A common criticism of the ATAR is it does not tell universities enough about potential students. But so-called ‘narrative evaluation’ models of assessment have their issues, too.
Each year, the same narrow narrative about ‘top students’ appears in the media after year 12 results. New research talks to students who are the first in their families to go to university
Higher education should provide access for as many people as possible to fulfil their potential as individuals. Leaders in higher education must be ready to examine what it will take to achieve this.
About one in five school leavers who start university will not complete a degree within nine years.
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Before deciding what to study at which university, high school graduates should consider the drop-out rates, early-career employment prospects and lifetime earnings their program is likely to yield.
In short, less advantaged students require significant additional supports, well beyond acknowledging their diverse pathways for entry into a degree program.
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From 2020, ANU will require students to meet co-curricular requirements alongside ATAR. This significant policy shift is meant to improve equity of access, but won’t change much.
Regardless of your ATAR, it’s important to keep vocational pathways in mind, not as a lesser option, but as a way of getting experience in an industry you’re interested in.
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Rather than redressing inequality, universities are exacerbating it. They need to take radical steps to turn this around and offer better education across the socio-economic spectrum.
Prospective students rush the gates of the University of Johannesburg during a deadly 2012 stampede. Are South Africa’s universities ready for the latest crop of matriculants?
Adrian De Kock/EPA
South Africa’s matric results and data from national benchmarking tests suggest that many school leavers aren’t ready for university. It’s also worth asking: are universities ready for them?
The future hinges too much on this piece of paper.
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State school graduates do better at university than private school graduates with the same end-of-school tertiary entrance score. That’s the clear finding in a number of Australian studies since the 1980s…
Jump for joy but not always so high.
Central Sussex College
Only 3% of able students from poorer backgrounds are likely to end up at an elite university, according to new research on the impact of education on social mobility. This is compared to 10% of students…
Where is education going for South Africa’s ‘Born Frees’?
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Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa 20 years ago, pass rates in the country’s end-of-school exam – commonly known as the matric – have been steadily on the rise, despite indications that the schooling…