ACTL1101 Introduction to Actuarial Studies - 2022

Subject Code
ACTL1101
Study Level
Undergraduate
Commencing Term
Term 2
Total Units of Credit (UOC)
6
Delivery Mode
On Campus and Online
School
Risk & Actuarial Studies
The course outline is not available for current term. To view outlines from other years and/or terms, visit the archives .

1. Course Details

Summary of Course

This course is designed to provide an introduction to actuarial studies. It covers the fundamental modelling tools used by actuaries (probability, statistics, financial mathematics), as well as some of the basic actuarial models in areas such as insurance, superannuation or financial risk management, which will be studied in great depth during the remainder of the degree. The main areas of actuarial practice and research are also introduced and discussed. Finally, the course provides a foundation in programming, as well as data manipulation and visualisation, with a particular focus on R.

Teaching Times and Locations

Please note that teaching times and locations are subject to change. Students are strongly advised to refer to the Class Timetable website for the most up-to-date teaching times and locations.

View course timetable

Course Policies & Support

Course Aims and Relationship to Other Courses

This course is offered as part of the first year core in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and dual degrees. The course is a prerequisite, along with MATH1251, for the courses ACTL2111 Financial Mathematics for Actuaries, and ACTL2131 Probability and Mathematical Statistics.

2. Staff Contact Details

Position Title Name Email Location Phone Consultation Times
Lecturer-in-chargeMrGuillaume Boglioni Beaulieu
To be announced

3. Learning and Teaching Activities

Use of your Webcam and Digital Devices: If you enrol in an online class, or the online stream of a hybrid class, teaching and associated activities will be conducted using Teams, Zoom, or similar a technology. Using a webcam is optional, but highly encouraged, as this will facilitate interaction with your peers and instructors. If you are worried about your personal space being observed during a class, we encourage you to blur your background or make use of a virtual background. Please contact the Lecturer-in-Charge if you have any questions or concerns.

Some courses may involve undertaking online exams for which your own computer or digital devices will be required. Monitoring of online examinations will be conducted directly by University staff and is bound by the University's privacy and security requirements. Any data collected will be handled accordance with UNSW policies and standards for data governance. For more information on how the University manages personal information please refer to the UNSW Student Privacy Statement and the UNSW Privacy Policy.

Approach to Learning and Teaching in the Course

​We are here to HELP students (you) in the learning process by developing your understanding of course topics and to provide opportunities to reflect on and gain deeper understanding of the applications of the course material. The learning process is collaborative, and the more you interact with us (teaching staff) and with fellow students, the more you will learn and get from the course. Interaction can occur in class, in tutorials, in labs, during consultation, on online forums, etc.

Furthermore, the course will use extensive digital resources, some of which have been tailor made for the course; see Course Resources.

Learning Activities and Teaching Strategies

Active Learning

As much as possible, we use active learning during lectures, tutorials and pre-recorded videos. This means trying to make you do things, not just sit inactively. We will use different strategies for this, such as:

  • Use polls and Q&A periods during lectures.
  • Have discussion questions and group activities during tutorials.
  • Provide videos about programming which include frequent breaks for you to practice.
  • Encourage students to reply to each other on the online "Ed" forum.
  • Have formative weekly online questions whose answers are posted on a forum where students are strongly encouraged to reply to each other.
  • Have a tutor assisting the lecturer in class to answer live questions in a chat.

For more information about active learning, refer, for instance, to:

Course components

There are three components to this course, with different modes of learning (and assessment):

  • Theory: students are first exposed to the content through lectures, and the content is reinforced in tutorials.
  • R programming: students are responsible for going through pre-recorded videos at home. Weekly consultations periods (with tutors), a few Q&A sessions (with the Lecturer) and an online discussion forum will provide students opportunities to ask questions.
  • Actuarial practice: students are responsible for going through the content at home (readings, videos, interviews, podcasts), and then share and exchange knowledge on an online forum, where other students reply and staff moderate the discussions. A few guest lectures will also cover this component.

Those three components are shown in Green (theory), Orange (R programming) and Yellow (actuarial practice) wherever possible (for instance on the 'course map' and 'assessment map' on the Moodle website).

