Word Limits for Master's Degrees
The word count for a thesis/portfolio includes the bibliography, footnotes or endnotes and essential appendices.
When you submit your Notice of Intention, you will be asked to confirm that your thesis/portfolio is within this word count.
Note: Non-essential appendices are materials that the examiner is not expected to read but are useful to include in case the examiner wishes to refer to them or that a future researcher might find helpful in replicating or understanding the thesis. It would be expected that any non-essential appendix would contain the sort of information where, if an examiner does refer to it, they would be looking at only a small proportion of the information. If included, please ensure they are clearly labelled.
Ideally, your request to exceed the word limit should be approved before you submit your Notice of Intention to Submit. However, if approval is still pending, you can submit your notice while waiting. Please note that the approval must be confirmed before you submit your thesis.
The standard word counts are:
| Programme | 90 points | 120 points |
|---|---|---|
| Master’s by Thesis | 30,000 | 40,000 |
The programmes below are exceptions to the standard word limit:
| Programme | 90 points | 120 points |
|---|---|---|
| Master of Laws (LLM) | 35,000 | 50,000 |
| Master of Music: Composition | 10,000 – 20,000 | 12,000 – 25,000 |
| Master of Music: Performance | 9,000 | 12,000 |
| Master of Music: Musicology | 30,000 | 40,000 |
Master’s by Research Portfolio students: Word limits vary across programmes. Please refer to your relevant Research Portfolio Outline or contact your school for guidance.
If your thesis exceeds the word count
Discuss this with your supervisor first as your request requires their support. You will need to submit a Permission to Exceed the Word Limit form in Panoho and have it approved before to submit your Notice of Intention to Submit. See this guide for more information.
Your request will be assessed by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Research (Dean FGR) and may be approved, declined, or partially approved (you may be granted a smaller allowance than requested).
Do not leave this process to the last minute — if your request is declined and significant revisions are required, you may need to re-register and pay additional fees.