Extension studies

The Extension Studies Program provides a taste of university life for high-achieving South Australian senior secondary school students while also giving the opportunity to complement and extend their SACE studies.

It will suit students who have the maturity to adjust to a university learning environment. University study demands more independent learning through a student’s own reading, research, online work, and writing.

Participation requires considerable commitment and we recommend students seek guidance from their support network beforehand to make sure it will be manageable.

Students can enrol in a maximum of one university topic per semester while completing Year 12. View the available topics below.

Applications for 2024 have now closed. Applications for 2025 will open in November.

Benefits of the Extension Studies program

The Extension Studies Program offers high-achieving senior secondary students the opportunity to:

Extend on learning in school by exploring subjects in greater depth
Focus on passions by studying subjects of interest
Learn university level study methods that will also support Year 12 studies
Experience university life, becoming familiar with the campus, online systems and support services which will contribute to a smooth transition to university
Access university facilities and services such as the library, laboratories and Flinders Learning Online (FLO)
Gain recognition towards a related Flinders University degree upon successful completion of a topic (subject to degree structure)
Achieve a distinctive edge, enhancing future career opportunities
Become eligible for guaranteed entry to a number of degrees at Flinders (subject to meeting grade bands, SACE completion and any additional entry requirements).

Fees and scholarships

Flinders University will offer half fee scholarships to support students to undertake Extension Studies topics. This will require the student’s school or parents/caregivers to fund half of the tuition fee for each topic. The University will cover the Student Services and Amenities Fee.

Domestic students undertaking Extension Studies topics will be charged at the Non-Award rate. As this rate varies by topic, please refer to the full list of topics available for confirmation.

International students undertaking Extension Studies topics will be charged the minimum indicative course fee for fee-paying overseas students. As these rates vary by topic, please contact us by email at extension.studies@flinders.edu.au for confirmation.

How to apply

1. Confirm eligibility

The Extension Studies Program is open to Year 12 students from all schools in South Australia. The content and workload has been designed to suit high-achieving students.

2. Research and choose the desired area of study

There are many topics available as part of the program and students may choose to study a maximum of one topic per semester. When researching topics, it’s also important to consider the class commitments and the delivery location to ensure these will fit with your school timetable.

Places at our City Campus are limited, and a quota system will be in place for some topics delivered at this location.

See the full list of topics available below, some key points:

Any topics with * after the topic name are still awaiting full assessment from the SACE Board
Campus locations – BP (Bedford Park), CC (City Campus), TN (Tonsley).

3. Obtain school and parent/guardian permission

As part of the application process students will be required to obtain permission from both their school and their parent/guardian.

4. Submit an application

Applications for 2025 will open in mid-November, please check back at that time for full details on how to submit your application.

5. Key dates for study in 2024

Applications will open in mid November 2024
Applications will close on 17 February 2025
Semester one will commence on 3 March 2025

Studying at Flinders

Admission and orientation

Once accepted onto the program, all students will be provided with simple instructions to complete their enrolment and register in their preferred classes.

Prior to semester one commencing, an orientation event will be held at Bedford Park campus for Extension Studies students and their parents/caregivers (school staff are also welcome to attend). This is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the expectations, requirements and supports available to help students be successful on the program and ensure they’re ready to being their Extension Studies experience.

Assessment

Extension Studies students will be assessed the same as university students. At the end of each semester we will post an official transcript of the student’s results to their school. It is the school’s responsibility to forward these results to the SACE Board. The University grading system is High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, Pass, Fail.

Withdrawal from topic

If students choose to withdraw from a topic after they are enrolled it is essential that we are notified as soon as possible by completed the Topic Withdrawal Form.

Topics available to study

Note

Any topics with * after the topic name are still awaiting full assessment from the SACE Board
Campus locations – BP (Bedford Park), CC (City Campus), TN (Tonsley)

