Admissions Criteria
Admission Criteria apply to each Course and vary from Course to Course and Institution to Institution. You will always have to meet Admissions Criteria to gain entry to a course. With one QTAC Application, you can apply to multiple Institutions.
Admissions Criteria
Admissions Criteria
Admissions criteria is the requirements and standards that applicants must meet to be considered for entry into tertiary education. These criteria can vary depending on the institution.
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.
Assistance Schemes
Empower your educational journey
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.
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.
There are multiple admission schemes that are here to help you along your tertiary education journey. Depending on your life experiences or circumstances, you could relate to multiple admission schemes.
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.
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