Getting In
For those who haven’t seen the inside of a classroom in years, applying for courses can seem daunting. You do have a few advantages over younger applicants though.
For most courses, school leavers’ success relies heavily (or entirely) on their entry score. One or two bad exams can ruin their chances of getting in.
Mature age students are usually selected using much broader criteria, taking into account their results in prior secondary or tertiary study as well as relevant work and life experience. Other alternative selection methods such as interviews and aptitude tests are also common.
This section explains the different selection methods tertiary education providers use, common requirements for higher education and VET courses, what you can do to prepare, and alternative pathways you can take to reach your goal.
Selection methods: cut-offs and other requirements
You probably know by now that if you want to get into tertiary education, you will have to fulfil the entry requirements of the course you are interested in. However, what you might not know about is the range of different selection criteria that may be used for different courses, as well as for different students… (Read more )
Getting into higher education
Do you want to get into a degree? The minimum entry requirement is usually successful completion of Year 12. Apart from that, the entry requirements and rules — and the ways around them — will vary depending on where and what you want to study… (Read more )
Getting into VET courses
What will you need to get into a VET course? In VET courses, unlike degrees, the big determiner of difficulty will be the qualification and field you want to study, rather than the institution. Overall, VET is easier to get into than university, although there are exceptions… (Read more )
Getting in: what you can do to prepare
What can you do to give yourself the best chance of getting in? There are some rules to follow and some bits of advice but they will differ depending on your plans and your stage of life. Whether you are looking at higher education or VET, there is one cardinal rule — check out the entry requirements, any cut-offs, prerequisites and selection methods for courses you’re interested in… (Read more )
Pathways into tertiary study
Education pathways can be based on life or work experience, or they can be based on previous academic achievement. There are a number of common academic pathways that students use to improve their chances of getting into a course they really want to do… (Read more )