Topic Code	Topic Name	Subject Area	Semester	Campus	Online
AGES1002	Attitudes, Language and Communication Influencing the Experience of Ageing	Ageing Studies	NS1	-	Yes
AGES1004	Mental Health and Psychological Well-being in Later Life	Ageing Studies	NS1, NS2	-	Yes
AGES1010	The Experience of Dementia: People Perspectives	Ageing Studies	NS2	-	Yes
AGES1012	Quality Care and Support of People with Dementia	Ageing Studies	NS1	-	Yes
ARCH1001	Discovering Archaeology	Archaeology	S1	BP	-
ARCH1002	From the Palaeolithic to Pompeii: An Exploration of World Archaeology	Archaeology	S2	BP	-
ARCH1006	Sex, Death and Ritual in the Ancient World	Archaeology	S1	BP	-
BIOL1101	Evolution of Biological Diversity	Biology	S2	BP	-
BIOL1102	Molecular Basis of Life	Biology	S1	BP	-
BIOL1711	Introduction to Animal Behaviour	Biology	S2	BP	-
BUSN1001	Recording Business Transactions	Business	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1002	Exploring Accounting Processes	Business	S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1009	Interpreting Business Data	Business	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1011	Finance and Accounting for Leaders	Business	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1012	Managing in Modern Organisations	Business	S1	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1013	Economics for Business	Business	S1	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1019	Law for Business	Business	S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1021	Organisational Behaviour	Business	S2	BP, CC	Yes
BUSN1022	Marketing Principles in the Digital Era	Business	S1	BP, CC	Yes
COMP1002	Fundamentals of Computational Intelligence	Computer Science	S1	BP, CC	Yes
COMP1102	Computer Programming 1	Computer Science	S1, S2	BP (S1 Only), CC (S1 & S2)	Yes (S2 Only)
COMP1701	Game Design	Computer Science	S1	CC, TN	-
CRIM1101	Introducing Crime and Criminology	Criminal Justice	S1	BP, CC	Yes
CRIM1102	Criminal Justice System	Criminal Justice	S2	BP, CC	Yes
CRWR1001	Ideas: Imitation and Originality *	Creative Writing	S1	BP, CC	-
CRWR1002	Story: Who, What, When, Where *	Creative Writing	S2	BP, CC	-
DSRS1201	Perspectives on Disability	Disability and Rehabilitation Studies	S1	BP, CC	Yes
DSRS1202	Disability Across the Life Course	Disability and Rehabilitation Studies	S2	BP, CC	Yes
DSRS1215	Introduction to Communication Diversity and Support Needs	Disability and Rehabilitation Studies	S2	BP, CC	Yes
EASC1101	Earth and Environmental Sciences	Earth Sciences	S1	BP	-
EASC1102	Marine Sciences	Earth Sciences	S2	BP	-
ENGL1101	The Art of Storytelling	English	S1	BP, CC	Yes
ENGR1201	Electronics	Engineering	S2	CC, TN	-
ENGR1711	Engineering Design	Engineering	S1	CC, TN	-
FREN2201	Intermediate French Part 1	Languages	S1	BP	-
FREN2202	Intermediate French Part 2	Languages	S2	BP	-
GEOG1001	Environment and Society	Geography	S1	BP	-
GEOG1002	Human Geography: Geographies of Oppression	Geography	S2	BP	-
GOVT1001	Exploring Fundamentals of Public Policy	Government & Politics	S2	BP, CC	-
GOVT1003	Ideas in Politics	Government & Politics	S2	BP, CC	-
GOVT1004	Foundations in Political Systems and Institutions	Government & Politics	S1	BP, CC	-
GOVT1005	Foundations in Political Economy	Government & Politics	S2	BP, CC	-
HIST1703	Turning Points in World History	History	S1	BP	Yes
HIST1704	History's Killing Fields: From Medieval to Modern	History	S2	BP	Yes
HIST1803	'The Lucky Country'? A Brief History of Australia	History	S2	BP	Yes
HLPE1540	Foundation Studies in Health Education	Health & Physical Education	S1	BP	-
HLPE1550	Introduction to Sport and Active Recreation	Health & Physical Education	S1	BP, CC	-
HLPE1552	Human Functional Anatomy in Sport and Exercise	Health & Physical Education	S1	-	Yes
HLPE1554	Introduction to Coaching Pedagogy and Practices	Health & Physical Education	S2	BP, CC	-
HLTH1004	Human Bioscience	Health Sciences	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
HLTH1011	Introduction to Digital Health	Health Sciences	S2	BP, CC	Yes
HLTH1304	Interpersonal and Interprofessional Communication	Health Sciences	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
HLTH1306	Understanding Health, Illness, and Health and Social Care in Australia	Health Sciences	S1, S2	BP (S1 & S2), CC (S2 only)	Yes
