Program Overview

Foundation Studies prepares you for a successful transition to degree-level study, providing a pathway to the first year of study of a bachelor’s degree at Murdoch University.

This course is suited to you if you:

• Need an entrance qualification for Murdoch University
• Want to accelerate your university preparation after Year 11, or equivalent
• Want to change your degree stream after Year 11, or equivalent

Course Structure
For Foundation Studies you will complete eight units over two study periods, studying a combination of core and elective units. The units you will undertake will be determined by your chosen degree. All students must complete the two English units and at least one unit from each Discipline Group.

Each unit of study builds concepts from an introductory level through to university entrance level. The units are designed to develop your learning techniques as well as bridging gaps in your unit knowledge.

• English
  • Essential Australian Studies
  • Introduction to Academic Communication
• Mathematics
  • Introductory Mathematics
  • Mathematics for Science
• Science and Technology
  • Information Technology for Academic Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
• The Arts
  • Introduction to Media
  • Media Production
• Business and Legal Studies
  • Accounting
  • Management
  • Economics

Leading to: Bachelor of Arts
Develop the kind of communication, creative-thinking and interpersonal skills that will make you highly employable across a range of careers.

You could be a tourist in your own city to get a new perspective. You could study community development or international aid – or learn to put your creative thinking to work for government agencies, corporations or organisations anywhere in the world.

The Bachelor of Arts embraces new directions in teaching and practice-based learning to train the thinkers and researchers of the 21st century. Many of the biggest and most vital issues we face today are about human society and the human condition. How can we understand who we are, how we want to live, or what kind of society we want to create, without the insights, knowledge and skills provided by the humanities?

Major: English and Creative Writing
The English and Creative Writing major rests on the idea of the importance of literature as a living cultural practice.

You will focus on the global significance of text as a literary form, broadly understood to include all its variants - from the short story, to the sonnet, from the blog to the bildungsroman, and from pastoral to performance poetry.

Understanding the intimate relationship between the literary and the creative, you’ll get to study English literature while developing knowledge and skill in critical and creative reflection and writing practice. Therefore you will be required to read, view, listen and write critically, professionally and creatively in response to a wide range of written, visual and other texts.

3 reasons to study English and Creative Writing at Murdoch

• Work with real organisations on real projects, and complete internships through our work integrated learning program. Some of our students have worked with the Blue Room, WA Fringe Festival and the Heath Ledger Theatre.
• Number 1 in WA for teaching quality for communications by the Good Universities Guide 2024.
• Showcase your creative work through local, national or even global competitions. Our students have had their writing published and won film awards that have landed them jobs with global film and music producers.

What you’ll learn
Build the knowledge and skills you need to meet your career or study goals. In this course you will:

• Build an extensive knowledge of a broad range of texts – literary, public, performative – from the Renaissance to the present day.
• Work to identify how texts function aesthetically, socially and politically in everyday life and as culturally-specific forms of creative and professional writing, literature and performance.
• Develop skills in professional writing and editing to create well-constructed, clear and persuasive texts and oral communications in a variety of genres, modes and styles.