Free uni up for grabs after tough times for Year 12s

With COVID-19 creating a drought of high-fee foreign students, Australian school leavers will find it easier to get into uni using scholarships and enrolment shortcuts. HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

SCHOOL leavers could be paid to go to university next year, as Queensland institutions fight for the smartest students.

With COVID-19 creating a drought of high-fee foreign students, Australian school leavers will find it easier to get into uni using scholarships and enrolment shortcuts.

Some universities are bending the rules for entry in 2021, to help Year 12s stressed by two months of school closures.

The Australian Catholic University will accept students based on Year 11 results from 2019, although they must still complete Year 12 to qualify.

“This has been an unprecedented time for Year 12 students, and we understand the importance of universities being flexible in supporting (them),’’ vice-chancellor Professor Greg Craven said.

James Cook University will turn to high school principals for recommendations on Year 12 students for entry.

James Cook University will ask high school principals to recommend Year 12 students for entry, instead of relying solely on Australian Tertiary Admission Rank scores.

It will give two bonus ATAR points to students living in regional and remote areas with postcodes from 4306 to 4895.

And up to 10 bonus ATAR points will go to students who pass maths methods or specialist maths, biology, chemistry, physics or a foreign language.

Griffith University will offer 80 scholarships, worth up to $24,000 each, to academically gifted students with an ATAR of at least 95.5.

The uni will also let students without an ATAR enter university with a Certificate III, Certificate IV or a diploma completed at school.

Griffith University will be offering 80 scholarships for school leavers.

Bond University will offer places using Year 12 students’ first-term results, before the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“We sympathise with this year’s Year 12 cohort because not only are they the first Year 12s in Queensland to undertake ATAR, they have had to deal with changes to their schooling due to an unprecedented global pandemic,’’ a spokesman said.

The University of Southern Queensland will pay $29,000 for Australian students with an ATAR of 97, $20,000 for an 88 and $6000 for an 84, so long as they put the university first on their Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre form.

School leavers with an ATAR of 99.9 could qualify for a scholarship of up to $60,000 over five years from the University of Queensland. Picture: Josh Woning.

Central Queensland University will let students apply for entry early “in response to the potential challenges faced by 2020 school leavers’’.

The University of Queensland will offer the richest academic scholarships, of up to $60,000 over five years for school leavers with the top ATAR of 99.9.

The Queensland University of Technology offers 145 types of scholarships, including 90 worth $30,000.

The University of the Sunshine Coast has donor-funded scholarships of up to $40,000.