St Edmund's College and the University of Canberra launch joint Sports Academy program

St Edmund’s College principal Joe Zavone announcing the partnership with the University of Canberra. Photo: Aiden Rothnie.

The University of Canberra (UC) and St Edmund’s College have joined forces to develop a Sports Academy to create foundational pathways to UC courses for St Edmund’s College students. For UC students, it will allow access to practical, real-life work experience across multiple sport-related disciplines.

Associate Professor Julie Cooke said the program aims to enhance students’ sporting, academic and tertiary opportunities.

“The University of Canberra has a vision to enhance students’ sporting, academic and tertiary learning opportunities through a holistic sporting approach,” Dr Cooke said.

“We want to attract more students from St Edmund’s to study at UC and at the same time give our students access to Work Integrated Learning opportunities at the college.”

The program will offer St Edmund’s year 11 and 12 students the opportunity to enrol at UC if they are able to maintain a C-grade average across a combination of five subjects.

Students at St Edmund’s College. Photo: Aiden Rothie.

St Edmund’s College principal Joe Zavone said the partnership would open new opportunities for students.

“This provides an opportunity for our students to consider a sports-focused pathway that offers direct, non-ATAR entry to a number of undergraduate degrees at the University of Canberra,” Mr Zavone said.

“This means that the tertiary pathway is now open to students who may not have considered a tertiary education.”

St Edmund’s students who complete the program will be given the opportunity to have non-ATAR-reliant entry to any course that is a part of UC’s School Recommendation Scheme (SRS).

The Sports Academy program will commence in 2022 with year 12 students that meet the criteria of the program.

Mr Zavone said it was important for schools to have diverse pathways for students now.

“In order to best serve our students, schools must have real-life links with their local community. This is why we’re so excited to be in partnership with UC,” he said.

The Sports Academy program is expected to commence after the July ACT school holidays.