Last Updated 6 July 2009

Introduction

The following information provides a summary of the admission requirements for mature age applicants of the four public universities in Western Australia.

If you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident of Australia who will be 20 years of age or over before 1 March 2010, the following information applies to you.

Starting with the 2007 admissions year, university admissions requirements reflect the changes occurring in upper secondary schooling in Western Australia as a result of the implementation of the Western Australian Post-Compulsory Education Review report, Our Youth, Our Future.

In determining the requirements for 2010 admission the universities have consulted the school sectors and the Curriculum Council, and taken account of changes announced by the Minister for Education and Training and the Curriculum Council. All WACE courses fully implemented up to the end of 2009 will be recognised for the purpose of university admissions. There will be separate external examinations for stage 2 and stage 3 units in all courses. To ensure the best possible chance of success in university studies, students intending to study WACE courses are strongly recommended to attempt Stage 3 units in Year 12, if they are capable of doing so.

This information is relevant only for admission in 2010 and is subject to change without notice.

Tertiary Entrance Rank – Change of Name

Since the late 1990s each state (except Queensland) has used a common measure to rank Year 12 students for university admission. In each state this measure has had different names. In WA it was called the Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER).

It has been agreed that all states and territories (except Queensland) would replace these different names with a common name, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), during 2009 and 2010.

In June 2009, the public universities in Western Australia agreed that there would be a phased introduction of the name change over this period, with the term TER (ATAR) replacing the term TER in 2009. From 2010, students will receive an ATAR. This is a name change only, and has no effect on students’ ranking or the selection process for university.

Scaling

Some students will have a mixture of WACE courses and TEE subjects. To ensure fairness to all students, achievement in WACE courses and TEE subjects will be mapped to the same scale, using the Average Marks Scaling process. Unless otherwise specified, references to scaled marks in this brochure mean the final scaled mark obtained in either stage 2 or stage 3 of a WACE course, or in a TEE subject.

As an incentive for students to study WACE courses at the more demanding stage 3 if they are capable of doing so, an increment will be applied to stage 3 marks. After standardisation and statistical moderation has occurred, the combined unscaled marks at stage 3 will be increased by 15 marks per course relative to the combined unscaled marks at stage 2. After this, the marks in both stages are merged and scaled using Average Marks Scaling. No increment will be applied if a course is only examined at stage 3.
For the remainder of this publication, in the context of Year 12 study, the term course(s) means both WACE course(s) and TEE subjects.

Participating Universities

Curtin University of Technology
Edith Cowan University
Murdoch University
The University of Western Australia

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University Application Procedures

Application is made via TISC’s website.

The closing date for applications without incurring a late fee is normally the end of September. Offers of admission are made by the universities in the second half of January and in early February.

You can obtain further information about application procedures from TISC. Enquiries about mid-year entry, external studies, postgraduate studies, timetables and particular course requirements should be directed to the university concerned.

You need to apply for admission through TISC if you:

• are an Australian citizen
• are a New Zealand citizen
• have been approved/granted permanent resident status

If you are not one of the above, you are an international student and you need to apply direct to the International Office at the relevant university.

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You may qualify for university entrance by:

• meeting the normal school leaver requirements (see the 2010 Admission Requirements for School Leavers publication, but note that mature age applicants are exempted from the WACE requirement),
  or
• meeting the TEE/WACE examinations.

or on the basis of

• results obtained in the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT), or
• recognised tertiary qualifications (contact the individual universities for further information),
  or
• such other qualifications and/or experience as an individual university may accept. (Contact the individual university for details.)

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If you are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or a permanent resident of Australia, you can qualify for admission by:

• meeting the normal WA school leaver requirements (see the 2010 Admission Requirements for School Leavers publication). Mature age international applicants are exempt from the WACE requirement, or
• achieving an acceptable level of performance in the Western Australian Universities’ Foundation Program (WAUFP),

or on the basis of

• recognised prior tertiary qualifications (contact the individual universities for further information), or
• such other qualifications and/or experience as an individual university may accept. (Contact the individual university for details.)

International applicants or temporary residents who sit STAT can only use the results to supplement other entry qualifications or to prove English competence. Further information about courses and fees is available from the universities direct.

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The Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) is used by the four public universities in WA as part of their admissions procedure for mature age applicants.

