Bachelor of Commerce at University of Otago

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Apply for the Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) through the Dunedin campus in 2023

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Overview
Major subject areas
Minor subject areas
Students enrolled before 2017
Programme requirements
Regulations for the Degree of Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)

Some majors for this qualification will also be temporarily delivered online in order to support international students that are unable to attend classes in 2022 in person due to COVID-19. For more information and criteria please visit the University's COVID-19 website.

Overview

The Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree programme enables each student to develop his or her own interests in business and related subjects. Students are able to create individualised courses using a range of papers offered across teaching departments in the School of Business and University as a whole. Students have the flexibility within the BCom degree to combine two specialisations and graduate with a double major.

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Major subject areas

For a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree you must major in at least one of the following subjects:

Accounting
Economics
Finance
Human Resource Management
Information Science
International Business
Management
Marketing
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Tourism

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Minor subject areas

Selecting a minor subject is not compulsory and there may be other combinations of papers more appropriate to your degree. There are no particular subject requirements for the other papers of your degree, but if you wish you may have another subject specified as a minor subject in your degree by passing the prescribed papers for any of the listed subjects.

Full list of available minor subject areas.

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For students enrolled in a BCom programme before 2017

From 2017 the required 100-level papers for all BCom programmes have changed from BSNS 102-108 to BSNS 111-115. BCom students who first enrolled in 2016 or earlier will normally complete the programme under the regulations in force when they first enrolled.

If you need to complete any of BSNS 102-108 the equivalent papers from 2017 onwards are:

Papers required before 2017	Equivalent from 2017 onwards
BSNS 102	BSNS 112
BSNS 103	MART 112
BSNS 104	BSNS 113
BSNS 105	BSNS 111 or MANT 101
BSNS 106	COMP 111 (recommended) or COMP 101
BSNS 107	BSNS 115
BSNS 108	BSNS 114

If none of the above options are available to you, you will need to seek advice from the Associate Dean (Academic) for the School of Business in order to decide on an appropriate paper or papers to use instead.

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Programme requirements

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Accounting

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems ACCT 102 Principles of Accounting BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 18 18 36
200-level	ACCT 211 Financial Accounting and Reporting ACCT 222 Cost and Management Accounting At least one of ACCT 233 Fundamentals of Accounting for Financial Decisions or ACCT 260 Introduction to Accounting Analytics	18 18 18
300-level	ACCT 302 Accounting Performance Management or ACCT 307 Management Accounting ACCT 310 Statement Analysis or ACCT 315 Advanced Financial Accounting Two further 300-level papers (one must be an ACCT paper, and the other must be an ACCT, ACFI or FINC paper)	18 18 36
Plus	126 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above. Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Commerce.	126
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Economics

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy ECON 112 Principles of Macroeconomics BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 72
200-level	ECON 201 Microeconomics, or ECON 271 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory ECON 202 Macroeconomics One further 200-level ECON paper	18 18 18
300-level	Four 300-level ECON papers	72
Plus	126 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above.Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Commerce.	126
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Finance

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems FINC 102 Business Mathematics BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 18 18 36
200-level	FINC 202 Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management FINC 203 Financial Data Analysis FINC 206 Fundamentals of Corporate Finance	18 18 18
300-level	FINC 302 Applied Investments FINC 303 Financial Management Two further 300-level papers, (one must be a FINC paper, and the other must be a FINC, ACCT or ACFI paper)	18 18 36
Plus	126 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above. Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Commerce.	126
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Human Resource Management

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	MANT 101 Managing for Performance BSNS 111 Business and Society BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 72
200-level	MANT 250 Managing People MANT 251 Managing Organisations One of MANT 217 International Management MANT 222 Interpersonal/International Business Communication MANT 252 Developing Responsible Leadership	18 18 18
300-level	MANT 345 Strategic Human Resource Management MANT 346 Employment Relations Two of MANT 330 Leadership MANT 339 Human Resource Development MANT 343 Negotiation and Dispute Resolution MANT 347 Occupational Psychology	18 18 36
Plus	126 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above.Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Commerce.	126
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Information Science

