Expand your knowledge and professional skill set

Non-award study is a great way to build your expertise and upgrade your professional skills. Find out more and enrol in one of our many available units.



Benefits of non-award study

Our changing world requires dynamic, creative thinkers. Enrol in a non-award unit today to enhance your suite of skills for the future.

Non-award study could help you:

  • keep up-to-date on current environmental trends
  • study another culture or language
  • meet accreditation requirements, eg CPA, CA, Actuarial Control Cycle and Investment Management
  • prepare for a postgraduate course
  • refresh your IT skills
  • improve your business skills, eg marketing, business administration or accounting.

Who is non-award study suitable for?

Non-award study is open to anyone who meets the prerequisites for the units they wish to undertake.

General interest

We welcome mature-age students, or previous tertiary graduates, who wish to enrol in University units purely for personal interest or self-development.

Profession bridging study

Overseas-trained professionals with an appropriate assessment statement can undertake bridging study for Australian professions, eg accounting or law.

The majority of the units offered in our Handbook can be undertaken on a non-award basis. Acceptance into the individual unit, however, is subject to faculty and departmental approval.

Each unit’s Handbook entry contains:

  • a brief description of the unit
  • any prerequisites needed for entry
  • the mode of offering, ie which session a unit is offered in, and whether day, evening or external classes are available.
Workload

You should commit approximately nine hours per week to each unit. This estimate is based on the time required to:

  • attend lectures and tutorials, or listen to recorded lectures
  • carry out research at the Library
  • work on assignments.

Prospective students must:

  • be suitably qualified to take the units and have similar qualifications to other students enrolled in the unit
  • meet the prerequisites for the units they intend to enrol in
  • satisfy the University’s English language proficiency requirements.

The following exclusions also apply:

  • PACE units, internships, placements, clinics, research thesis and most overseas electives
  • overseas exchange and in-country units
  • Bachelor of Philosophy and Master of Research units
  • units with limited places (students enrolled in degrees are prioritised).

Faculty and department specific restrictions on non-award enrolment are listed below.

Faculty of ArtsRestriction
Macquarie Law School

Availability of individual LAW/LAWS units is subject to approval by the Macquarie Law School. Non-award study in LAW units is not a guarantee of subsequent acceptance into a Macquarie law degree.

Undergraduate Non-award students are not permitted to accumulate more than 270 credit points in LAW/LAWS units. To undertake further studies, students must gain admission to the Bachelor of Laws program.
Postgraduate

Non-award students will be considered for postgraduate units if they hold appropriate undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications for their intended unit(s).

Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human SciencesRestriction
Department of Health Professions Physiotherapy units are not available for non-award study.
Department of Linguistics Enrolment in linguistics units requires permission of the unit convenor.
Department of Psychology All non-award enrolment in psychology units (undergraduate and postgraduate) must be approved by the department. Suitably qualified applicants will be considered.
Faculty of Science and EngineeringRestriction
Department of Chiropractic ANAT1001 and ANAT1002 are the only units available for non-award study.
School of Computing Non-award applications are considered from suitably qualified applicants.
School of Engineering Non-award applications are considered from suitably qualified applicants.
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

MATH1908, MATH2908 and MATH3918 are not available for non-award study.

8000 level statistics units are available for enrolment, subject to school approval.

School of Natural Sciences

1000–3000 level units are available for non-award study. Postgraduate units are not available.

Macquarie University Business SchoolRestriction
Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance

ACCG postgraduate units at 6000 and 8000 level are only available to students who meet assumed knowledge requirements and enrolment is subject to departmental approval.

ACCG8303–8313 are subject to department approval and students holding Associate Membership of CPA Australia.

Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics

ACST and BUSA postgraduate units are available subject to departmental approval.

Department of Applied Finance

Only for MQ existing students and alumni applying for MBA and MAF single units.  
AFCP coded units are not offered for non-award enrolment.

Department of Economics

All applications for ECON units are subject to departmental approval.

Department of Management Postgraduate management units are not available for non-award study. 
Department of Marketing

Undergraduate units are available for non-award study.

The following postgraduate units are available for non-award enrolment: MKTG6096, MKTG8015, MKTG8002, MKTG8020 and MMBA8020. All other postgraduate units are not available for non-award study.

Non-award study is paid for by up-front tuition fees and is charged based on the number of credit points you are enrolled in.

Please note:

  • Payment of tuition fees is a condition of enrolment.
  • Fees must be paid upfront and in full before classes start each session. They cannot be deferred or paid in instalments.
  • Check the due dates for your fees to avoid a late payment fee.
  • Failure to pay fees by the due date will result in a late payment fee of $150 and the cancellation of your enrolment in all units.

Tuition fees are charged by the credit point for the individual units. Most units have a value of 10 credit points. The tuition fee rate per credit point varies depending on area of study and faculty, and different rates apply for international and domestic students.

Domestic undergraduate

If you are a domestic student and enrol in a non-award unit, you will be charged a tuition fee according to the subject area of the unit and the year you are enrolling.

Area of study

Estimated 2024
fee/unit

Behavioural science, clinical psychology, education, humanities, languages, nursing, social studies, visual and performing arts

$2,675.00

Agriculture, allied and other health, built environment, computing, engineering, mathematics, science, statistics, surveying

$3,325.00

Accounting, administration, commerce, dentistry, economics, law, medicine, veterinary science

$3,662.50

Domestic postgraduate

The tuition fees for a postgraduate unit undertaken by a domestic student is based on its credit point value, multiplied by the cost per credit point. This figure varies depending on which faculty the unit undertaken belongs to.