Theory: Lectures

For the theory (green), we will be teaching materials with detailed slides and examples (lectures). Knowledge is further reinforced and further applied in tutorials. Here the main references will be the lecture notes and tutorial exercises. There may be some readings from the book as indicated on the lecture slides. Unless announced otherwise on the course website or via e-mail, it is not necessary to do any prior reading.

During lectures, a tutor will also be in the chat room to answer questions from students. The main idea is to make it easier and quicker for you to ask questions.

Theory: Tutorials

Tutorials will mostly focus on the application of concepts taught in the theory (green).

Importantly, we invest a lot of resources to offer small group tutorials, and this is to maximise interaction, and for students to get the individualised help they need. This means that tutorials are not meant to replicate (or summarise) the lecture. If the flow of information is unilateral (the tutor talks for 90 minutes) then this could be done with 350 students in the same way. You are meant to make the difference and to make it worthwhile to have 14 groups of 25 instead of 1 group of 350.

To get the maximum from your tutorial, it is your responsibility to be prepared and to come to the tutorial with questions you want the tutor to address. As much as possible (depending on the tutorial topic) we will try to make you work within small teams.

R programming

This component of the course operates somewhat independently from lectures and tutorials: the aim is for you to learn the R programming language. To that end, pre-recorded videos provide a foundation in R programming, with a focus on data manipulation, analysis and visualisation, as well as algorithms. Those videos feature many exercises which students are encouraged to attempt while they are watching them (to enforce active learning).

Students are also encouraged to learn actively by participating in the formative assessment tasks (including homework exercises and quizzes). These tasks review the essential concepts and are designed to identify the loopholes of students learning and provide feedbacks for improvement.

Students will also have plenty of opportunities to ask questions on R programming: tutors will hold weekly consultations periods and the online forum Ed (which allows students to run R code) will be monitored frequently. The lecturer will also hold a few Q&A sessions about R along the Term.

The learning outcomes of the R lab series are validated through online questions (4 in total). Those online questions are created in such a way that students are required to apply concepts and tools they have learnt in an actuarial context. Sample solutions will be provided to students as feedback.

Note that you will develop general knowledge of the R software and language, rather than specific actuarial applications using R. Later in the actuarial degree, students will thus be able to focus on specific actuarial applications using R (such as modelling mortality rates, generalised linear regression, etc.) without experiencing difficulties due to poor knowledge of programming and R in particular.


Actuarial Practice

The goal of this component is to introduce students to the 'real world work' of actuaries. The content will be presented mainly through readings, video interviews and podcasts which students are responsible to review on their own. The prescribed readings and resources will be made clear on the course Moodle website. This component will be assessed through formative online questions (4 tasks in total, including a "introduce yourself" task), in the form of open-ended questions that students answer on an online forum public to every other student enrolled. (Those assignments won't have 'single right answers', and will be assessed on a 'Pass or Fail' basis, so don't panic!) Students will also be strongly encouraged to reply to each others' posts. The purpose of this mode of learning and assessment is to strengthen the sense of community and belonging among students.

 

How you will receive feedback about your learning

You will receive feedback about your learning in multiple ways:

  • During lectures, by asking questions and participating in the activities
  • After lectures, by reviewing your lecture notes and participating in the online forums
  • Before tutorials, by attempting the exercises to be done prior to the tutorial
  • During tutorials, by participating in activities and by interacting with your team and tutor
  • After tutorials, by reviewing your notes, and reflecting on your gaps and how to fill them
  • By doing the R homework exercises (which have solutions) and quizzes (which are automatically marked)
  • Throughout, by examining feedback obtained on assessment items; see also Assessment Summary

Your typical week as a student in ACTL1101

The normal workload for a 6 credit course at UNSW under UNSW3+ is about 13-15 hours per week.

In a typical week (but not necessarily in all weeks) you would do the following activities:

  • [2-3 hours] Lecture: attend Monday & Tuesday lectures (and consultations afterwards if needed)
  • [1-2 hours*] Before the weekly tutorial: do the homework questions
  • [1.5 hour] Attend your weekly tutorial
  • [1.5 hour] Watch videos on R (only weeks 1-5;7) and do any practice exercises that come-up in the videos
  • [1-2 hours*] After watching the videos: do the lab homework and associated quiz
  • [1-2 hours] Do the weekly online questions
  • [2 hours*] Revise lecture, tutorial and lab notes and prepare questions if needed; attempt past exam questions; ask and answer questions on the forums; work on the main assignment.

