Obtaining credit towards your Crawford School program
Students who have undertaken previous study that is relevant to their current academic program may be eligible to receive course credit based on their prior learning.
The University rules, policies and procedures relating to the granting of credit are set out in the following ANU documents:
- Coursework Awards Rule 2020
- Policy: Recognition of prior and external learning (Effective Date 14 Jan 2021)
- Procedure: Credit and exemptions
- For definitions see: Policy: Glossary - student policies and procedures
Types of Credit
Specified credit - for compulsory courses. Students are considered to have met the learning outcomes of the specific ANU course and credit is granted. This could mean they have completed the exact course at ANU or a very similar course at another university. They do not have to complete the course again in order to satisfy the compulsory course requirements.
Unspecified credit - for elective courses. Unspecified credit does not exempt a student from undertaking compulsory courses.
Exemption – a student may receive an exemption from a compulsory course or pre-requisite requirement if they have previously completed a similar course (or have relevant work experience). They must take another course in its place. This is not credit.
How much credit can be granted?
Decisions in relation to credit are made by the Program Director, Program Convenor or Academic Director of the program at the Crawford School of Public Policy (with the exception of the Graduate Certificate of Public Policy which are made by the Deputy Director Education).
Where credit is granted, the duration of the program may be adjusted accordingly.
This is general information only - for specific advice please contact the Crawford Student Engagement Team. Credit will be granted in accordance with the Policy: Recognition of prior and external learning.
In all instances the Program Director/Academic Director must be satisfied all the requirements for the master’s degree will be met. This means a student must complete any compulsory or other courses as prescribed by the Program Director. Therefore, in order to fit the required courses in their program they may not be able to able to receive the maximum amount of credit allowable.
Graduate Certificate (24 units)
Up to 12 units of credit may be granted from a completed cognate bachelor (hons), graduate certificate, graduate diploma or masters degree.
Masters degree (72 units)
Up to 24 units of credit may be granted from a completed cognate bachelor's degree.
Up to 24 units of credit may be granted from a nested ANU Graduate Certificate:
Nested programs are:
- Graduate Certificate of Climate Policy and the Master of Climate Change;
- Graduate Certificate of Environmental Management and Development and the Master of Environmental Management and Development.
- Graduate Certificate of National Security Policy and the Master of National Security Policy.
Masters degree (96 units)
Up to 48 units of credit may be granted, consisting of up to 48 units for prior formal learning from a completed cognate bachelor (hons), graduate certificate, graduate diploma or master's degree, and/or up to 24 units from a completed cognate bachelor's degree.
Please contact the Student Engagement team for specific information.
How do I apply for credit?
Domestic applicants
The credit outcome will be included in the offer letter. Acceptance of the offer to the program is also taken as acceptance of the credit. If you do not wish to accept all the credit offered you must contact your Program Coordinator before commencement
International applicants applying through approved scholarship/sponsorship agreements
You can apply for credit prior to enrolment by submitting the credit application form with official transcripts to the Program Coordinator.
International applications (non sponsored)
The credit outcome will be included with the offer. You must formally accept or decline the credit when you accept the program offer because it impacts your CoE and visa duration.
Applying for credit after commencement
If you don’t indicate in the application that you wish to be assessed for credit, you can submit a credit application form and official transcripts to the Student Engagement team (by email or over the counter). The application must be assessed within 20 working days. You will be asked to confirm if you wish to accept or decline the credit offered - it will only be processed if/when you confirm.
Rescinding credit
Should you wish to undertake more courses than will allow once the credit has been applied, credit can be rescinded to allow for further courses within the degree to be taken. Please contact us.
Can I apply for credit for work experience?
Credit from work experience can only be granted towards masters programs.
To apply for credit for non-formal (work experience) or informal learning you must submit the following to the Crawford Student Engagement team at the same time as (or soon after) submitting your application.
- A statement of no more than 1000 words which demonstrates that the work you have been undertaking is equivalent to postgraduate level courses, such as the levels of research and writing (both conceptually and in terms of workload), and addresses the relevant learning outcomes listed in Item 12 in ANU Policy: Recognition of prior and external learning.
- You need to map out in detail how you think the work you’ve done counts towards each of the learning outcomes. You cannot use experience undertaken whilst in the program – it must be prior work experience.
- A statement of support from your workplace or supervisor confirming your employment and position description and to confirm the type of work you undertook.
- To support your application for credit, you should also provide copies of written work completed as part of employment.
Credit cannot be granted for non-formal or informal learning of a language other than English. Exemptions and waiving of course requisites is used instead to recognise such learning.
A note for National Security students
Due to the discipline being 'national security' and the nature of employment for many people in this discipline, students are usually not able to provide adequate examples of their work due to security clearance and confidentially issues. Therefore, applications for informal learning through work experience have usually been declined due to not being able to provide the appropriate evidence.