As entry to most university courses is competitive, above average marks will usually be required. Please refer to the universities’ individual sections for specific details on using STAT as a basis for application.

Note: Some universities have prerequisite WACE course/TEE subject requirements for their courses, which you will need to satisfy for your preferred course of study. STAT may satisfy some prerequisite requirements.

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1. demonstrate English language competence; and
2. obtain a sufficiently high Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER (ATAR)) for entry to a particular university; and
3. satisfy any prerequisites or special requirements necessary to be considered for entry to particular courses.

The Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER (ATAR))
NOTE: All TEE and course results will be scaled to ensure fairness to all students. For students doing WACE courses, as an incentive to do the more demanding stage 3 units, results at stage 3 will be increased by 15 marks per course relative to the stage 2 results, as part of the scaling process.

A mature age TER (ATAR) provides a means of ranking students for selection for university admission. Applicants for each university course are ranked in order of merit based on their TER (ATAR).

A mature age Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER (ATAR)) provides a means of ranking students for selection for university admission. Applicants for each university course are ranked in order of merit based on their TER (ATAR).

The TER (ATAR) ranges between zero and 99.95 and is derived from the Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA).

A mature age TEA is normally calculated by adding the best two scaled scores. These may be in any combination of WACE courses and/or TEE subjects. The sum of the best two course scaled scores is multiplied by 2. The maximum TEA is 400. No course or TEE subject can be counted more than once. NOTE: Stage 2 and stage 3 of the same WACE course cannot both count.

Courses/subjects which are to be used in the calculation of a mature age TEA must be taken in the same year and candidates must be 19 years of age or over before 1 March in the year these courses/subjects are taken.

There are some unacceptable course/subject combinations. In addition, applicants should note that some university courses have specific prerequisite TEE/WACE courses. (Refer to the individual university sections for details of these requirements.

It is not necessary for a result in English or English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EALD) or TEE English Literature to be included in the TER (ATAR), however you may need to rely on this course to prove English Competence.

In calculating the final score for TEE/WACE courses, equal weight is given to the marks obtained in the final examinations and those from school assessments, except where subjects/courses are taken on a private basis. All scores are scaled/moderated before they are used for university entrance purposes.

Please refer to the individual university sections for additional university specific criteria on calculation of Tertiary Entrance Ranks (TERs (ATARs)).

NOTE: Students studying WACE courses are strongly recommended to attempt stage 3 units in Year 12.

Courses which are used to form the TER (ATAR)
 

Courses

TEE Subjects

Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies Aboriginal Languages of WA Applied Information Technology Arabic Aviation Career and Enterprise Chinese: Background Speakers Chinese: Second Language Computer Science Dance Drama Earth and Environmental Science Engineering Studies English English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EALD) Hebrew Indonesian: Background Speakers Italian Japanese: Background Speakers Malay: Background Speakers Marine and Maritime Technology Materials Design and Technology Media Production and Analysis Modern Greek Outdoor Education Philosophy and Ethics Physical Education Studies Psychology

Accounting Ancient History Applicable Mathematics Art Biology Calculus Chemistry Discrete Mathematics Economics English Literature French Geography German History Human Biology Indonesian: Second Language Japanese: Second Language Music Physical Science Physics Political and Legal Studies

Unacceptable Subject Combinations
You cannot use the following course combinations in calculating your TER (ATAR). It may be possible to take both courses but the result in only one may be used to calculate your TER (ATAR).

Biology (TEE) with Human Biology (TEE)
Chemistry (TEE) with Physical Science (TEE)
Chinese: Background Speakers with Chinese: Second Language
Discrete Mathematics (TEE) with Applicable Mathematics (TEE)
Discrete Mathematics (TEE) with Calculus (TEE)
English with English as an Additional Language/Dialect
English with English Literature (TEE)
English as an Additional Language/Dialect with English Literature (TEE)
Indonesian: Background Speakers with Indonesian: Second Language (TEE)
Indonesian: Background Speakers with Malay: Background Speakers
Japanese: Background Speakers with Japanese: Second Language (TEE)
Malay: Background Speakers with Indonesian: Second Language (TEE)
Physics (TEE) with Physical Science (TEE)

Courses Studied on a Private Basis
You may use results in courses sat privately in the calculation of your TER (ATAR). If you wish to sit courses on a private basis, you must enrol with the Curriculum Council. It is possible that not all courses will be available to private candidates. Your scaled score in courses you sit privately will be based on the examination mark only (out of 100) and may be used in the calculation of a mature age TER (ATAR). Results in WACE courses at stage 3 will be increased by 15 marks per course relative to the stage 2 results, prior to scaling.

