There are three common pathways to gain admission to universities in Australia. The easiest way is to obtain grades in year 12 that meet the minimum requirements of a university or to have grades high enough to meet the criteria set for your chosen course at the university. Second, you can also qualify for a college education through the universities’ distance education programs. A third method would be to score well on the aptitude tests that some colleges use to select students.
Regarding the first modality, universities establish minimum requirements based on the students’ entrance scores to Year 12. In this sense, students who obtain the highest entrance scores in their Year 12 do not usually have problems to access the university courses of your choice. Entrance scores are known differently in different states of Australia. In Victoria, they call their entry scores ENTER, short for Equivalent National Tertiary Rank; in Queensland, they are known as General Position Rank or OP; in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, they use the acronym UAI for University Admissions Index; and in Tasmania and other states, they are called TER, which stands for Tasmanian Certificate of Education.
The different agencies that monitor these scores are the College Admissions Centers of the states. Interested students can find out the minimum entry scores for their preferred university courses through the Australian Student website. Simply browse through the listings for different colleges in each state.
A more convenient option is to take advantage of the course offerings at Open Universities Australia (OUA). Seven of Australia’s top universities have come together to operate the OAU. These are Curtin University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of South Australia. Most of the undergraduate courses offered by OUA have no entry requirements. Students do not need to be physically present on campus as all their studies can be done at home. It allows students to meet other commitments while continuing their studies. They gain credentials from a recognized Australian university upon graduation.
The OAU has different course offerings to choose from. You have the option of enrolling in a short bridging program that will give you the skills you will need to meet the demands of earning a college degree. You can also choose to obtain professional qualifications through training programs aligned with the skills specifications of companies and industries. You can also enroll in OUA’s undergraduate course offerings to earn a college degree. The OAU also offers postgraduate courses for students and professionals interested in higher education.
The last avenue to take advantage of university education in Australia is through aptitude tests. Applicants who, for various reasons, do not have the required scores for Year 12, may take a university-specific aptitude test. One aptitude test that an aspiring college student can take is the Special Tertiary Admission Test (STAT). This test is administered by the VTAC. You can check the websites of different universities to find out which courses accept STAT results as entrance credentials.
Other aptitude tests used by universities for student selection are the General Achievement Test (GAT) and the uniTest. Universities use scores from these tests in combination with year 12 results to determine applicants’ chances of success in completing a course.