Melbourne is also Australia's leading research university. The approach to education in Australian universities is slightly different from the system in the United States. Australians begin specializing in subjects during their last year of high school, which means that the first year of college is already focused specifically on the student's major field of study. In the Australian system, a greater emphasis is placed on independent study. Very often there are no detailed schedules and syllabi, as one would expect in the U.S. system, but rather a reading list from which it is the student's responsibility to choose what to read.
Assessment differs according to the course.
It may range from one essay with a final exam at the end of the course to three essays and two exams. University of Richmond exchange students may enroll in any course at the University of Melbourne as long as all prerequisites have been met. The normal courseload for a Melbourne student is four courses per semester, which is usually 12.5 Melbourne credits per course. UR students are expected to take at least four courses per semester, and will normally receive three to five credits depending on the credit weighting for each successfully completed course. Lectures are generally 50 minutes in length.