Prerequisites
Make sure that you satisfy the prerequisites for admission to the university course(s) of your choice. Prerequisites are the courses or special requirements that need to be successfully completed for a student to be considered for entry to particular university courses. Generally a scaled mark of 50 or more in stage 3 of a WACE course or a TEE subject is required. Earth and Environmental Science 3A/3B may be used to satisfy the prerequisite ‘one science course’.

Prerequisites may be satisfied by results from the current year or previous four years.

Murdoch University does not require applicants to have undertaken specific prerequisite courses and instead provides introductory units to enable its students to become skilled in specific areas in which they may be lacking.

For some university courses the special requirements may include bridging/special course units, interviews, auditions, folio presentations, manual dexterity tests, aptitude tests, fitness requirements, etc. Information regarding any special requirements is only partly provided in this publication. Detailed information is available from the individual universities.

For an outline of prerequisites and preferred courses click here.

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Competence in English

For university admission purposes, usually you demonstrate competence in English by achieving prescribed performance in English, English as an Additional Language/Dialect (for eligible students) or TEE English Literature, or from the previously offered courses: TEE English or TEE English as a Second Language (ESL). You can meet the competence in English requirement with results obtained in any year.

Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)
For Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University and Murdoch University a mark of at least 145 in the Written English test of STAT satisfies the competence in English requirements. The University of Western Australia requires a mark of 150 in the Verbal component of the Multiple Choice section AND a mark of 145 in the Written English test.

English; English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EALD); TEE English Literature

Curtin University of Technology
Murdoch University
The University of Western Australia
You must achieve a scaled mark of at least 50 in stage 2 or stage 3 of English or English as a Language/Dialect or in TEE English Literature.

Edith Cowan University
You must achieve:

• a scaled mark of at least 50 in stage 2 or stage 3 of English or English as a Language/Dialect or in TEE English Literature; or
• a letter grade of A, B or C in two English units (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 3B) studied in Year 12; or
• a letter grade of A, B or C in two English as a Language/Dialect units (2A, 2B, 3A, 3B) studied in Year 12; or
• a letter grade of A, B or C in TEE English Literature.

All Universities
Stage 2 or stage 3 English, English as a Language/Dialect or TEE English Literature sat on a private basis (if available) can be used to meet all universities’ competency in English requirement (see Courses Studied on a private basis). In this case you must achieve a scaled mark of at least 50.

Concessions

Curtin University of Technology
Edith Cowan University
Murdoch University

(a)	If you have not met the competency in English requirement for one of these three universities, that university will concede competence in English to you if you have:
		achieved a standardised moderated numeric school assessment or standardised numeric examination assessment of at least 55 in stage 2 or stage 3 English, English as a Language/Dialect or in TEE English Literature
(b)	If you have not met the requirement (a) above for one of the above three universities, but you have:
		achieved a TER (ATAR) above the minimum specified annually by the universities,
	then you may demonstrate your competence in English for the above three universities by sitting the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT), or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) early in January.

The University of Western Australia

(a)	If you have not met the competency in English requirement for The University of Western Australia, The University of Western Australia will concede competence in English to you if you have:
		achieved a standardised moderated numeric school assessment or standardised numeric examination assessment of at least 60 in stage 2 or stage 3 English, English as a Language/Dialect or in TEE English Literature
(b)	If you have not met the requirement (a) above for The University of Western Australia, but you have:
		achieved a TER (ATAR) above the minimum specified annually by the universities,
	then you may demonstrate your competence in English for The University of Western Australia by sitting the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT), or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) early in January.

TEE English or TEE English as a Second Language (ESL) Sat Previously
For all universities, you have satisfied a university’s current competence in English requirement if you have satisfied that university’s competence in English requirement previously, via results in TEE English or TEE English as a Second Language (ESL).

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TISC and the participating universities cannot accept liability for any incorrect advice received from sources other than TISC, the universities or the universities' officially appointed agents.

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