What are pre-approved units?

Pre-approved units are undergraduate subjects that don’t require prerequisites or extra faculty approval. That means your application gets processed faster, giving you more time to focus on your Aussie adventure.

Whether you’re joining us for a trimester or a full year, these units help you build a flexible study plan that fits your interests and keeps you on track with your degree. You can mix and match units across trimesters and faculties, or explore our streamlined study packages, which are groups of pre-approved units designed to make planning even easier.

A group of study abroad and exchange students in Torquay, Australia.

How pre-approved units work

If you’ve completed Year 12 (or equivalent) and meet Deakin’s entry and English language requirements, you’re eligible to enrol in pre-approved units. These units are designed for incoming study abroad and exchange students and give you the flexibility to shape your study experience without extra paperwork. Want to take a unit that isn’t on the pre-approved list? No worries. We’ll send it for faculty approval as part of your application.

Build your study adventure with confidence

Ready to design your perfect study experience? Explore our pre-approved units below, organised by trimester and faculty, to help you easily find flexible options that fit your schedule and study goals.

Deakin runs on a trimester system with three study periods each year. Trimester 1 (Feb to Jun) and Trimester 2 (July to Oct) run like traditional semesters, while Trimester 3 (Nov to Feb) is an optional semester that may work for you during our summer.

Keep in mind that unit availability and your eligibility will be confirmed when you enrol. Each unit listing links to the Deakin Handbook, where you can find up-to-date details on study mode (on campus or online), campus location, credit points, availability and more, helping you pick units that suit you best.

Trimester 3 2026

Unit codeUnit name
SIT103Database Fundamentals
SLE103Ecology and the Environment (Online)
SLE111Cells and Genes (Co-requisite SLE010, worth zero credit points; Online)
SLE123Physics for the Life Sciences
SRE170Construction Finance (Online)
SRM181Project Management 1

