Course details

Summary

The Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree provides you with an opportunity to gain practical, relevant work experience as part of your undergraduate degree. This will help you to step into the professional world in your chosen career and successfully integrates theoretical learning with hands-on experience.

The BSc(Tech) is a flexible degree, designed to provide you with the necessary practical experience to stand out among other science graduates.

It is internationally recognised, meaning you can find work anywhere in the world. A high percentage of graduates actively seeking employment find it within six months of graduating.

This degree includes 10 weeks of relevant work experience. The Cooperative Education Unit assists in matching students with placement opportunities, and offering reflective learning and skill development after the placements are completed. Students are regularly offered permanent roles following their placements.

Heading into the workplace with a BSc(Tech) from Waikato means you'll have spent the summer between your second and third years gaining relevant work experience and, in most cases, being paid for your efforts.

To prepare you for the workplace and gain an understanding of how the business world works, the BSc(Tech) includes a workplace preparation paper prior to starting the work placement in addition to a wide variety of science papers.

The first year of the degree is similar to the BSc, enabling you to explore a range of scientific disciplines, broaden your opportunities and lay a foundation for you to build on, even if you haven't studied science before.

From second year your major will form the core of your degree and give you a much deeper understanding of a particular discipline.

Our science minors will give you a taste of a complimentary discipline to broaden your knowledge and demonstrate the breadth of your scientific skills.

Environmental Sciences

The pressure on our environment is increasing as the human population grows. Environmental Sciences provide a basis for understanding environmental problems, and finding solutions to them.

Environmental Sciences is the interdisciplinary study of the environment and how we manage it. It draws on all the sciences, particularly ecology and earth sciences.

There is growing recognition, at local and global levels, of the need to manage our soil, ecological, marine, mineral and energy resources in a sustainable manner. As an environmental scientist or technician, you'll have the chance to become directly involved in the effective management of these precious resources.

If you decide to major in Environmental Sciences at the University of Waikato, you'll take a range of papers from across the biological, chemical and Earth sciences, giving you a broad base on which to build your career.

Career opportunities

• Agricultural Adviser
• Biosecurity Officer
• Coastal Resource Manager
• Consent Planner
• Environmental Analyst
• Environmental Scientist
• Hydrologist
• Oceanographer
• Water Resource Manager

Entry criteria

If you have achieved University Entrance through NCEA you will be accepted into this degree.

Discretionary Entrance

Applicants will normally be granted Discretionary Entrance if they have gained a total of at least 80 credits in NCEA at Level 2 in four subjects equivalent to the approved subjects for University Entrance in NCEA at Level 3, with a minimum grade of Merit in at least half of the achievement standards for each subject. Applicants must also have satisfied the numeracy and literacy requirements of University Entrance.

Special Admission

Applicants will be considered on a case by case basis. Applicants 20 years old and over by the beginning of their programme of study will be accepted, except those that are clearly insufficiently prepared for academic study. Preference may be given to applicants who have successfully completed appropriate Waikato Pathways College bridging programmes.

Admission at entrance level or with credit from previous study

Applicants will be considered on a case by case basis bearing in mind patterns of admission which have applied in previous years and the standing of the qualification in New Zealand.

English language requirements:

IELTS (Academic) - 6.0 overall (no band less than 6.0); iBT (internet based) TOEFL - 79-80 with a score of 20 in writing; Pearson PTE Academic - 57 with no less than 57 for each communicative skill; Waikato Pathways - Successful completion of Level 7 with a B grade average in the Certificate of Attainment in Academic English (CAAE) program.