8 February 2012

Curtains for UAC? Ian Young on university admissions

| johnboy
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Students and parents would do well to note a new post on the new blog of the new ANU Vice Chancellor Ian Young talking about how the end to Government mandated university places will change admissions:

I believe the demand driven system will, however, ultimately change the way many students enter university. At present, the vast majority of students enrol through a Tertiary Admission Centre (a University Admission Centre (UAC) in NSW/ACT). These centres were set up in an environment where there were a limited number of places in universities and a larger number of students seeking those places. The aim of the admission centre is to equitably distribute those students based on their tertiary entry score. In a demand driven system, the tables are turned. There are now a large number of university places and a finite number of students seeking admission. In this environment, why do you need an admission centre? If the student meets the entry requirements for the university, they can be directly admitted. This is essentially the system we use now for international students.

We saw the first signs of this process in 2012. A number of universities openly commented on students entering via direct application, rather than through an admission centre. It will not take students long to realise that they now are in a much stronger position. Armed with their tertiary entry score, or even a prediction of that score, they can potentially ‘shop around’ looking for a university place which meets their needs. They do not have to apply through an admission centre and take the offer they receive.

In the future, I am confident that we will see a far more diverse range of entry processes. There will be both direct applications, applications through admission centres and a greater number of students articulating through pathway programs. ANU will need to be flexible enough to meet this changing environment.

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