Universities Have Been Busted Inflating Cut-Off Scores to Appear Prestigious

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham has called for more transparency from Australian universities about their admission standards, after releasing the findings of an independent report into how universities select their students. The report found that some universities are lying about their ATAR cut-off scores for certain courses, in order to make themselves seem more elite.

According to the report, universities are providing "inconsistent public information about course entry requirements." It also found cited examples of "universities making exaggerated claims regarding ATAR cut-offs, apparently in an attempt to boost perceived prestige."

We're all familiar with universities publishing those terrifying 99.9 cut-off scores for courses such as medicine, law, and engineering. However, as the report highlights, the scores unis make public are usually from the main round of offers only. Often, later offer rounds will have much more achievable cut-off scores.

The report also details how students can become overwhelmed by the confusing and inconsistent way that tertiary entrance scores are talked about and explained to them. "There is no common language adopted across the [tertiary education] sector to describe entry requirements," it says. "For example, the use of 'ATAR', 'ATAR plus, 'selection rank', 'course cut-off', 'clearly in'. It is not clear when a cut-off is truly a cut-off, when an ATAR includes equity or academic bonus points, or how providers apply bonus points."

The result of all this is many students, no doubt stressed by a year's worth of competitive exams and tests, don't apply for certain courses because they believe themselves incapable of achieving the ridiculously high ATAR entry scores required.

"The wide range of pathways into higher education study are confusing for some prospective students who may assume they need to achieve an ATAR cut-off that is unattainable for them in their circumstances, when this might not be the case," the report reads.

In general, the report claims that an emphasis on ATAR as the arbiter of uni entry is damaging to all students, as well as misleading. In the end, just like mum keeps telling you, it really is just a number: there are actually numerous ways of gaining entry into your desired course. Only 30 percent of all new higher education enrolments are achieved through meeting an ATAR requirement.

"Other bases of entry, including a large increase in applications directly to providers in recent years, means a more holistic view of admissions is appropriate," the report says.

The report recommends that Australian universities more clearly identify their admission requirements, disclose how many students are admitted to courses via "bonus points", and the ATAR score required to be in the top and bottom quarter of a student intake. The Federal Government is expected to respond to this advice in coming months.

Ahead of discussing the report at an education summit on Wednesday, Birmingham has tweeted that students "should get the info needed to make decisions about their future".

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