Credit for prior studies - Faculty of Law

What is credit for prior studies?

Where a student is assessed to have completed the equivalent of a unit at other tertiary institution prior to enrolment, they may (in limited circumstances) receive credit for that unit and their new Monash course requirements may be correspondingly reduced.

See also Monash University Credit Policy.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the requirements for registration with the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB), credit is rarely provided for first year units; or for core units covering Priestley 11 content.

NOTE: For Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Juris Doctor students, a minimum of 48 credit points of law units must be undertaken at Monash.

Eligibility

The Monash University Credit Policy provides that credit transfer may be granted for units passed in a university, subject to an assessment of equivalence in terms of the curriculum, content, depth of study, assessment, course level, and credit point value of the previous unit of learning.

The Monash Bachelor of Laws (Honours) is an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Level 8 qualification. The Juris Doctor , Master of Laws and Master of Legal Studies are AQF level 9 qualifications.

Students applying for credit from a degree at a lower AQF level, will not likely be eligible for credit but may be offered a preclusion wherever possible. A preclusion means the student is exempted from studying a particular unit (based on prior study), but is required to complete another unit in its place. Therefore, preclusion does not reduce the total credit points required to be undertaken for the degree. Please refer Monash University Credit Policy 1.11 for details.

To be eligible for law credits covering Priestley 11 subjects, previous learning must have been completed within five years prior to the year of application for credit.

To be eligible for law elective credit, previous learning must have been completed within ten years prior to the year of application for credit.

How is it credited towards your Monash degree?

You may apply for credit once you have received an offer for a law course. Credit for law units taken elsewhere may be granted either as specified credit for a particular Monash law unit, or unspecified credit (6 or 12 credit points) for a law elective.

Under the terms of accreditation by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB) as a qualifying law degree for admission to the legal profession, Monash University must ensure that all LLB (Hons) and Juris Doctor graduates have completed the compulsory Priestley 11 units to the satisfaction of VLAB. Applications for credit for first year law units and units containing Priestley 11 content are rarely granted. Monash University will only give credit for units covering Priestley 11 subjects where the entirety of that subject has been completed at one previous university and it can be demonstrated that the content has been covered in its entirety.

Application process

For credit to be provided, Monash University must be able to determine equivalence from the documentation you have provided.  Monash University will be assessing equivalency based on:

  • Credit points
  • Contact hours
  • Content, curriculum and depth of study
  • Evidence of completion of Priestley 11 content (for core units)
  • Assessment regime
  • AQF level

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the supporting documentation submitted clearly outlines these details, otherwise your application will not be able to be assessed for credit.

Supporting documentation

All credit applications must include an original or certified copy of your academic results.
Processes and procedures differ at each institution, however examples of documentation that commonly contains the information required for credit assessment include:

  • Unit syllabus
  • Unit outlines
  • Reading guide
  • Textbooks used
  • Handbook extract for the course AND unit (subject)

Complete the online Credit for Previous Study application form and upload the required documentation.
It is the student’s obligation to ensure that the relevant documents are provided. Failure to provide all required supporting documentation will result in the application being declined. If supporting documentation does not satisfactorily demonstrate equivalence, credit will not be awarded.

NOTE: If you are a Monash student who would like to undertake a single unit(s) on a non-award basis at another institution (within Australia or New Zealand) for credit in your current Monash Law course please follow Complementary studies enrolment process.

Notification of outcome

We’ll email you with the outcome of your credit application. This takes 10 to 20 business days, and may take longer during peak admission and enrolment times.