Trimester 1 2027

Unit code Unit name
ACA102 Creativity: Thinking Through Doing
ACC100 Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: Communication in Everyday Life
ACD101 Introduction to Contemporary Dance Practice A
ACF104 Screening History
ACF109 Television Studio Production
ACF213 Contemporary Asian Cinema: Texts, Contexts and Experiences
ACF304 Celebrity Industries
ACI102 Digital Photography
ACI203 Darkroom Practices
ACP109 Improvisation for Theatre
ACR101 Introducing Crime and Criminology
ACV115 Drawing and the Body in Visual Arts
ACV213 Modelling and the Visual Arts
ADA107 Principles of Animation
ADD101 Design and Creative Thinking
ADD105 Design Fundamentals
ADD208 Experimental Publication Design
ADT202 Web and Interface Design
ADT203 Games and Interactive Design
AGS101 Sex and Gender: Ideas that Changed the World
AIB151 Practical Arabic: An Introduction to the Language and Its Sounds (Online)
AIC181 Chinese 1A: An Introduction to the Language and Culture (Online)
AIE258 Critical Issues in Middle East Politics
AIF146 Our Northern Neighbour: Understanding Indonesia (Online)
AIH107 Conquering Modernity: Global History, 1840-1940
AIH238 Australia in the Age of Total War 1914-1945
AIH276 African American History From Slavery to Black Lives Matter
AIH305 Sex, Race, Gender: Empires, 1750-1950
AIP107 Introduction to Politics: Democracy, Power, Resistance and Change
AIP208 Government and Politics of the United States
AIP230 Policy and How It Shapes Us
AIR101 World in Crisis
AIR200 Global Capitalism and Power
AIR247 Activists in World Politics
AIR350 Australia and the Indo-Pacific: Identity, Interests, and Order
AIS101 Intercultural Communication
AIX160 Introduction to University Study
ALA101 Advertising Principles and Practises
ALJ111 Introduction to Journalism
ALJ221 Video Journalism
ALJ222 From the Fourth Estate to Fake News
ALL101 The Stories We Tell: Inventing Selves and Others (Quotas apply)
ALL153 Literature for Children and Young Adults
ALL202 Writing Modern Worlds
ALL228 The Golden Age: Child, Nature, Empire
ALL326 Gender, Sexuality and Texts for Young People
ALL375 Shakespeare Today: Sex, Race and Politics
ALM101 Making Social Media
ALM215 Global Media
ALM305 Media Ecologies (Must be enrolled in an Arts based degree)
ALR103 Introduction to Public Relations
ALR210 Media Relations Strategy
ALR214 Lobbying and Advocacy
ALS100 Hola!: Welcome to the Hispanic World, its Language and Cultures (Online)
ALW101 Writer's Toolkit: Craft and Creativity (Must be enrolled in an Arts based degree)
ASC101 Introduction to Sociology: the Sociological Imagination
ASC206 Sociology of Health
ASC210 Youth Culture and Identity
ASC300 Gender, Media and Society
ASP108 Critical Thinking
ASP211 Freedom and Power: Existentialism and Beyond
ASP214 Justice and Equality: Liberalism to Decolonisation
ASR300 Freedoms, Harms and Religions
ASS101 Peoples of the World
ASS203 Being Human (With the Nonhuman)
ASS205 Who Gets What: Capitalism, Colonialism and Global Justice
ASS233 Myth and Ritual
ASS329 Anthropology of Crime and Violence
AST250 A History of Australian Football, 1858-2020
EDU101 Education, Knowledge and Society
AWL100 Your Future Direction (It is highly recommended that students complete 3 credit points of study, prior to enrolling in this unit)
EDU301 Culture, Diversity and Participation in Education
EDU304 Digital Youth
IND101 Introduction to Aboriginal Studies
IND102 Aboriginal Australian Stories and Songlines (Online)
EAD112 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Using Analysis to Develop Solutions
Unit code Unit name
SEB101 Engineering Physics (This unit assumes either prior or concurrent knowledge of either VCE Mathematical Methods (or equivalent) or SIT190
SEJ104 Engineering in Society (co-requisite STP010)
SET111 Sustainable Design
SIT102 Introduction to Programming
SIT103 Database Fundamentals
SIT112 Introduction to Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
SIT122 Robotics Studio
SIT151 Game Fundamentals
SIT182 Real World Practices for Cyber Security
SIT183 Interactive Application Design for Virtual and Augmented Reality
SIT191 Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis
SIT192 Discrete Mathematics (Students who have not completed VCE Maths Methods 3 & 4 (or equivalent) should consider SIT190 prior to SIT192)
SLE101 Environmental Techniques and Monitoring (co-requisites SLE010, worth zero credit points)
SLE103 Ecology and the Environment
SLE107 Marine Environments (co-requisites SLE010 and STP010, worth zero credit points)
SLE111 Cells and Genes (co-requisite SLE010, worth zero credit points)
SLE115 Essential Skills in Science (Online, co-requisite STP010, worth zero credit points)
SLE133 Chemistry in Our World (co-requisite SLE010, worth zero credit points)
SLE151 Biodiversity: A Global Perspective (co-requisite SLE010, worth zero credit points)
SLE215 Ecotourism and Environmental Interpretation (Online)
SRA143 Art and Society
SRC163 Architecture Communication 01: Drawing
SRD163 Architecture Design Studio 01: Thoughtscapes
SRD166 Architecture Design Studio 01: Thoughtscapes (2 credit points)
SRE170 Construction Finance
SRM161 Contract Administration 1
SRM181 Project Management 1
SRT141 Building Safety (co-requisite STP010, worth zero credit points)
SRT153 Building Materials Science
SRT159 Construction Projects 1

