Academic Quality and Standards Team
Electives are changing. As part of the Curriculum Enhancement Project the University is revising its definition of electives and considering their place within the undergraduate curriculum. See http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk/broadening.
What is an elective†?
An elective is a module which you may take but which is not a compulsory part of your programme of study. It will normally be in a different subject and give you the opportunity to broaden your studies. Some programmes do not allow students to take electives because of professional requirements: you should check on the programme catalogue or with your School.
If your programme does allow you to take an elective this means you can or must choose modules outside the main subject(s) named in the title of your programme of study. The number of modular credits you can/must study will be stated in your programme of study - for details see the University's web-based programme of study catalogue at: http://webprod1.leeds.ac.uk/catalogue/programmesearch.asp.
There are restrictions to prevent you taking an elective too closely related to your programme (e.g. Computing students are not normally permitted to take introductory IT electives and language students may have a limited choice of ab initio language elective modules).
Generally students in programme year 1 taking electives take them at Level 1 and students in programme year 2 taking electives take them at Level 2. Normally you will not be permitted to take any Level 1 elective after programme year 2 unless it is a Skills Elective (see below).
The mark you achieve on an elective module will count for progression in programme year 1 and in programme years 2 and 3 will count towards your degree classification.
Take the advice of your School, read through this Electives information and if you are not sure which module to take discuss the modules that interest you with your Personal Tutor and/or the School offering them. Remember that in order to progress to a subsequent programme year you need to pass 100 or 120* credits in the current programme year and that to be eligible to graduate you must pass the number of credits at each Level specified for your degree in the Regulations in the Taught Students Handbook http://www.leeds.ac.uk/students/handbook/ . Select your electives carefully - whilst your choice is subject to the approval of your parent School, it is your responsibility to ensure that the ones you choose fit the regulations, your programme of study and the timetabling constraints of the compulsory and optional modules you must take.
You can register your module choices online. View the step-by-step guide at:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/students/office/online/studentguide.doc
Am I qualified to take a particular elective? Some modules specify 'pre-requisites', i.e. studies which you must have completed before starting the module; for example, an A level subject or a particular Level 1 module.
Numbers of places on particular modules may be limited: if you are advised that the elective module you want to take cannot guarantee you a place it is important that you also explore alternatives that you may wish to study.
Check your timetable: Any elective you choose must fit in with the times of the compulsory and optional modules you must take for your programme of study. Where there are several different seminars or laboratory classes running at different times, check with the Schools which you can attend. The first draft teaching timetable will be available from 1 st May with regular updates thereafter on www.leeds.ac.uk/timetable
Make sure that you have a full and balanced credit load in each semester: The Regulations (see the Taught Students Handbook http://www.leeds.ac.uk/students/handbook/ ) require the study of normally at least 120** credits during each programme year. This normal total may be exceeded only where special permission has been given for a particular programme or an individual student to take more than 120 credits in a programme year. When choosing electives, check in which semester each elective module is taught and choose electives which give you an even study load across both semesters.
Skills Electives are Level 1 modules of which, subject to the provisions in the programme of study concerned, a maximum of 20 credits may be taken in the third or any subsequent final programme year. They count towards classification as if they were taken in the penultimate programme year. They are designed to develop specific key skills. The full list of Skills modules are on the University's website - see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/electives
Details of all modules are on the University's website - see http://webprod1.leeds.ac.uk/catalogue/modulesearch.asp.
The Programme Catalogue Glossary provides informal guidance and definitions for students to help them understand the terms used by the University in describing its programmes of study and their requirements. It can be consulted on the University's website – see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/programmes/glossary.htm
† There is a normal minimum requirement for 20 credits of elective modules in the first programme year of all the University's programmes of study which are not subject to limitation because of professional/statutory accreditation and/or which do not, because of their inter-disciplinary nature, already include at least 20 core/compulsory credits at Level 1 from modules parented by School(s) other than the programme's parent School. Bachelor's programmes may include up to a maximum of 100 elective credits (including Special Skills Electives).