We strongly suggest that you diarise these activities. We also encourage you to do the starred activities with a team of fellow students you regularly study with (perhaps from the same tutorial group).

Each week, we will send you an e-mail that details what you are expected to do. This does not prevent you from taking responsibility for your own planning, of course.

5. Course Resources

​Course website

The website for this course is on Moodle. The course will use various digital resources (and notably a "Ed Forum" for questions), but they all will be linked from Moodle.

To access the Moodle online support site for students, follow the links from that website to UNSW Moodle Support/Support for Students. Additional technical support can be obtained from itservicecentre@unsw.edu.au (02 9385 1333). It is essential that you visit the site, as well as Ed, regularly (at least weekly) to see any notices posted there by the course coordinator.

Textbooks

The highly recommended (but not prescribed) textbooks for the course are:

  • [LT] Sherris, M. (2010) Principles of Actuarial Science, Cengage Publishing
  • [RS] Lafaye de Micheaux, P., Drouilhet, P., Liquet, B. (2013) The R Software, Springer. Note that this book has been translated into Mandarin and other languages.

Additional, useful references are:

  • Crawley, M. J. (2013) The R Book, Second Edition, Wiley
    [A very comprehensive book, but too big and expensive to carry around.]
  • Heiberger, R. M., Neuwirth, E. (2009) R Through Excel, Springer
    [Explains how to plug R in Excel]
  • Zuur, I., and Meesters, A (2009) A Beginner's Guide to R, Springer.
    [A smaller, shorter reference book]

Digital resources

The following resources will be made available on the course website.

Theory Slides

Slides make up the content of the "theory component" (green) of the course.

Industry articles, video interviews, podcasts

A selection of articles, videos and podcasts all around the theme of "Actuarial Practice" will be made available on Moodle. Those will constitute the main resources for the Actuarial Practice (yellow) component of the course.

R programming slides + videos

Slides covering the "orange" content (R programming) of the course will be available on the Ed Forum. Pre-recorded videos which go through the content of those slides will also be made available. The reason why we provide the R slides on the Ed forum is that the Ed forum can conveniently be used to run R code (without having to install anything).

Formulae & Tables

In traditional exams, the only text student are allowed to bring into the examinations actuarial courses is the text "Formulae and Tables for Actuarial Examinations". All students in the actuarial courses should purchase a copy of this text if they wish to use it in tutorials, mid-session exams and the final examinations. The text is available from the UNSW Bookstore, the UK Institute of Actuaries or from ActEd. Visit the ActEd website. This is not mandatory, but highly recommended (as you will surely use it in many other actuarial courses in the future).

The Actuaries Institute

The Actuaries Institute allows students to become University Subscribers free of charge. Full time undergraduates studying at an Institute accredited university who are members of a university student actuarial society are eligible. Click here to sign up.


6. Course Evaluation & Development

Feedback is regularly sought from students and continual improvements are made based on this feedback. At the end of this course, you will be asked to complete the myExperience survey, which provides a key source of student evaluative feedback. Your input into this quality enhancement process is extremely valuable in assisting us to meet the needs of our students and provide an effective and enriching learning experience. The results of all surveys are carefully considered and do lead to action towards enhancing educational quality.

Each year feedback is sought from students and other stakeholders about the courses offered in the School and continual improvements are made based on this feedback. UNSW's myExperience survey is one of the ways in which student evaluative feedback is gathered. In this course, we will seek your feedback through end of semester myExperience responses and other informal forums.

As a result of student feedback, industry feedback, and school L&T strategic plan, the software R is now fully taught and assessed with a new set of labs. R will be assumed to be mastered by students, and will be used and assessed in each of the future actuarial courses. Note that at the same time, a level 3 course, ACTL3142 Actuarial Data and Analysis, has been introduced in the suite of ACTL courses, with advanced data analytics tools. Guest lecturers are invited.

Feedback from 2016 students indicated that they wanted more resources, and a different assessment structure. We have done so in 2017, and in fact have completely rejigged the course to give more emphasis and resources on practice areas, and the “big picture”. Labs are now at their version 2.0 level. All the digital resources described under Course Resources are new.

