University of Canterbury

UC has a diverse range of study options with over 100 qualifications in more than 80 different subject areas. Start exploring your options by searching subjects, qualifications and courses below.

UC's world-ranked research is influential nationally and internationally. We are the most research-intensive university in New Zealand and benefit from generous external funding. Find out what we are working on. At UC your education doesn't end at the lecture theatre door. Join a community where you can be who you are and do what you love. You will live and learn among inspiring and talented people from a range of backgrounds. Canterbury is made for outdoor recreation – bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Alps, the region is packed with rolling hills, mountains and waterways. There is something for every adrenaline level.

UC offers a range of advice and support tailored to specific types of people. Whether you are a high school student, international student, parent or career advisor we have help on hand. From email and IT to health services on campus, UC has a range of services for new students. Make your experience the best it can be by taking advantage of these.

Balancing your budget can be a challenge while you are studying. Find out what financial support and assistance is available to UC students.The city of Christchurch is a growing hotbed of opportunity. Developments and initiatives are popping up at a rapid pace and our graduates are perfectly poised to access these opportunities. Over the last few years our students have earned an international reputation for their community involvement. Get involved by joining the Student Volunteer Army or connect with a range of local organisations — Christchurch is a great place to be!

The Academic Services Group oversees academic regulations, policy, programme approvals, academic processes and quality assurance at the University of Canterbury. We also manage UC’s awards for teaching, STAR courses for secondary students, Summer School, institutional research and academic development.

UC is externally audited on a regular basis as part of our quality assurance. Our awards recognise significant achievement and reflect the quality of UC's teaching. Our areas of responsibility, where to find information, useful links and how to contact us. Get ahead by taking one of our Summer School courses. Run every year between November and February. Secondary school students from anywhere in New Zealand can do our first-year degree level courses from a range of subjects. For all teaching-related information including grants, approvals, reviews and plans see the Intranet (staff only).

Ensuring that the University meets its obligations with all occupational safety and health statutes and regulations. Providing advice and assistance to staff and students around effective hazard management. Health and safety education aimed at empowering departments to effectively identify and manage the hazards in their area. Reporting and investigating events from across UC where staff/students/visitors /contractors have been injured or could have been injured in the course of their work. Provision of occupational health services for e.g. health monitoring/ flu vaccines Facilitating employee participation in Health & Safety. Maintaining an effective rehabilitation process for staff and students as required. Monitoring the Health & Safety performance across the University and reporting on this to senior management along with relevant recommendations for improvement.

For most of its first 100 years the University was situated in the centre of Christchurch (now the Arts Centre). By 1975 it had completed its move to a spacious purpose-built 76 hectare site in the suburb of Ilam, 7km from the old city site.When established in 1873, Canterbury College, as the University was originally known, was only the second university in New Zealand. Housed in graceful stone buildings on a central city block, it was dependent for survival on rents from high country farms with which it had been endowed by the Canterbury Provincial Council.

It was set up on the Oxbridge model with one major difference: women students were admitted from the start. An early graduate, Helen Connon, became the first woman in the then British Empire to win honours.

Ernest Rutherford, Canterbury’s most distinguished graduate, studied at the University in the 1890s. He discovered his own scientific ability during a year of postgraduate research before taking up a scholarship to Cambridge. A contemporary of Rutherford, Apirana Ngata of Ngati Porou, was the first Maori graduate from any New Zealand university. The portraits of these two men, respectively, grace the nation’s $100 and $50 bank notes.

For most of its first 100 years the University was situated in the centre of Christchurch (now the Arts Centre). By 1975 it had completed its move to a spacious purpose-built 76 hectare site in the suburb of Ilam, 7km from the old city site. It comprises a central complex of libraries, lecture theatres, laboratories and staff accommodation surrounded by playing fields, woodlands and the renowned Ilam Gardens. On 1 January 2007, the neighbouring Christchurch College of Education, the second oldest teachers' training college in New Zealand, merged with the University and became UC's sixth College/School.