Year 12 How to apply
Ready to take the next step after high school and start your journey into tertiary education? Begin here to learn how to apply to 17 institutions with 1 QTAC Application.
Year 12 How to apply
How to apply
How to apply
Ready to take the next step after high school and start your journey into tertiary education? Begin here to learn how to apply to 17 institutions with 1 QTAC Application.
Admissions Criteria
How we match you with the best courses
Admissions criteria focuses on eligibility and merit. Eligibility and merit go hand-in-hand when meeting admissions critiera.
Eligibility
Eligibility refers to the minimum criteria required to apply for a course as set by the institution. Each institution sets its own admission criteria, which apply to every applicant for every course offered.
These criteria can vary between institutions but commonly include:
- English language proficiency
- Course quota (the estimated number of places available in a course)
- Exclusion (whether you have previously been excluded from an institution; this might affect your application)
- Age requirements
- Prerequisites
Some courses require additional admission criteria like personal statements, questionnaires, portfolios, auditions, interviews, or tests, which may supplement or replace academic qualifications.
Institutions offer alternative pathways for applicants who don’t meet standard requirements. For details, visit the individual institution pages.
Competing for a place in Order of Merit
QTAC places all competing applicants in ‘order of merit’. This means applicants with the highest ATAR/selection rank are in the first offer, then applicants with the next highest ATAR/selection rank second etc.
By going down the ‘order of merit’, applicants receive offers until all the places are filled. There is a minimum selection threshold. This is the lowest ATAR/selection rank that can earn an offer.
The minimum selection threshold:
- is not set in advance
- can serve as a guide for future cut-offs
- typically remains stable but can change
- may vary across semesters and offer rounds within the same semester
- reflects the course’s supply and demand (number of places, number of applicants, and applicant quality). It is not an indicator of course quality.
ATAR
Year 12 ATAR
Are you ATAR ready? Here is what you need to know when planning your tertiary education application.
Across Australia, the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) serves as the primary mechanism for tertiary admissions. QTAC, with 40+ years of experience, calculates and issues the ATAR for eligible Queensland Year 12 students and manages applications for Queensland and some interstate institutions.
The ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) is a percentile rank rather than a mark, indicating a student’s position relative to their peers within the same age group for a given year.
It provides a standard measure of a student’s overall academic achievement in comparison to other students who may have studied different subject combinations. The ATAR helps tertiary institutions select applicants for their courses by indicating each student’s position relative to their peers.
From 2020, Queensland Year 12 students will be certified for tertiary entrance with the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). Students completing Year 12 and their QCE from 2020 onwards can access their ATAR by creating an account in the ATAR Portal.
From 2020, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) replaced the Overall Position (OP) as the standard pathway to tertiary study for Queensland Year 12 students.
In 2020, the first cohort of Queensland Year 12 students graduated under the new QCAA QCE system and were issued their Queensland ATAR, which is calculated by QTAC. This system continues to be used for subsequent graduates.
Until 2019, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) calculated ATARs for Queensland OP-eligible students to ensure Queensland students were considered for courses offered interstate (see OP to ATAR).
It is expressed on a 2000-point scale, ranging from 99.95 at the highest to 0.00, with increments of 0.05. ATAR scores are reported in descending order, starting from 99.95 and decreasing by 0.05 down to 0.00. Scores below 30 are reported as “30.00 or less.”
An ATAR of 80.00 does not mean a student got 80%. It indicates that the student placed in the top 20% of students in Queensland in their Year 12 age group.
Preferences
Have you got your wish list of courses ready?
With QTAC, more preferences mean more opportunities to choose your future.
What are Preferences?
Your preferences are your wish list that we use in the context of your QTAC application. Our system lines up your preferences in light of your ATAR and selection rank to ensure your best chance for applying to your ideal tertiary education course.
If you fill in more options you’re more likely to obtain an offer.
With QTAC, more preferences mean more opportunities to choose your future. Using all 6 preferences maximises your chances of getting an offer.
Documentation
Submitting you documents
When submitting your documents to QTAC, we only ask for and accept types of documents that our institutions need and recognise.
How to submit your documents
The fastest way to submit your documents is through our QTAC Application Portal. Log in and upload your documents directly under Outstanding Documents. Ensure your files are below 15MB.
Documentation due dates
Ensure we receive your documentation by the due date so we can assess it in time. Visit Key dates and fees for documentation due dates.
Offers
What happens when I receive an offer?
Reaching the offer stage in your tertiary application journey is an exciting moment. It’s important to understand how you’ll be notified and the options available to you.
How we notify you of your offer
We notify you of your offer by email, and may also notify you by SMS.
You only get one offer each offer date. This is for your highest eligible preference (ie the highest preference for which you have met the admission criteria and selection rank requirement, if applicable).
Find out about how entry requirements determine who gets an offer.
Responding to offers
Respond to your offer by the date and time specified on your offer letter so that it does not expire.
To respond to your offer:
- Log in to Application Services.
- Select your response option (ie Accept, Reject, Defer – if deferment is an available choice) button.
- Select the offer response again, and confirm your choice.
Assistance Schemes
Did you experience challenging senior years?
If you’ve faced some challenging personal or financial circumstances during your senior years, there might be some assistance schemes that could help you.
Elite Athlete Adjustment Scheme
The Elite Athlete Adjustment Scheme considers the impact of an applicant’s sporting demands on their educational outcomes in the past 2 years. Elite athletes, coaches, and referees applying through QTAC to eligible courses offered by Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) may be eligible to receive adjustments to their selection rank or ATAR via this scheme.
Educational Access Scheme (EAS)
The Educational Access Scheme (EAS) can help you if you have experienced circumstances that negatively affected your most recent studies.
If you are eligible for EAS, you may get adjustments to your selection rank to help you to get into a course, and/or financial assistance from institutions.
Financial Assistance
There are several government, institution and private schemes that can provide financial assistance to students.
Rural Access Scheme
The Rural Access Scheme exists to recognise the challenges that are often faced by students from Rural and Remote backgrounds.
Some institutions offer courses with a number of places reserved for applicants from rural and remote backgrounds. This is part of the Rural Access Scheme, designed to support students like you.
English subject prerequisites
Meeting the requirements
Before applying, you will need to prove your proficiency in English.
English subject prerequisite and English language proficiency
The English subject prerequisite and English language proficiency are two distinct requirements. The English subject prerequisite refers to the specific subject you study in Years 11 and 12. On the other hand, English language proficiency pertains to your ability to speak, write, read, and understand English.
How to meet the English subject prerequisite
If you didn’t study or pass a General English subject up to the Year 12 standard, there are alternative ways to meet this requirement based on the policy of the institution you’re interested in.
The institution policy tables below offer guidance on how to meet the English subject prerequisite for various institutions and sometimes for specific courses. This summary provides an overview, but if you believe you meet the English requirement through other means not listed here, it’s a good idea to check directly with the institution.
Essential information
Keep checking these pages, as they are date-specific, updated regularly, and contain important information that you’ll need as you plan to submit your application for each offer round.