Feedback from 2017 and 2018 students indicated that they wanted tutorial exercises that were better aligned with new course materials, more time on the "green" lectures, and to develop some resources for assumed knowledge on probability. We have done all that, plus also reviewed again the R Labs which are know at their version 3.0.

Also new in 2019, the team aspects of the course were removed (including the team major assessment) to reduce assessment load and the size of the course. Course outcomes were adjusted accordingly, and more weight allocated to the R mini assignments (which are also now given 1.5 hours every week rather than 1 hour).

In 2020, following comments that the course was overcharged with content, we have reduced and repackaged the R content from 10 Weeks to 6 Weeks of content. To have a more "authentic" mode of assessment, we have added a R main assignment (this is overall not an additional burden for students, since we also go from 10 to 4 "R online question sets"). We have also reduced the content of the "Actuarial Practice" component of the course, and decided to assess this component through an online discussion forum, rather than in the final exam. This aims at increasing the collaboration and sense of community between students.

In 2021, following comments that the 'Laboratories' did not teach exhaustively the R programming content, we have decided to remove Laboratories and replace them with videos which exhaustively cover the R material. We will also provide plenty of R consultation periods to make sure that the students are not 'left alone' to learn R. In addition, following comments that the 'main assignment' caused stress (especially since it was due in Week 10 while students are extremely busy), we have decided to make the assignment available much earlier (so that students can start it early, or at least get familiar with the questions) and to have it due in Week 9 instead.

In 2022, following comments that the Theory lectures do not contain enough practice questions, we have added some "Exam Style" questions at the end of every set of slides.

7. Course Schedule

Note: for more information on the UNSW academic calendar and key dates including study period, exam, supplementary exam and result release, please visit: https://student.unsw.edu.au/new-calendar-dates
Week Activity Topic Assessment/Other
Week 1: 30 May 2022Lecture

Probability (green)

Tutorial

Probability

Programming Videos

Introduction to R

Week 2: 6 June 2022Lecture

Statistics (green)

Tutorial

Probability + Statistics

Programming Videos

Data structures, mathematical operations, importation and exportation in R

Week 3: 13 June 2022Lecture

No lecture Monday (Public Holiday)

Tuesday Lecture: Financial Mathematics

Tutorial

Statistics

Programming Videos

Control flows and functions in R

Actuarial Practice

Readings & videos to watch (see Moodle)

Week 4: 20 June 2022Lecture

Monday Lecture: Financial Mathematics (green)

Tuesday Lecture: Guest speaker

Tutorial

Financial mathematics

Programming Videos

Data manipulation and statistical analysis

Actuarial Practice

Readings & videos to watch (see Moodle)

Week 5: 27 June 2022Lecture

Risk and Insurance (green)

Tutorial

Revision (in preparation for the Quiz)

Programming Videos

Data visualisation

Online quiz

Probability, Statistics, Financial Mathematics

Week 6: 4 July 2022Flexibility week

Flexibility week: no lecture, no tutorials, no new content!

Week 7: 11 July 2022Lecture

Life Insurance (green)

Tutorial

Risk and Insurance

Programming Videos

Algorithms and Pseudocode

Week 8: 18 July 2022Lecture

Monday Lecture: General Insurance (green)

Tuesday Lecture: General Insurance (green)

Tutorial

Life Insurance

Week 9: 25 July 2022Lecture

Monday Lecture: R revision and/or Guest speaker

Tuesday Lecture: R revision and/or Guest speaker

Tutorial

General Insurance

Main Assignment

Main assignment is due

Week 10: 1 August 2022Lecture

Wrap-up + Revision in preparation for the final exam

Tutorial

Revision

8. Policies and Support

Information about UNSW Business School program learning outcomes, academic integrity, student responsibilities and student support services. For information regarding special consideration, supplementary exams and viewing final exam scripts, please go to the key policies and support page.

Program Learning Outcomes

The Business School places knowledge and capabilities at the core of its curriculum via seven Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs). These PLOs are systematically embedded and developed across the duration of all coursework programs in the Business School.

PLOs embody the knowledge, skills and capabilities that are taught, practised and assessed within each Business School program. They articulate what you should know and be able to do upon successful completion of your degree.

