Dean's List for Academic Excellence

The Award is only available to students who have successfully completed a minimum of 24 units of credit (UOC) of Business School courses in the previous calendar year (industrial training/experience and exchange courses are not counted as completed units of credit). The Award is not available to students for their honours year.

Selection is based on a student’s WAM across Business School courses completed in the previous calendar year. Awards will be granted for the following stages (stages are based on UOC for all courses, not just Business School courses):

Stage 1: 0-48 UOC completed 

(0-54 UOC for students who have completed more than 48 UOC in the year. This is to take into consideration that students can complete 54 UOC across the trimesters.

I.e. if a student has 54 UOC completed and this is completed across 1 year only, they would be considered for the Stage 1 award. However if e.g. the student has completed 24 UOC in 2021, and completed 30 UOC in 2022. They would be considered for the Stage 2 award for 2022.)

Stage 2: 49-96 UOC completed

(49-108 UOC for students who completed more than 48 UOC in the year. This is to take into consideration that students can complete 54 UOC across the trimesters.

I.e. if a student has 108 UOC completed and they had completed 54 UOC across 1 year only, they would be considered for the Stage 2 award. However if e.g. the student has completed 72 UOC in prior years, and completed 36 UOC in 2022. They would be considered for the Stage 3 award for 2022)

Stage 3: >96 UOC completed

As the top 3% of students are selected, the cut-off WAM may vary from year to year and from stage to stage. Students may only receive a Dean's List Award once for each Stage.

The recipient list for the Dean’s List Awards cannot be accessible before February the following year. That is, e.g., for 2021 Dean’s Award recipients, the official list will be updated in February 2022.

Students are strongly encouraged to arrange for any credit transfer applications as soon as possible. Late grades may affect your eligibility for inclusion on the Dean’s List.

Please email us, opens in a new window if you have any undergraduate Dean’s List criteria or qualification enquiries, or for questions regarding the Dean’s List celebration event please email busawards@unsw.edu.au.

• 2022 recipients
• 2021 recipients
• 2020 recipients, opens in a new window
• 2019 - stage 3
• 2019 - stage 2
• 2019 - stage 1
• 2018 recipients
• 2017 recipients
• 2016 recipients
• 2015 recipients
• 2014 recipients
• 2013 recipients
• 2012 recipients
• 2011 recipients
• 2010 recipients

Please refer to the UNSW Prize Winners webpage, opens in a new window for details on past recipients.

The Award is available only to students enrolled in Masters Programs (coursework), who have successfully completed all program requirements and are eligible for graduation. Students must also qualify to graduate ‘with Excellence, opens in a new window’.

The award also includes Master (coursework) programs within AGSM and UNSW Online programs.

The award is not available to students enrolled in Graduate Certificates and Graduate Diplomas. Students are only eligible to receive a postgraduate Dean’s List Award once during their UNSW Business School postgraduate program. 

Please email us if you have any postgraduate Dean’s List criteria or qualification enquiries, or for questions regarding the Dean’s List celebration event please email busawards@unsw.edu.au.

The top student from each program or specialisation who satisfies the eligible criteria will receive the Dean’s List Award. This list is determined by specific criteria, as outlined above.

• 2022 recipients
• 2021 recipients, opens in a new window
• 2020 recipients, opens in a new window
• 2019 recipients
• 2018 recipients

Please refer to the UNSW Prize Winners webpage, opens in a new window for details on past recipients.

The undergraduate recipients of the Dean’s list represent the top 3% (highest WAMs) of students in the Business School, based on academic performance in the previous calendar year.

The postgraduate recipients of the Dean’s list represent the top student (highest WAM) in your program or specialisation in the completion term – max 1 student per specialisation/program per term. Student must achieve the highest WAM in your program or specialisation, in the term you complete your program. So, if you competed in Term 2, you would be ranked against all the other students completing your program/specialisation in that term (minimum WAM is 80 – must have achieved Excellence).

The Dean’s List are calculated once each calendar year – e.g 2020 awards (advised in February 2021) we will use the 2020 results. This comprises Summer 2020 and Terms 1 – 3. The Prize winners are published on the UNSW Prize Winners webpage., opens in a new window

Unfortunately, we are unable to share information earlier than the specified period.

The undergraduate Dean’s List is calculated based on all terms in a calendar year – e.g. Summer 2021, T1-T3 2021. Previous years’ results are not used to assess the Dean’s List, only those completed in that calendar year.

The postgraduate Dean’s List is calculated based on the cumulative WAM across all terms and courses attempted in the program.

Please refer to the above relevant sections for eligibility criteria for undergraduate and postgraduate Dean’s Award.

For undergraduate Dean’s List award, the cut-off is always subject to the performance of the cohort and varies from year to year.

Historically, the Stage 1 cut-off is in the 83-86 WAM range, Stage 2 is 86, Stage 3 around 85.

For postgraduate Dean’s List award, this award represents the top student (highest WAM and minimum 80 WAM) in a program/specialisation completed.

Students will receive more information on their certificate and event a couple of months after the official notice of their Dean’s List award. We recommend that you keep an eye on your student emails for further details, or for questions regarding the Dean’s List celebration event please email busawards@unsw.edu.au.

Only Business School courses are included in the calculation of the undergraduate Dean’s List.

For all Actuarial students, MATH1151/1251 are classified as Business School courses because they are a compulsory component of the Actuarial Studies degree. As such MATH1151/1251 are included as Business School courses for the purpose of calculating “Dean’s List” WAM.