NEWS
Birmingham slams
admissions system
Minister calls ATAR scheme opaque, sees
threat to sector’s reputation with students.
E
ducation Minister Simon Birmingham used his keynote
address at the Universities Australia Higher Education
Conference to put the Australian university system on notice
regarding the “opaque” ATAR admissions system.
“Much has been said about the perennial ATAR and admissions
processes again this year but with unmet demand at or near an
all-time low, it is important that we give confidence to domestic
and international students that quality and standards remain high,”
Birmingham said.
Dollars for dorms
ANU goes on the hunt for investors to
upgrade, expand its residential halls.
T
he Australian National University is seeking investors to fund
the expansion of its on-campus student accommodation
facilities. The move comes after a survey of 4800 current
students living in the college halls revealed a need to upgrade sites
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campusreview.com.au
Birmingham specifically called out the ATAR system for being
nebulous, saying that, “Students need to have every confidence
that they know what the real requirements for admission are; not
some artificial measure that bears no resemblance to reality. We
should be setting students up for success, not failure.”
Birmingham has asked professor Peter Shergold, chair of the
Higher Education Standards Panel, to look at h