Upon graduation, you should have a high level of specialised business knowledge and capacity for responsible business thinking, underpinned by ethical professional practice. You should be able to harness, manage and communicate business information effectively and work collaboratively with others. You should be an experienced problem-solver and critical thinker, with a global perspective, cultural competence and the potential for innovative leadership.

All UNSW programs and courses are designed to assess the attainment of program and/or course level learning outcomes, as required by the UNSW Assessment Design Procedure. It is important that you become familiar with the Business School PLOs, as they constitute the framework which informs and shapes the components and assessments of the courses within your program of study.

PLO 1: Business knowledge

Students will make informed and effective selection and application of knowledge in a discipline or profession, in the contexts of local and global business.

PLO 2: Problem solving

Students will define and address business problems, and propose effective evidence-based solutions, through the application of rigorous analysis and critical thinking.

PLO 3: Business communication

Students will harness, manage and communicate business information effectively using multiple forms of communication across different channels.

PLO 4: Teamwork

Students will interact and collaborate effectively with others to achieve a common business purpose or fulfil a common business project, and reflect critically on the process and the outcomes.

PLO 5: Responsible business practice

Students will develop and be committed to responsible business thinking and approaches, which are underpinned by ethical professional practice and sustainability considerations.

PLO 6: Global and cultural competence

Students will be aware of business systems in the wider world and actively committed to recognise and respect the cultural norms, beliefs and values of others, and will apply this knowledge to interact, communicate and work effectively in diverse environments.

PLO 7: Leadership development

Students will develop the capacity to take initiative, encourage forward thinking and bring about innovation, while effectively influencing others to achieve desired results.


These PLOs relate to undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs.  For PG Research PLOs, including Master of Pre-Doctoral Business Studies, please refer to the UNSW HDR Learning Outcomes

Business School course outlines provide detailed information for students on how the course learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment/s contribute to the development of Program Learning Outcomes.

UNSW Graduate Capabilities

The Business School PLOs also incorporate UNSW graduate capabilities, a set of generic abilities and skills that all students are expected to achieve by graduation. These capabilities articulate the University’s institutional values, as well as future employer expectations.

UNSW Graduate CapabilitiesBusiness School PLOs
Scholars capable of independent and collaborative enquiry, rigorous in their analysis, critique and reflection, and able to innovate by applying their knowledge and skills to the solution of novel as well as routine problems.
  • PLO 1: Business knowledge
  • PLO 2: Problem solving
  • PLO 3: Business communication
  • PLO 4: Teamwork
  • PLO 7: Leadership development

Entrepreneurial leaders capable of initiating and embracing innovation and change, as well as engaging and enabling others to contribute to change
  • PLO 1: Business knowledge
  • PLO 2: Problem solving
  • PLO 3: Business communication
  • PLO 4: Teamwork
  • PLO 6: Global and cultural competence
  • PLO 7: Leadership development

Professionals capable of ethical, self-directed practice and independent lifelong learning
  • PLO 1: Business knowledge
  • PLO 2: Problem solving
  • PLO 3: Business communication
  • PLO 5: Responsible business practice

Global citizens who are culturally adept and capable of respecting diversity and acting in a socially just and responsible way.
  • PLO 1: Business knowledge
  • PLO 2: Problem solving
  • PLO 3: Business communication
  • PLO 4: Teamwork
  • PLO 5: Responsible business practice
  • PLO 6: Global and cultural competence

While our programs are designed to provide coverage of all PLOs and graduate capabilities, they also provide you with a great deal of choice and flexibility.  The Business School strongly advises you to choose a range of courses that assist your development against the seven PLOs and four graduate capabilities, and to keep a record of your achievements as part of your portfolio. You can use a portfolio as evidence in employment applications as well as a reference for work or further study. For support with selecting your courses contact the UNSW Business School Student Services team.





Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Academic Integrity is honest and responsible scholarship. This form of ethical scholarship is highly valued at UNSW. Terms like Academic Integrity, misconduct, referencing, conventions, plagiarism, academic practices, citations and evidence based learning are all considered basic concepts that successful university students understand. Learning how to communicate original ideas, refer sources, work independently, and report results accurately and honestly are skills that you will be able to carry beyond your studies.

