Choosing your courses

Before you enrol, you need to find out the courses you are required to take and the elective courses you can enrol in.

To be a full-time student, you need to enrol in 3-4 courses (45-80 points) each trimester. If you're studying in New Zealand, this is necessary for your student visa.

Your degree will have required courses that you must take. There are also elective courses that you can choose based on your interests or career goals. You must enrol in all required courses, but you can pick which electives to take.

After choosing your courses, check the lecture times to avoid any schedule conflicts.

Undergraduate students

You can find your required courses on the requirements tab of your programme page. For elective courses, check our course finder.

You can also email international@vuw.ac.nz for help with selecting courses. Include the following information in your email:

  • your full name
  • that you will be enrolling as an international student
  • your programme and major as listed in your Offer of Place letter
  • you can include a course plan, or a list of your selected courses, for review—our Course Advice team will help you make sure your plan is going to work for your degree.

Refer to information about how our degrees work and planning your degree for additional help in your planning.

Postgraduate students

You can find your required courses on the requirements tab of your programme page. For elective courses, check our course finder.

You can also contact your programme advisers or faculty for more detailed course advice. Their contact information is on the Apply and Contact tab of your programme page.

International partnership students

You must enrol in the courses that we have confirmed with you via email. There may also be some elective course options you can choose from.

For elective courses, check our course finder for available courses. If you have any questions about your course selection, contact your faculty or school.

Study Abroad and Exchange students

You should enrol online only in courses that have been pre-approved for you during your course approval process. Please refer to this page for more details about the requirements needed for Study Abroad and Exchange students.

If you have questions about the course approval process, contact us.