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	COMP 101 Foundation of Information Systems COMP 161 Computer Programming or COMP 162 Foundations of Computer Science BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study. Note: Students are exempt from COMP 161 if they have gained entry to COMP 162 by passing COMP 151 with a grade of at least B or via an Advanced Placement Test.	18 18 90
200-level	INFO 201 Developing Information Systems 1 INFO 202 Developing Information Systems 2 INFO 203 Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience INFO 204 Introduction to Data Science	18 18 18 18
300-level	INFO 301 Applied Project INFO 302 Information Systems Strategy and Governance Two further 300-level INFO papers Note: INFO 310 is the prerequisite for INFO 301.	18 18 36
Plus	90 further points; must include 36 points at 200-level or above. May be taken from outside Commerce.	90
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in International Business

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy MANT 101 Managing for Performance BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 72
200-level	ECON 201 Microeconomics MANT 217 International Management, or MANT 222 Interpersonal / International Business Communication One further Commerce paper at 200-level Language papers as outlined below	18 18 18
300-level	ECON 302 International Trade MANT 332 International Management, or MANT 342 Global Business Strategy MART 326 International and Export Marketing One further Commerce paper at 300-level	18 18 18 18
Plus	Additional 18-point paper** Approved language and culture papers* 108 points with a minimum of 36 of these 108 points at 200-level or above. If English or Māori is the student’s first language, these 108 points must include at least 72 points of language papers in one language, an 18 point culture paper, and an additional 18 points of either language or culture papers (preferably including a business language paper if available). If neither English nor Māori is the student’s first language, these 108 points must include language papers (not the student’s first language) and/or cultural papers as approved by the Director, International Business. * Papers requiring approval will in the first instance be approved by the Department concerned. However, overall approval including the appropriate language and culture papers shall rest with the Director of the International Business major. **The further 18-point paper may need to be a Commerce paper, and/or it may need to be at 200-level or above in order to satisfy the regulations for the Bachelor of Commerce, depending on a student’s individual course of study. Please refer to the Bachelor of Commerce regulations or seek course advice for clarification.	18 108
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Management

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	MANT 101 Managing for Performance BSNS 111 Business and Society BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study

Level

Papers

Points

100-level

MANT 101 Managing for Performance

BSNS 111 Business and Society

BSNS 112 Interpreting Business Data, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy, BSNS 114 Financial Decision Making, BSNS 115 Accounting and Information Systems – must normally be taken in first year of study

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Jordan entrance requirements

One year of successful study at a recognised institution of university standing, or successful completion of a University of Otago Foundation Year programme or equivalent.

A recognised institution is generally a college or university that is listed in the World Higher Education Database.

We also accept the following international qualifications:

International Baccalaureate: IB Diploma with a minimum of 24 points.
Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) GCE Advanced Levels: minimum Numerical Score of 8.
- The numerical scores are normally calculated on the best three A-Level principal subjects (excluding the General Paper) taken at one sitting, or two A-Level passes with two A-Level Subsidiary passes at one sitting.
- (i) Scores for the Advanced levels are calculated on the basis that: A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2, E = 1
- (ii) Scores for the Advanced Subsidiary level results are calculated on the basis that: A = 2.5, B = 2, C = 1.5, D = 1, E = 0.5
Northern Consortium United Kingdom (NCUK) International Foundation Year (IFY)
- A minimum of CCC across the NCUK IFY,
- Acceptance of the NCUK English for Academic Purposes qualification as an alternative to meeting the English-language requirements, with a minimum of a C grade overall and no less than D grade in each component.
Satisfactory completion of one year's study at a recognised tertiary institution. A recognised institution is generally a college or university that is listed in the World Higher Education Database.

English Program Requirements

If your first language is not English you need to show you meet our English language requirements

Fee Information

Tuition Fee

NZD 38,723 / year

How to Apply

Step 1 – Select your course or programme
Step 2 – Check entry requirements and deadlines
Step 3 – Apply online
Step 4 – Submit your application
Step 5 – Accept your Offer of Place

Bachelor of Commerce

University of Otago

University of Otago

Key Facts

Start & Deadlines