Communication and Research Skills (CARS)
CARS (Communication and Research Skills) is an online unit which assists UWA students to develop basic communication and research skills in an academic context.
All undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students who have not completed CARS in a previous course are required to complete the unit in their first semester of study. A score of 80% across the four quizzes is required for successful completion.
Eligible commencing students are automatically enrolled in CARS and the unit is available through the University’s Learning Management System.
Completion of CARS is recommended as early as possible to help you to complete your studies to the standards required; non-completion will impact your ability to graduate.
Check in your LMS for the required completion date for the CARS unit you are enrolled in.
UWA staff and students who are not enrolled in CARS can access the content for revision at any time from the links below.
Some of the many student responses to CARS:

I learned:
"how to find scholarly sources for assignments"
"essay writing skills"
"where to find help and support at UWA"
"how to prepare for an oral presentation"
"effective group study tactics"
The CARS modules cover:
- Starting your assessment and finding evidence
- Writing your assessment
- Delivering your oral presentation
- Working in teams
Revisiting CARS:
If you have completed CARS you can access the unit for revision at any time by following the steps below to self-enrol in the open version of CARS. This option is open to all interested UWA students or staff.Toolkits
The CARS toolkits bring together the tools and guides featured throughout the CARS modules. You can browse, bookmark and print the tools and guides across the CARS unit or jump to a specific module to help you get started on specific assessments or tasks.
- Starting Your Assessment and Finding Evidence Toolkit
- Writing Your Assessment Toolkit
- Delivering Your Oral Presentation Toolkit
- Working in Teams Toolkit
Technical information
- Internet browsers
- The recommended browsers for best CARS performance are Chrome and Firefox. The modules work with mobile devices but the best experience will be on a desktop computer.
- Guide for screen reader users
- Please disregard the embedded instructions in the player as they are inaccurate. The slides will not read automatically and the Form Fields are incomplete and misleading, please Tab through the content on the slides. To make selections, press spacebar (not the up or down keys).
- Technical support
- If any of the activities don't seem to be working properly, try another browser. You can also report the issue online to AskUWA.
Need help?
askUWA
askUWA has an in-depth list of FAQs about CARS. You can also “Ask a Question” if you need more help.
ask.uwa.edu.auAcademic Skills Centre
The Academic Skills Centre offers a range of workshops, drop-in sessions and online resources to help get more out of your study.
StudySmarterThe Library
The University Library provides guides that can help with your research and study skills.
uwa.edu.au/libraryCopyright: The text of CARS is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.