Question: For your info, I am a 17yr high school student currently live in Australia. As the applications for university entry is just around the corner, I am searching for an appropriate degree that suits my interest.

I frequently come across these various "honours" degree and not "straight forward" degree.

For instance, I want to do civil engineering, I see:

"Bachelors of Engineering (Honours)" and not "Bachelor of Civil Engineering" or "Bachelor of computer science"

**SO What exactly is an honours degree?**

I would normally ask these questions to the career guidance and career fest at my local school, but due to the current situation, I hardly get the opportunity to ask any questions about universities and whatnot. So I apologise if this question is too basic or inappropriate for this site. Thanks.

Here is the site I am looking at:
<https://future-students.uq.edu.au/study/programs/bachelor-engineering-honours-2342>

Answer: 
A honors degree might involve a combination of the following:

* Attain a certain GPA or average (e.g. an average of 85% or greater)
* More advanced topics in the discipline
* Steeper requirements in terms of prerequisites (e.g. GPA/Average, knowledge)
* Taking more courses

Here is the description of honors degrees provided by my university:

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> **Honours**. This option usually involves intense specialization in a single field. An honours B.Sc. requires maintenance of a high academic standing and may involve preparation of a graduating thesis.
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> Honours candidates are required to follow the course of study as set out in the Calendar, to pass all courses completed, and to maintain a minimum overall 68% average in each academic session (higher in some disciplines).
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> Candidates for honours must meet the credit requirements below both before entering honours and while in honours. Honours specializations that have corresponding majors specializations normally admit qualified students upon promotion to third year (see Course and Specialization Approval).
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The reason is they found it was hard to get students jobs without the additional honours degree component. It's just an extra year of study with an internship component.
the internship component is the actual reason it's an honours, as they cannot cram everything into 3 years, and a bachelor's full time is not meant to be 4 years.

Yes, they add a thesis and some extra subjects, but it is really about the internship.

Better advice is to do a double degree - it adds an extra year into your time there, but it broadens your knowledge, makes you more versatile and gives you a better idea of what you want to do.