Trimester 2 2027

Unit code Unit name
ACC100 Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: Communication in Everyday Life
ACC302 Advertising: Desire, Consumption and the Attention Economy
ACD104 Exploring Dance Styles
ACD212 Dance and Screens
ACF103 Writing with the camera
ACF110 Acting and Directing for Screen
ACF206 Contemporary Topics in Screen Cultures
ACF320 The Australian Moving Image
ACI101 Analogue Photography
ACP103 Acting Studio
ACP104 Introduction to Light, Sound and Stage Craft
ACR102 Introducing Crime and Criminal Justice
ACV101 Painting in the Visual Arts
ACV210 Art in Public Space
ACV212 Digital Practices in Art and Photography
ADA102 Designing 3D Animated Environments
ADA202 Character Animation
ADD101 Design and Creative Thinking
ADD106 Typography Foundations
ADT102 Interaction and UX Design Fundamentals
AGS102 Histories of Sex and Gender
AIE157 Introduction to Politics in the Middle East
AIE257 Understanding Middle East Conflict
AIE357 Democracy and Diplomacy in the Middle East
AIF142 Introduction to the Indonesian Language (Online)
AIF146 Our Northern Neighbour: Understanding Indonesia (Online)
AIH108 The Modern World: Globalisation and Fragmentation, the 1940s to the 21st Century
AIH240 Using and Abusing the Past
AIH264 The Holocaust
AIH288 Colonial Encounters: From Invasion to Federation
AIH350 History From Here
AIH383 Global Disasters
AIP116 Visions and Values in Politics
AIP245 Environmental Politics
AIP347 Media and Politics: Campaign Strategies
AIR102 War, Terrorism and Humanitarian Responses
AIR203 Human Rights in World Politics
AIR242 Key Concepts in International Relations
AIR349 Diplomacy and the United Nations
AIS102 Working in International Contexts
AIS204 Gender, Globalisation and Development
AIX302 Doing Business in Asia
ALA102 Creative Brand Communication
ALA203 Integrated Brand Communication
ALJ112 News Reporting
ALJ216 Feature Writing
ALJ218 Podcasting and Audio Journalism
ALL102 From Horror to Romance: Genre and Its Revisions
ALL154 Picture Books for Fun and Education
ALL230 Adapting Children's Tests Across Media
ALL255 Fantasy Literature
ALL260 Australian Literature
ALM102 Making Video
ALM202 Quantified Media
ALM216 Social Media Strategy
ALR104 Strategic Communication and Writing
ALR213 Issues, Crisis, and Risk Communication
ALW103 Scriptwriting Fundamentals
ALW242 Poetry: Events in Language
ALW251 Writing for Games: Creating Quests and Characters
ALW352 Writing and Publishing for Young People
ASC102 Introduction to Sociology: the Sociology of Everyday Life
ASC250 Contemporary Social Research
ASC287 Love, Sex and Relationships
ASC304 Culture and Control: Boundaries and Identities
ASP129 Love, Sex and Death
ASP216 Ethics in Global Society
ASP228 Philosophy, Art, Film
ASP299 Minds in Action: Philosophy of Human and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
ASR100 World Religions
ASR205 Mindfulness, Meditation, and Buddhism
ASS102 Culture and Communication
ASS204 Ethnographic Method and Imagination
ASS206 Medical Anthropology
ASS235 Cultures of Law and Disorder
ASS330 Cyborg Anthropology
AST205 Sport, Bodies, Action
AWL100 Your Future Direction
EAD112 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Using Analysis to Develop Solutions
EAD113 Teamwork: Working Constructively with Others
EDU102 From Aristotle to ATARS: the History, Philosophy and Future of Education
EDU202 Educators and Learners
EDU204 Literacy, Numeracy and Multi-Tier Systems of Supports (Mtss) Across the Curriculum
EDU210 The Brain and Learning
EDU211 Digital Childhoods
EDU302 Education and Humanitarian Development
EDU303 Education, Communication and Technology
IND101 Introduction to Aboriginal Studies
IND102 Aboriginal Australian Stories and Songlines (Online)

Trimester 3 2027

Two study abroad and exchange students looking at an art display.

Want to explore beyond the pre-approved options?

Browse Deakin’s full range of units in the Handbook, filtering by trimester, campus, study area and unit level to find options that suit your interests and degree requirements. Starting with pre-approved units is a great way to fast-track your application, but the Handbook gives you the freedom to build a study plan that’s truly your own.

Browse the Deakin Handbook

Ready to apply?

Selected all your units? Whether you’re applying as a study abroad or exchange student, we’ll guide you through every step, from home university approvals to meeting Deakin’s requirements.

Find out how to apply

Contact us

Our Deakin Abroad team is here to help you explore your options and guide you through the process of studying abroad or on exchange at Deakin. You can also download the Study Abroad Guide (PDF, 2.9MB)

Phone: +61 3 9246 8342
Email: deakin-inbound-sae@deakin.edu.au

Discover more