The definition of academic misconduct is broad. It covers practices such as cheating, copying and using another person’s work without appropriate acknowledgement. Incidents of academic misconduct may have serious consequences for students.

Plagiarism

UNSW regards plagiarism as a form of academic misconduct. UNSW has very strict rules regarding plagiarism. Plagiarism at UNSW is using the words or ideas of others and passing them off as your own. All Schools in the Business School have a Student Ethics Officer who will investigate incidents of plagiarism and may result in a student’s name being placed on the Plagiarism and Student Misconduct Registers.

Below are examples of plagiarism including self-plagiarism:

Copying: Using the same or very similar words to the original text or idea without acknowledging the source or using quotation marks. This includes copying materials, ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document, presentation, composition, artwork, design, drawing, circuitry, computer program or software, website, internet, other electronic resource, or another person's assignment, without appropriate acknowledgement of authorship.

Inappropriate Paraphrasing: Changing a few words and phrases while mostly retaining the original structure and/or progression of ideas of the original, and information without acknowledgement. This also applies in presentations where someone paraphrases another’s ideas or words without credit and to piecing together quotes and paraphrases into a new whole, without appropriate referencing.

Collusion: Presenting work as independent work when it has been produced in whole or part in collusion with other people. Collusion includes:

  • Students providing their work to another student before the due date, or for the purpose of them plagiarising at any time
  • Paying another person to perform an academic task and passing it off as your own
  • Stealing or acquiring another person’s academic work and copying it
  • Offering to complete another person’s work or seeking payment for completing academic work

Collusion should not be confused with academic collaboration (i.e., shared contribution towards a group task).

Inappropriate Citation: Citing sources which have not been read, without acknowledging the 'secondary' source from which knowledge of them has been obtained.

Self-Plagiarism: ‘Self-plagiarism’ occurs where an author republishes their own previously written work and presents it as new findings without referencing the earlier work, either in its entirety or partially. Self-plagiarism is also referred to as 'recycling', 'duplication', or 'multiple submissions of research findings' without disclosure. In the student context, self-plagiarism includes re-using parts of, or all of, a body of work that has already been submitted for assessment without proper citation.

To see if you understand plagiarism, do this short quiz: https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism-quiz

Cheating

The University also regards cheating as a form of academic misconduct. Cheating is knowingly submitting the work of others as their own and includes contract cheating (work produced by an external agent or third party that is submitted under the pretences of being a student’s original piece of work). Cheating is not acceptable at UNSW.

If you need to revise or clarify any terms associated with academic integrity you should explore the 'Working with Academic Integrity' self-paced lessons available at: https://student.unsw.edu.au/aim.

For UNSW policies, penalties, and information to help you avoid plagiarism see: https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism as well as the guidelines in the online ELISE tutorials for all new UNSW students: http://subjectguides.library.unsw.edu.au/elise. For information on student conduct see: https://student.unsw.edu.au/conduct.

For information on how to acknowledge your sources and reference correctly, see: https://student.unsw.edu.au/referencing. If you are unsure what referencing style to use in this course, you should ask the lecturer in charge.



Student Responsibilities and Conduct

​Students are expected to be familiar with and adhere to university policies in relation to class attendance and general conduct and behaviour, including maintaining a safe, respectful environment; and to understand their obligations in relation to workload, assessment and keeping informed.

Information and policies on these topics can be found on the 'Managing your Program' website.

Workload

It is expected that you will spend at least ten to twelve hours per week studying for a course except for Summer Term courses which have a minimum weekly workload of twenty to twenty four hours. This time should be made up of reading, research, working on exercises and problems, online activities and attending classes. In periods where you need to complete assignments or prepare for examinations, the workload may be greater. Over-commitment has been a cause of failure for many students. You should take the required workload into account when planning how to balance study with employment and other activities.

We strongly encourage you to connect with your Moodle course websites in the first week of semester. Local and international research indicates that students who engage early and often with their course website are more likely to pass their course.

View more information on expected workload

Attendance and Engagement

Your regular attendance and active engagement in all scheduled classes and online learning activities is expected in this course. Failure to attend / engage in assessment tasks that are integrated into learning activities (e.g. class discussion, presentations) will be reflected in the marks for these assessable activities. The Business School may refuse final assessment to those students who attend less than 80% of scheduled classes where attendance and participation is required as part of the learning process (e.g. tutorials, flipped classroom sessions, seminars, labs, etc.). If you are not able to regularly attend classes, you should consult the relevant Course Authority.

