news
Top students promised a spot at Newcastle
University courts high achievers with guaranteed places in many courses. By Antonia Maiolo
Students who achieve an ATAR score of over 90 will be guaranteed a place at the University of Newcastle, under a scheme the NSW institution recently launched.
The majority of undergraduate courses offered at the University of Newcastle are eligible for the High ATAR Guaranteed Offer Scheme, including radiation science and biomedical science – a popular stepping stone to medicine and dentistry.
The university, which boasts one of the top engineering schools in the country, is also including its range of single-degree engineering courses within the scheme. Some highly selective degrees, such as law, medicine and physiotherapy are not included, whilst some degrees have additional entry requirements.
Newcastle deputy vice-chancellor professor Andrew Parfitt said the new scheme could help reduce the anxiety levels of students.
“ We know that high school students can be very anxious as they await their acceptance letters, so this guarantee will take the uncertainty out of the process for high-achieving school leavers,” Parfitt said.“ Students today are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to get into specific courses, mostly without an alternative plan if they are not accepted into the course they want. Gaining a place at a university [ in the top three per cent ], such as ours, has become highly competitive.”
He said the scheme was introduced to encourage high-achieving students to enrol at the University of Newcastle. n
New routes to the chalkboard
Charles Sturt University proposes alternative paths to teaching degrees under NSW reforms.
Charles Sturt University has announced it will provide alternative pathways to teaching degrees for school leavers who wouldn’ t otherwise qualify under the NSW education minister’ s tougher standards.
The minister’ s reformed standards will not introduce ATAR cut-offs; however, from 2015, recent school leavers will need HSC band 5 results in three or more subjects, including band 5 in English, to enter teaching degrees.
Students who do not meet those criteria will still have a chance to enter the field of teaching through a range of interviews and bridging programs, CSU faculty of education executive dean professor Toni Downes said.
Under CSU’ s new plan, students could either come out with a degree allowing them to teach in early childhood environments( including pre-school and long day care) or a degree that allows them to teach from kindergarten to Year 12.
“[ We ] are broadening the emphasis to include not only minimum standards around academic work but also suitability for the profession,” Downes said.“ As part of the admissions criteria we will be having applicants demonstrate that they’ re strong on the interpersonal skills and relationships.”
The university is soon set to put forward its proposal to the department of education and communities.
“ We think that this will really appeal to the minister because it’ s a flexible workforce for that community and also a flexible career pathway for the graduate,” Downes said.
The minister’ s reforms will also require all teaching graduates to pass a literacy and numeracy test before their final-year school professional placement. They will also mandate more of what gets taught at universities.
“ We have also laid out plans to support new teachers by providing them with not just increased release time for their professional development but also release time for mentors to better train them,” NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli said.
NSW is the only state to have implemented a new entry standard for teaching degrees.
“ Improving teacher quality is a legacy we will leave for all our students, because we cannot improve the quality of education unless we improve the quality of teaching,” Piccoli said. n
www. campusreview. com. au Issue 9 2013 | 9