By Brianna Elliott
Relying solely on meeting the required Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) to be offered a position to study at ANU can be a highly stressful and competitive process for students. Instead, there are many alternative ways that students can still obtain entry without going through this traditional method.
By focusing on and considering an applicant’s personal experiences rather than their final secondary school mark, ANU offers a range of different pathways to study. These include bridging courses, transferring from other universities, maturity-age entry schemes, employment and life experience, and offers made for secondary education students.
By providing more inclusive and alternative pathways, “ANU has seen an increase in the number of students from diverse backgrounds and educational experiences enrol at the University”, states an ANU spokesperson.
Interestingly, the statistics of ANU students and their method of being accepted into university, highlight that in the first half of 2022, only 13.91 percent of students were accepted into ANU solely on the basis of an ATAR.
Additionally, 43.29 percent were admitted on the basis of both ATAR and additional criterias. While high school students often feel achieving their desired degree’s ATAR is the only way of studying at university, these statistics illustrate that over 40 percent of students obtained acceptance via other methods.
Therefore, rather than favouring meeting the required ATAR; early offers, special consideration and auditions alone have become increasingly popular for secondary school leavers as it does not assess the final ATAR in any way.
An ANU spokesperson highlights, “early offers are made based on an academic rank, which takes into account all adjustments for equity, elite performance and academic performance.”
In a survey conducted by Observer, we asked respondents to identify their pathway for getting into ANU and found 41.6 percent were offered places through early entry. Students further discussed how they would work incredibly hard in year 11 which meant “[early entry] took a lot of pressure off of year 12” and “could relax”.
A unique program offered to year 11 and 12 students in the ACT is ANU Extension which allows students to receive credit to contribute both to their ATAR and towards a bachelor’s degree in the same area the courses were completed.
ANU student body statistics combine these extension courses with preparatory and bridging courses from other tertiary institutions. While preparatory courses cannot be added for credit towards the selected degree program taken at ANU, this alternative pathway allows students to study courses at other specific universities to build the academic skills needed for their acceptance.
While this pathway is not always favourable to students because these bridging courses cannot be credited to reduce the study load, many students instead choose to start their degree at a different institution and then transfer to ANU after a few semesters. By transferring, the completed courses can be credited by ANU.
Going through the pathway of transferring from another university to ANU has a similar process to applying for any university for the first time. The key difference is that when students have previously completed studies and/or professional experience that is relevant to the academic program they are transferring to, there is an option to request to receive course credit and a reduced study load.
However, one respondent in Observer’s survey discussed how “[transferring] was a risky pathway with no guarantee of success. Some courses from [the previous university] weren’t recognised by ANU so I had to take them again which added two semesters on top of my degree duration.”
While some universities may not have compatible courses to be included in ANU’s course credit options, universities in the Group of Eight (Go8) Credit Transfer Agreement ensure assessment regimes and courses are comparable, compatible and transferable. This agreement gives students the availability to transfer through any of these institutions with the guarantee that their previous studies will be included and prevent repetition.
Transferring from universities is not limited to domestic students; international students have this option as well. Observer had a respondent highlight how as an international student, they did not receive an ATAR.
Instead they “applied to one of ANU’s partner universities to pursue a dual degree program”. This meant they applied to a “Japanese university for a Bachelor of Global Liberal Arts” and when completing the degree if the student “receives good results, [they] can come to ANU and study to get two bachelor degrees: one from the Japanese university and one from ANU.”
Another alternative pathway individuals can take to study at ANU is through the mature age student entry scheme which is offered to anyone older than 21 years by recognising that many people take different paths after leaving school, and that university may be an option later in life.
The 2022 statistics show that of the student body, 0.96 percent obtained a position at ANU through this maturity age scheme. This statistic is inclusive of anyone who has had any of the following options: full-time work or life experience for at least one year; holds a Diploma from any institution both domestically and internationally; and/or completed year 12 schooling.
A first-year university student listed in Observer’s survey how they had gone through this maturity age entry scheme. This individual “did a STAT test at age 22” and found this process “very easy” compared to having to rely on achieving an ATAR at the end of year 12 and going straight to university after finishing school.
Therefore, these alternative pathways show that relying on meeting the required ATAR is not the only way students can study at ANU. Additionally, ANU aims to accept all students no matter their education or personal background by providing a range of methods that accommodate everyone’s experiences.
Graphics by Will Novak
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