia. The Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream is available to eligible graduates, and while you're studying, a student visa lets you work up to 48 hours per fortnight. Entry is competitive, you'll usually need a strong average in your undergraduate degree, and international applicants need to meet English requirements. Griffith accepts IELTS Academic, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and its own English programmes; the Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the student visa. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 099048K. Always confirm the current entry requirements, unit details and fees on the official Griffith page or CRICOS before you apply.

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