General bachelors' degrees

Standard requirements

General bachelors' degrees are normally taken over three years and require a minimum of 360 points. At least 180 of these points must be above 100-level, and at least 72 must be at 300-level in your major subject.

There must be a major subject in every general degree, which means that you must satisfy the requirements specified for that subject.

In a BA, MusB, BPA, BTheol, BSc, BCom, BEntr, BHealSc, BACom, BASc or BComSc degree you also have the option of having a minor subject specified.

In BA, BCom, BSc, BTheol, and MusB degrees you can include up to 90 points of papers from other degrees.

Most ordinary bachelors' degrees and many of the specialised bachelors' degrees have Honours degrees allied to them (e.g. BA and BA(Hons)).

Entry Pathways

Caps on the number of students who can enrol in general bachelors' degrees exist with selection primarily based on academic merit.

There are two pathways for admission to these programmes for new domestic undergraduate students (and certain students who have enrolled at Otago previously).

• Preferential Entry
• Competitive Entry

It is expected that the majority of students admitted to Otago in 2022 will achieve entry via the Preferential Entry pathway. As long as enrolment patterns remain similar to previous years, a reasonable number of places will also be available via the Competitive Entry pathway.

The selection process also includes an enhanced admission system for Māori and Pacific applicants. Particular consideration may also be given to applications from perspective students with disabilities if they supply  the relevant information on the form provided for that purpose, available on request from the University Information Centre.

Enrolment requirements for students at Otago for 2022

Students who have been enrolled at the University of Otago in 2021 or earlier will be considered for re-enrolment in two categories:

Returning students

Students who have been enrolled at the University of Otago in 2020 or 2021 (returning students) may normally enrol again, subject to the standard provisions of the University's Academic Progress Policy and the admission regulations for specific programmes.

Recommencing students

Students who were last enrolled at the University of Otago in 2019 or earlier (recommencing students) will be considered for re-enrolment on the basis of their academic records (at both Otago and other tertiary institutions where relevant) and assessed for Preferential Entry or Competitive Entry if applying for general bachelors' degrees.

The requirement for Preferential Entry (and a guaranteed place) for general bachelors' degrees is a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4 (B-) or more. Recommencing students with a GPA below 4 will be considered under the Competitive Entry pathway.