View more information on attendance

General Conduct and Behaviour

You are expected to conduct yourself with consideration and respect for the needs of your fellow students and teaching staff. Conduct which unduly disrupts or interferes with a class, such as ringing or talking on mobile phones, is not acceptable and students may be asked to leave the class.

View more information on student conduct

Health and Safety

UNSW Policy requires each person to work safely and responsibly, in order to avoid personal injury and to protect the safety of others.

View more information on Health and Safety

Keeping Informed

You should take note of all announcements made in lectures, tutorials or on the course web site. From time to time, the University will send important announcements to your university e-mail address without providing you with a paper copy. You will be deemed to have received this information. It is also your responsibility to keep the University informed of all changes to your contact details.




Student Support and Resources

The University and the Business School provide a wide range of support services and resources for students, including:

Business School Learning Support Tools
Business School provides support a wide range of free resources and services to help students in-class and out-of-class, as well as online. These include:

  • Academic Communication Essentials – A range of academic communication workshops, modules and resources to assist you in developing your academic communication skills.
  • Learning consultations – Meet learning consultants who have expertise in business studies, literacy, numeracy and statistics, writing, referencing, and researching at university level.
  • PASS classes – Study sessions facilitated by students who have previously and successfully completed the course.
  • Educational Resource Access Scheme – To support the inclusion and success of students from equity groups enrolled at UNSW Sydney in first year undergraduate Business programs.

The Nucleus - Business School Student Services team
The Nucleus Student Services team provides advice and direction on all aspects of enrolment and graduation. Level 2, Main Library, Kensington 02 8936 7005 / https://nucleus.unsw.edu.au/en/contact-us

Business School Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
The Business School Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee strives to ensure that every student is empowered to have equal access to education. The Business School provides a vibrant, safe, and equitable environment for education, research, and engagement that embraces diversity and treats all people with dignity and respect. BUSEDI@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Academic Skills
Resources and support – including workshops, individual consultations and a range of online resources – to help you develop and refine your academic skills. See their website for details.
academicskills@unsw.edu.au

Student Support Advisors
Student Support Advisors work with all students to promote the development of skills needed to succeed at university, whilst also providing personal support throughout the process.
John Goodsell Building, Ground Floor.
advisors@unsw.edu.au
02 9385 4734

International Student Support
The International Student Experience Unit (ISEU) is the first point of contact for international students. ISEU staff are always here to help with personalised advice and information about all aspects of university life and life in Australia.
Advisors can support you with your student visa, health and wellbeing, making friends, accommodation and academic performance.
International.student@unsw.edu.au
02 9385 4734

Equitable Learning Services
Equitable Learning Services (formerly Disability Support Services) is a free and confidential service that provides practical support to ensure that your health condition doesn't adversely affect your studies. Register with the service to receive educational adjustments.
Ground Floor, John Goodsell Building.
els@unsw.edu.au
02 9385 4734

UNSW Counselling and Psychological Services
Provides support and services if you need help with your personal life, getting your academic life back on track or just want to know how to stay safe, including free, confidential counselling.
Level 2, East Wing, Quadrangle Building.
counselling@unsw.edu.au
02 9385 5418

Library services and facilities for students
The UNSW Library offers a range of collections, services and facilities both on-campus and online.
Main Library, F21.
02 9065 9444

Moodle eLearning Support
Moodle is the University’s learning management system. You should ensure that you log into Moodle regularly.
externalteltsupport@unsw.edu.au
02 9385 3331

UNSW IT
UNSW IT provides support and services for students such as password access, email services, wireless services and technical support.
UNSW Library Annexe (Ground floor).
02 9385 1333



Support for Studying Online

The Business School and UNSW provide a wide range of tools, support and advice to help students achieve their online learning goals. 

The UNSW Guide to Online Study page provides guidance for students on how to make the most of online study.

We recognise that completing quizzes and exams online can be challenging for a number of reasons, including the possibility of technical glitches or lack of reliable internet. We recommend you review the Online Exam Preparation Checklist of things to prepare when sitting an online exam.

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