The unit catalogue lists all the units by Department/School that is available and running the academic year, as indicated on SITS (the central student record system).
Each programme contains a proportion of core or mandatory units plus a choice of optional units. The combination of the mandatory and the optional units should allow students to choose subjects to suit their interests. There are constraints on the choice of optional units and students are advised to consult their academic advisers before selecting.Normally, Departments are asked to initially start considering their available units for the next academic year around March with the aim being that the provisional unit catalogue is made available on the web around Easter time. The catalogue loses its ‘provisional’ status at the end of the academic year.
Departments will be able to update its unit selection and information for the next academic year via the unit catalogue, which allows departments to edit its unit information from March - July. Guidance on using the system to update unit information is available.
Staff in Departments/Schools should email unitprog-setup@bris.ac.uk with any questions about updating units and the catalogue.
Units are listed by level under the department that offers them. Departments are in alphabetical order. The format of the information for each unit is as follows:
Information for Study Abroad students - A full year's work is 120 credit points. There is no access to units in clinical departments. Please consult the Study Abroad Office for further information about units available.
Terminology
The following terminology is used to describe the University's modular structure for undergraduate programmes:
Programme - A specified structure of study which leads to a degree, certificate or diploma. The name of the programme indicates the main subject or subjects of study.
Unit - Units are the building blocks of programmes and are either mandatory or optional. Each unit must be capable of being separately assessed. Each curriculum year of a programme will be built up from one or more units.
Element - A self-contained body of teaching (for instance, groups of lectures, tutorials, examples classes or laboratory studies) on a particular topic. Each unit consists of one or more elements. Elements may be either mandatory or optional within units.
Definitions of unit levels (indicated by the first number of the unit code) are given in the Undergraduate Prospectus. Most of the University’s undergraduate programmes, except for those in the Faculty of Medicine, are modular but structured and students are advised to consult academic staff on option choices.
The University of Bristol has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information in its catalogues is accurate. Not every unit listed will be available in any one year. Optional units may have to be withdrawn if there is insufficient student demand.