Uni courses with lowest selection scores

Analysis of selection scores reveals many degrees and diplomas are much more accessible when wider factors are included than just an ATAR score.

If you don’t get the ATAR you needed for your first preference, there are other ways to get in.

Student scores in each course can vary by up to 40 points when subject performance, personal circumstances and other consideration is taken into account.

The Herald Sun has done an analysis of the lowest selection scores for hundreds of popular courses and found many degrees and diplomas become much more accessible when wider factors are included than just an ATAR score.

The lowest selection rank is the minimum standard required for an offer to be made in a course and is the best indication of how competitive it is to get in.

It is based on a student’s ATAR but also includes performance in an interview, audition or test, equity and access factors and educational, financial or socio-economic disadvantage.

According to the Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre, students don’t find out their exact selection rank for a course because some factors such as special consideration are kept confidential. However, a selection rank is always the same or higher than an ATAR.

A total of 132 courses are listed as having the highest ATARS of 99 or above, but there are just 13 courses with lowest selection scores of 99 or above.

For example, Business/Arts at Monash Uni Caulfield is listed with a high ATAR of 99.8 but its lowest selection score is 79.35. Similarly, Health Sciences at Deakin University in Geelong has a high ATAR of 99.85 but has a lowest selection score of 55.40.

This shows the range of entry scores for many courses, although there may be only a single student at each extreme.

The list of lowest selection scores shows Primary Education at LaTrobe Uni is accessible for some students on 70.15, along with Computer Science at Swinburne Uni Hawthorn on 70.40 and Space Sciences at RMIT on 73.6.

Acting head of VTAC Tamara Barth said students who missed out first round should not panic.

“Although four more offer rounds are coming up in February, the number of offers made in each round gets progressively smaller,” she said.

“So if you’re not happy with your January offer, be proactive about seeking support from the careers practitioner at your school or contacting tertiary institutions for advice so that you can finalise your new preferences before the first round in February,” she said.