DON’T LET YOUR ATAR DEFINE YOU
Announcement posted by UTS:INSEARCH 07 Dec 2015
SYDNEY – 7 December 2015. With ATAR results released next week, hundreds of good students may find their ATAR is much lower than they need to get into their preferred university course. But with pathway options such as UTS:INSEARCH, these students can still go on to study at a leading university and fulfil their career dreams.
By completing a higher education diploma and achieving the required Grade Point Average at UTS:INSEARCH, the pathway to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), students with a lower-than-expected ATAR can fast track into the second year of a UTS undergraduate degree.
UTS:INSEARCH admits students based on their HSC subject average (which is calculated from their best four HSC subject results for non-VET subjects, including English). With this approach, UTS:INSEARCH provides students who may have been negatively impacted with scaling, the opportunity to achieve their ideal study and career goals.
“After finishing my final HSC exam, I knew I wouldn’t get the ATAR I needed to study engineering at UTS, even though I had studied as hard as I could,” said Diploma of Engineering student, Mr Byron Hui.
“My sister actually studied at UTS:INSEARCH, so she recommended I go there first as she enjoyed it and found it really helped her with her studies at UTS,” he said.
“Since studying at UTS:INSEARCH I’ve seen a big improvement in my confidence, my ability to communicate with others and my presentation skills,” said Mr Hui.
Students are advised not to get discouraged if their ATAR isn’t high enough to achieve a first round offer in their preferred course.
“It is important for students to look at different options, so while getting a high ATAR is helpful, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get the score you were hoping for,” said Mr Tim Laurence, Dean of Studies at UTS:INSEARCH.
“There are a lot of students with great potential that could miss out on a direct offer to a major in their field of choice because of ATAR scaling. For example, a potentially good engineering student may miss out on getting into their university of choice because their history result brought their overall ATAR down.”
“We are seeing that many students we have admitted, based on their HSC subject average, are performing on par with previous ATAR-selected students,” said Mr Laurence.
“Students need to know that no matter what they choose to do during the first year after the HSC, whether it’s continuing their studies, working, or taking a gap year, there are alternative ways for them to get into university,” said Mr Laurence.
Students who are considering studying at UTS can visit the UTS:INSEARCH booth during the UTS Info Day on Tuesday, 5 January 2016 or should register to attend an information session at UTS:INSEARCH.
To learn more about UTS:INSEARCH, apply to study or attend an information session, visit insearch.edu.au/imnotanumber. Follow @UTS_INSEARCH on Twitter and see how an ATAR doesn’t define you on Thursday, 17 December with #ImNotaNumber
-ENDs-
About UTS:INSEARCH
UTS:INSEARCH is the pathway to the UTS and its purpose is to prepare students to succeed at university. It offers higher education diplomas in business, communication, design and architecture, engineering, information technology and science; courses which have all been designed in collaboration with UTS faculties.
Students can also fast track into the second year of a UTS undergraduate degree once they have successfully completed their diploma and achieved the required Grade Point Average (depending on the course chosen).
With highly experienced teachers, ongoing academic support, small classes of just 20 students and access to the world-class UTS facilities, students who study at UTS:INSEARCH gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed at university and beyond.
Media Contact:
Yvonne Sewankambo
Taurus Marketing
+61 2 9415 4528