The following units have a value of 10 credit points, unless otherwise stated.

Faculty

Estimated 2024
fee/unit

Arts (excluding Law)

$3,162.50

Arts – Law

$3,762.50

Macquarie Business School

$4,037.50

Medicine, Health and Human Sciences

$3,375.50

Science and Engineering

$4,037.50

International fees

Actuarial Control Cycles 1 and 2 and Data Analytics are the only units available to study as non-award offshore studies.

Study code

Course name

Commencing type

2024 fee per
credit point *

MQBSSNGL**

Non Award

Commencing and Continuing

$556.25

XNAWD

Non Award Program - Faculty of Arts

Commencing and Continuing

$595.00

XNAWD

Non Award Program - Faculty of Arts - LAW

Commencing and Continuing

$600.00

XNAWD

Non Award Program - Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Commencing and Continuing

$655.00

XNAWD

Non Award Program - Faculty of Science and Engineering

Commencing and Continuing

$682.50

XNAWD

Non Award Program - Macquarie Business School

Commencing and Continuing

$655.00

* most MQ units are 10cp

** Only for MQ existing students and alumni applying for MBA and MAF single units

Tax receipts

If you require a receipt for your non-award tuition fee, you can request one by submitting an enquiry through AskMQ. Make sure to use the phrase “tax receipt” in your enquiry.

Refunds

For tuition fee refunds, refer to the refund page. Please note that the Cashier’s office does not issue refunds.

If you are planning to apply for financial assistance, you will need to check the Centrelink requirements for payment of Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY.

Centrelink is required to look at your workload on a per session basis. You must ensure that your workload each session meets the eligibility criteria for the benefit you are seeking to receive.

Full information about eligibility is available from Centrelink offices, or from the Centrelink website.

You can also call:

Most units have an in-person component, such as assessment or class attendance, that requires you to be present in Australia for a study purpose. Therefore, applicants must hold one of the following:

  • Australian citizenship
  • Australian permanent residency status
  • a current and valid visa which allows study in Australia.

Students in some other visa categories, such as provisional spouse visa and other long term temporary visas, may be able to enrol in a maximum of two non-award units per session.

International applicants should note we do not issue electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) documents for visa applications.

Students intending to enrol into ACST8031, ACST8032 or ACST8095 are not required to reside in Australia for the duration of their enrolment in these units.

Bridging study for overseas-trained professionals

To apply for bridging study, you must arrange for an assessment of your previous qualifications by the relevant assessing body. Written assessment statements are issued by the assessing body for a listed professional occupation, eg CPA Australia for accounting or LPAB for law.

Your assessment statement indicates the studies, examinations and/or tuition and training programs that you will need to successfully undertake to meet the requirements for entry to your profession in Australia.

After you have obtained your assessment statement, you should seek academic advice from the relevant department to ensure you enrol in a unit that covers the content required in your assessment statement.

You may be eligible to apply for a FEE-HELP loan to assist you in re-training to practice in Australia. If you are eligible, FEE-HELP would only be available for the units listed on your assessment statement. Any additional units would need to be undertaken on a non-award basis, which requires full tuition fees to be paid upfront.

Your assessment statement is a necessary document if you wish to apply for a FEE-HELP loan.

For more information about FEE-HELP, visit the Australian Government’s Study Assist website.

Students are not required to apply for FEE-HELP, and can instead pay for units upfront.

Students who wish to complete the university component of the Actuary Program (formerly the Part II program) of the Australian Actuaries Institute must complete the following units:

  • Actuarial Control Cycle – ACST8031 Control Cycle 1 and ACST8032 Control Cycle 2.
  • Data Analytics Principles – ACST8095 Actuarial Data Analytics.

These units are available on a non-award basis to students who have completed an actuarial degree covering the foundation program of the professional exams or equivalent. Students must complete ACST8031 (or an equivalent unit) before commencing ACST8032.

More information about these units can be found below.

Actuarial Control Cycle and Data Analytics

ACST8031, ACST8032 and ACST8095 are available in three delivery modes:

  • Internal, North Ryde – classes are held two days per week at Macquarie University’s North Ryde campus.
  • Internal, City – classes are held one evening per week at Macquarie City Campus (Level 24, 123 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000), supplemented by online delivery of course material.
  • External – no face-to-face classes. Students utilise online lecture recordings and materials.

When applying, advise the non-award team which mode of delivery you would like to enrol into.

ACST8031, in conjunction with ACST8032, develops and applies the actuarial principles and practices underlying the design, assessment, management and control of financial systems in the areas of life insurance, general insurance, banking and superannuation as well as other less traditional areas of actuarial practice.

ACST8095 covers advanced tools and techniques in data analytics. Students will be taught how to apply and develop these skills in a range of business environments and will be able to contribute to all stages of developing solutions to analytical problems across multiple industries or domains. This unit has a focus on practical application using a variety of real-life case studies.

Website access (after enrolment)

To access the ACC1 website you will need your OneID (Macquarie student number) and password.

First time users will need to obtain your OneID password online and follow the prompts. Your eight-digit Macquarie student number can be found on the top right-hand corner of your white Enrolment Registration Advice (ERA) sent with your initial welcome package.

Use your OneID and password to access the ACC1 website in iLearn.

For more information about the Actuarial Control Cycle and Actuarial Data Analytics, contact Mr Simon Guthrie at simon.guthrie@mq.edu.au or visit the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics.