Computer Science and
     Software Engineering

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Postgraduate Degree Planner

This planner is designed to help you determine which Computer Science qualification you are likely to be allowed to enrol for. It is only a rough guide, as the final decision will depend very much on the details of your background. To get an official decision you need to apply using the form available from the University web page, and provide the details of your qualifications.

Please note that at Canterbury a Master’s degree is a post-graduate qualification that follows three years of undergraduate study in Computer Science. In some universities you may have come across a ‘Conversion Master’s’, which does not require a background in Computer Science. At Canterbury the equivalent programme is the Graduate Diploma in Science, which can be used to get into a Postgraduate Diploma in Science, or a Master’s degree (which includes a thesis). Our Master’s degree consists of one year of advanced papers, followed by one to two years working on the thesis.

What is your highest current qualification?
I have a Bachelor’s degree.
I have a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Computer Science.
I have a Master’s degree in Computer Science.
I have another qualification, such as a Graduate Diploma.
In which subject is your degree?
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications, Computer Engineering, or Information Systems.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in a non-computing subject.
What are your grades like?
I have a B+ or better in a substantial number of Computer Science papers.
I have a B average or better.
My average is less than a B.

You may be able to enrol for a one-year honours degree, which can lead to a PhD if you get a high grade of honours.

You can probably enrol for a Masters degree, with one year to complete the papers and about one more year for a thesis.

You can probably enrol for a Postgrad Diploma in Science (one year). If you get a B average in this, you may be permitted to continue to a Masters thesis (about one more year).

You can probably enrol for a Grad Dip Sci, which is likely to take about one or two years if you have some computing background.

You can enrol for a Grad Dip Sci, which is likely to take about three years part-time. It cannot be done in less time because of the sequence of pre-requisites needed.

In which division is your Honours degree?
It is first class, or second class first division.
It is second class division two or lower.

You can probably enrol for a PhD.

You can probably proceed to a Masters thesis (about one to two years to complete).

Did the Masters degree follow from a Bachelor’s degree in Computer science?
Yes: I have studied Computer Science for at least four years.
No: I have done a ‘conversion’ Master’s degree.
Did you do a thesis as part of the Master’s degree?
Yes
No

You can probably enrol for a PhD if you have good grades.

If you have not yet done a thesis, you should probably enrol for a Masters thesis (about one to two years), which can lead to a PhD.

You may need to do some advanced undergraduate papers (possibly as a Grad Dip Sci), which can lead to a Postgraduate Diploma in Science, and/or a full Computer Science Masters degree.

You can probably enrol for a Post Graduate Diploma in Science (one year), or a Masters degree (one year of papers and about one to two years for a thesis).