Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

The Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) at the University of Notre Dame Australia is a four-year degree that combines a broad philosophical education with a substantial research thesis. It sits at AQF level 8, the same level as a one-year honours degree taken after a three-year bachelor, but here the research training is built into the four years from the start. You study philosophy as a discipline — logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, the history of ideas — and you learn how to do research in it. The final year is largely your own project, supervised by an academic, written up as a thesis.

How the degree is structured

Like most Australian bachelor degrees, it runs on semesters. You enrol in units of study, each worth a set number of credit points, and you accumulate credit points across the four years until you meet the requirements for the award. The early years are coursework-heavy: core units in philosophy plus electives, and at Notre Dame you also take units in the university's core curriculum, which draws on the Catholic intellectual tradition. As you move through the degree, the balance shifts toward research methods, reading seminars and independent work. The honours thesis in the final year is the centrepiece — a sustained piece of philosophical writing on a question you choose with your supervisor.

What you actually learn

Philosophy trains you to read closely, argue carefully and write clearly. You learn to spot a bad argument, to separate a claim from the evidence for it, and to hold several positions in your head at once without collapsing them into each other. Those are the skills employers notice in philosophy graduates, and they are the skills the thesis forces you to practise at length. Class sizes at Notre Dame are small, so tutorials are discussion-based rather than lectures you could sleep through. Assessment is mostly essays, tutorial participation and the thesis, not multiple-choice exams.

Who it suits

This degree suits students who want to think for a living, or at least to think well before they do something else. It is a good fit if you are considering postgraduate study in philosophy, law, theology or the social sciences, or if you want a research credential before applying for a PhD. It also suits students who want a generalist degree with a strong writing and reasoning core, and who value a small-campus environment. Notre Dame has campuses in Fremantle, Sydney and Broome, and the university's approach to teaching is deliberately personal.

If you are an international student, you will need to meet the university's English requirement — IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall is the common undergraduate standard, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge C1 Advanced accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa. While you study, your visa allows you to work up to 48 hours per fortnight, and on completion you may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 061709B. Check the official University of Notre Dame Australia page and the CRICOS entry for current details on units, fees and entry requirements.

• Policy and public sector roles — state and federal government departments, parliamentary offices, and agencies that need people who can analyse arguments and write briefings.
• Law and legal services — many philosophy honours graduates go on to a Juris Doctor or work as paralegals and legal researchers before qualifying.
• Journalism, publishing and communications — media organisations, trade publishers and in-house communications teams value the writing and editing skills.
• Education — teaching, curriculum development and academic support roles, often after a teaching qualification.
• Research and academia — universities, research centres and think tanks, usually after a PhD.
• Business and consulting — ethics committees, compliance, management consulting and organisational strategy, where clear reasoning is the product.
• Non-profit and international development — NGOs, aid organisations and advocacy groups in Australia and overseas.