NSW Universities admitting sub-par students into teaching, data shows

Students who barely passed the HSC are getting into teaching degrees across the state in a worrying sign for the future of education.

Academically challenged HSC students who barely managed to score an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank above 50 last year have slipped into teaching degrees in a worrying sign for the future of Australian Education.

The lowest ATAR for a person accepted into a Bachelor of Education degree to become a secondary school teacher was just 53.50 at the University of Newcastle, according to Universities Admissions Centre data.

That means the student’s ATAR was about half of the maximum score of 99.95, he or she probably failed at least some of their HSC subjects but will be back in the classroom in three years’ time educating the next generation of Australian children.

It is a similar story at the University of Canberra where the lowest ATAR to get into secondary teaching is 54.50.

And at Australian Catholic University, HSC students only need an ATAR 52.55 to get into the Bachelor of Education course.

People who scrape by in the HSC are successfully starting a university degree in teachig.

ACU Executive Dean of Education Prof Mary Ryan said those students were “few in number” and got in because of adjustment factors they were given for extenuating circumstances.

She said 93 per cent of graduates landed a job within months of graduating which “confirms that measuring a student solely on their high school result does not indicate their ability to achieve at university or the quality of teacher they will become.”

P and C Central Coast Council member Craig Kettle said the dumbing down of teaching graduates was evident in the public school system.

“I had an instance with my daughter who in a maths quiz, answered the question and the teacher said it was wrong,” he said.

“She brought it home and I realised the teacher was actually wrong. I told the principal who brought it to the attention of the teacher.

“How can we expect teachers to breed excellence within our children when they are barely getting a passing grade themselves?”

Some teachers just got an ATAR of 52 and could be in classrooms in just a few years.

At the University of Western Sydney, the minimum entry requirements are higher to get into a bachelor teaching degree but students who score an ATAR of just 46.20 can enrol in a one year pathway to teaching primary course.

A University spokeswoman said people who did not score a high ATAR could become very good teachers after five years of study.

“To imply that someone who received an ATAR below 50 is incapable of success at university is to ignore the many, non-academic factors that might affect a student’s HSC performance,” she said.

Victoria has introduced a minimum ATAR of 70 for teaching degrees while the NSW Government introduced rules in 2016 saying students need to score at least 80 per cent in three HSC subjects.

Australian Tutoring Association president Mohan Dhall students who scored an ATAR of just 52 almost certainly had not scored over 80 per cent in three different subjects and would struggle with literacy and maths concepts.

Some believe that a failed student does not necessarily turn into a complete failure as a teacher.

“They can also really struggle with critical thinking and understanding how to make students perform better academically,” he said.

UTS school of education Prof Don Carter said students still had to pass the federal government’s Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students at the end of their degree before they could get a job. He said some low performing students had gone through hardship while others matured significantly after three years studying at university.

“Quality teaching does require education students to have a solid ATAR,” he said.

“But that doesn‘t always dictate the quality of the teacher at the end of the teacher’s education and when they go into service,” he said.