INDG1000	Indigenous Studies: An Introduction	Indigenous Studies	S2	BP, CC	Yes
INDG1001	Race and Representation: Indigenous Identities	Indigenous Studies	S1	BP, CC	Yes
INDO1201	Introductory Indonesian, Part 1	Languages	S1	CC	-
INDO1202	Introductory Indonesian Part 2	Languages	S2	CC	-
INDO2201	Intermediate Indonesian Part 1	Languages	S1	CC	-
INDO2202	Intermediate Indonesian Part 2	Languages	S2	CC	-
INNO1001	Innovative and Creative Thinking: Recognising Opportunities	Innovation & Enterprise	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
INTR1006	International Relations: An Introduction	International Relations & Politics	S1	BP, CC	-
ITAL2201	Intermediate Italian Part 1	Languages	S1	CC	-
ITAL2202	Intermediate Italian Part 2	Languages	S2	CC	-
LLAW1312	Essential Legal Skills	Law	S1, S2	BP, CC	-
LLAW1321	Indigenous Peoples, Colonialism, and Law	Law	S2	BP, CC	-
MATH1121	Mathematics 1A	Mathematics	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
MATH1122	Mathematics 1B	Mathematics	S1, S2	BP (S1 & S2), CC (S2 only)	Yes
MDSC1102	Skills for Medical Scientists 1	Medicine	S1	BP	-
MGRE2201	Intermediate Modern Greek Part 1	Languages	S1	BP	Yes
MGRE2202	Intermediate Modern Greek Part 2	Languages	S2	BP	Yes
MMED1005	How Your Body Works: Human Physiology and Structure	Medicine	S1, S2	BP	Yes (S2 Only)
MMED1007	Histology: The Building Blocks of the Human Body	Medicine	S2	BP	Yes
NUTD1106	Nutrition, Physical Activity and Health	Nutrition & Dietetics	S2	-	Yes
PHIL1010	Mind and World	Philosophy	S1	BP	-
PHIL1030	Ethics and Power	Philosophy	S2	BP	-
PHIL1060	Critical Thinking	Philosophy	S1, S2	BP	Yes
PHYS1101	Physics 1A	Physics	S1	BP, CC	-
PHYS1102	Physics 1B	Physics	S2	BP	-
PHYS1702	Physics for Health Sciences	Physics	S2	BP	-
POLI1003	Understanding Democracy in Australia	Politics	S1	BP, CC	Yes
PSYC1101	Psychology 1A	Psychology	SU, S1	BP, CC	Yes
PSYC1102	Psychology 1B	Psychology	S2	BP, CC	Yes
SCME1000	Film Form and Analysis	Screen & Media	S1	BP, CC	Yes
SCME1001	Media and Society	Screen & Media	S2	BP, CC	Yes
SOCI1001	Issues in Sociology	Sociology	S2	BP	Yes
SOCI1010	Sociology of Everyday Life	Sociology	S1	BP, CC	Yes
SPAN1201	Introductory Spanish Part 1	Languages	S1	BP	-
SPAN1202	Introductory Spanish Part 2	Languages	S2	BP	-
SPAN2201	Intermediate Spanish Part 1	Languages	S1	BP	-
SPAN2202	Intermediate Spanish Part 2	Languages	S2	BP	-
STAT1121	Data Science	Statistics	S1	BP, CC	Yes
STAT1122	Biostatistics	Statistics	S2	BP	-
TOUR1101	Introduction to Tourism Studies	Tourism	S1	BP, CC	-
TOUR1103	Introduction to Events	Tourism	S2	BP, CC	-
VEED1003	Essential Multimedia	Visual Effects & Entertainment Design	S1, S2	BP, CC	Yes
VISA1401	Drawing and Design Fundamentals	Visual Arts	S1	BP	-
VISA1402	Painting	Visual Arts	S2	BP	-
WMST1001	Sex, Gender and Identities in Australia	Women’s Studies	S1	BP	Yes
WMST1002	Gender, Power and Change: Introducing Feminist Debates	Women’s Studies	S2	BP	Yes

Credit and your ATAR

Students successfully completing topic(s) will gain credit towards their SACE and towards a future university degree (if the degree structure permits).

For the purpose of calculating an ATAR, the SACE Board has determined that university grades will be converted in the following way:

High Distinction = 20
Distinction = 19.8
Credit = 18
Pass = 15.8

These are the total scores (towards your ATAR) that are available for completing two topics, for example:

Topic One = High Distinction = 10 points
Topic Two = Credit = 9 points
Combined score towards ATAR = 19 points

Students and schools should be aware that not all University topics are approved by the SACE Board of SA as recognised courses towards the SACE, or approved by the Higher and Further Education Taskforce as recognised studies towards calculation of the ATAR. However, all the topics listed are pre-approved for recognition. Please note that some topics may have precluded combinations with certain SACE subjects, this can be confirmed by contacting the SACE Board.

Extension Studies topics will need to be completed in the same year (or earlier) that SATAC calculates the ATAR for the first time. It is not possible for the ATAR to be recalculated to include Extension Studies results done in later years.

Further information