AUSTRALIA STUDENTS WITH LOW SCORES AS LOW AS 30 ATAR TECHNICALLY KNOWN AS ( AUSTRALIAN TERRITORY ADMISSION RANK) ARE GIVEN ADMISSION IN TOP UNIVERSITIES IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND ONE EXPERT SAY UNIVERSITIES RISKING THEIR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS BUT UNIVERSITIES FACING FUNDING PRESSURE
Published: January 27, 2016 - 7:55AM
NSW universities are admitting students with ATARs as low as 30 into some of the state's top tertiary degrees, a Fairfax Media investigation into confidential university data has revealed.
Students with marks up to 40 points below the advertised course cut-off are being accepted in fields such as business, teaching and engineering, according to the 2016 admissions figures from the University of Sydney, UNSW, Macquarie University and Western Sydney University.
An ATAR [Australia Tertiary Admissions Rank] is awarded to more than 50,000 NSW high school students in December each year. Universities set an ATAR cut-off according to what they believe is the minimum academic standard required to complete a course, as well as supply and demand for the degree.
The admissions data, seen for the first time by Fairfax Media, comes four years after the cap on student numbers was lifted by the federal government in 2012 allowing universities to recruit as many students as they can fit. The majority of degrees are funded by the federal government through student loans paid to the universities. The loan, often worth more than $20,000, is later repaid by students when they earn over $54,000.
The figures show top Sydney universities are offering places to thousands of school leavers with marks significantly below the minimum entry standard. Up to two thirds of students offered places at Macquarie University had ATARs below the advertised cut-off – the highest share of the four universities. The University of Sydney had the lowest share, with 27 per cent of students scoring below the required mark.
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said that universities were putting their reputations at risk, and that there was no excuse for admitting such large numbers of sub-standard students.
"I'm annoyed that universities are taking students with such low marks out of self respect for their own university," he said.
"For universities that are concerned about their rankings internationally to be taking in students with such low ATARs is not a good look. I know they have funding pressures, but that is no excuse."
The universities maintain that including students who did not get the required ATAR ensures disadvantaged students do not miss out on an opportunity for an education.
One student whose applicant report has been obtained by Fairfax Media scored an ATAR in the 30s and was admitted to a combined Bachelor of Secondary Education and Arts at Macquarie University with a cut-off of 75. She had received up to 10 bonus points for being from a disadvantaged school in Sydney's west.
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