Parent Seminars July, August and September 2013. About VTAC and its resources Ways of accessing...

Parent Seminars

July, August and September 2013

About VTAC and its resources Ways of accessing course information Applying for courses Special consideration and the Special Entry Access Scheme Applying for Scholarships Understanding the ATAR Change of preference The offer system Key dates and times

All material in this presentation is copyrighted.

VTAC administers application services for

• Tertiary courses• SEAS (Special Entry Access

Scheme) 2013• Scholarships 2013• Admissions tests (STAT and

ALSET)

VTAC also• Calculates and issues the ATAR

(Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) for VCE students.

• Provides information and enquiry services including telephone, email, blog, Facebook and Twitter.

• Conducts information sessions.


VTAC Website: This is the definitive resource to obtaining current information on courses, policies and procedures, applications and offers through VTAC – www.vtac.edu.au

VTAC Guide 2014 ◦ Printed book, available from newsagents (RRP: $12.00 incl.GST) – is a synopsis of

what’s on offer. Doesn’t include detailed course information. ◦ Online information

ABC of Applying – printed and online. ◦ Printed copies are distributed free to VCE students for their parents. ◦ Also available for download onto your device.

Social media Stay up to date with timely information, provided when you need it by subscribing to one of the following: ◦ VTAC Blog - http://vtacmedia.wordpress.com◦ Facebook - Facebook.com/vtacguide ◦ Twitter @vtacguide


Download the PDF from the VTAC website – publications. The download is free!

Saved onto a smart device for use offline.

Printed

Use the QR code for each institution Hold your device up to the QR code –

using the QR reader scan the code to get a list the information linked

There are individual QR codes for each institution and VTAC topic.


Use CourseSearch and short-list courses ◦A shortlist facility will also enable users to shortlist courses

from CourseSearch and email the list or search

The simple search

The advanced search

Choose search results i.e. Course name and/or subject name

Choose institution Choose Qualification type i.e. VET or HE qualifications Choose Area of interestChoose Application method

VTAC heading: This heading is created for the VTAC Guide and CourseSearch only.

Qualification, title, length: The official title of the course and number of years to complete the course.


Campus, VTAC course code and fee-type: Only courses with applications through VTAC have VTAC course codes. These codes show which institution, campus, course and type of course fees you are applying for.

Check the application method.

Brief description about the course.

Major studies: Provide a broader picture of what the course is about. Should be used as a research tool. i.e. Journalism Prerequisites: Are compulsory – if a student doesn’t meet prerequisites then won’t be considered for the course.

Middle-band: Provides additional bonus to the ATAR – it can assist students whose ATAR is a bit lower than the required ATAR.

Selection mode: provides a broad overview of what is considered as part of the selection.

Extra requirements: are compulsory requirements that must be done, in addition to applying. Must be taken seriously.


VTAC Applications are submitted through

VTAC if the course entry states ‘Apply: Through VTAC’

Direct to institution If the course entry states ‘Apply:

Direct to institution’, prospective applicants must contact the institution to lodge a direct application for the course


Register to set up a user account.

Keep the VTAC ID and PIN safe. Don’t give it to anyone!!

Once you’ve registered applicants can log in and make a course application. They can also: ◦ Update personal details◦ Change preferences as many times as they like◦ Lodge a SEAS and scholarships application ◦ Refer to messages ◦ Pay the processing fee ◦ Email VTAC ◦ Get their ATAR (when released in December)◦ Get an offer (when released in January)


Can list up to 12 courses/institutions on one application

Always list them in the order you want to get into the course NOT the order you think you will get into the course

Use the up/down buttons to move your preferences

Applicants applythrough institution (not VTAC)

Institution decides to makean offer or not

Institution can make early offerswhenever they choose

Need to apply directly to each course you’re interested in. So if you’re interested in 5 courses that state ‘Apply: Direct to institution’, you will need to submit 5 individual applications (one for each course)


Payment is online via Debit Visa or credit card or PayPal. Applicants don’t need a PayPal account, can pay as a

guest. While students should pay at the time of application,

its not mandatory. Have until closing date to pay. Don’t pay, won’t be processed or be eligible for an

offer. Apply by the 27 September and pay only $27. Apply

after that time and fees increase to $91 and $116


Allows selection officers to grant special consideration to applicants for course entry whose education has been impacted by disadvantage

It is not a get out of jail free card or a guarantee to getting into a course

Category 1: Personal Information and Location* Age Recognition as an Indigenous Australian Living or school postcode Under represented schools Gender

Category 2: Non-English speaking background

Category 3: Difficult circumstances

Category 4: Disadvantaged financial background

Category 5: Disability or medical condition

Category 6: SALT (La Trobe University), PPP (Victoria University) and REEP schemes

(University of Ballarat)

* Everyone is encouraged to answer yes to Category 1. Let the system sort out if you are eligible or not!


Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the disadvantage has impacted on their educational performance.

Students who have suffered long-term disadvantage must start preparing now!◦ Make appointments, collect supporting statements

◦ Don’t wait until the SEAS closing date it will be too late


Supporting statements should clearly outline:◦ The disadvantage, medical condition etc◦ How this has impacted on the applicant ◦ The timeline of how long the applicants has been

experiencing the disadvantage

Evidence is the key.

Applicants can edit their SEAS application as many times as they need, until the deadline.


Encourage all students to apply for scholarships. There are scholarships through VTAC and direct to institutions.

They are not just for smart kids, there are lots of access and equity scholarships too.

While no-one is guaranteed a scholarship, we can guarantee that if students don’t apply, they won’t be considered.


• The ATAR: ▫Is not a score out of 100 it is a rank between 0.00

and 99.95

▫It is not the be all and end all of a person. It is a tool that: ▫Allows tertiary institutions to rank students▫Provide a level playing field for applicants who have

all done different types of programs


▫ Is calculated by VTAC for use by institutions.▫ A student’s ATAR of 75.00 means that they are in the

top 25% of the Year 12 age group.▫ Very few courses select only on the ATAR. Most

courses look at a range of factors including: ▫Extra requirements ▫Middle-band bonuses ▫SEAS consideration and other bonus or special

consideration programs that students have applied for

To calculate the ATAR VTAC uses: ◦ English plus three other permissible scorable studies

(primary four) ◦ Plus up to two other

studies (5th and 6th increments)

Just because studies are scaled up – doesn’t mean a student will get a ‘good’ ATAR.

Students need to perform well in all studies to get a ‘good’ ATAR.

Sarah loves textiles, she got a 39 and was scaled down to a 37.

Chris was told that if he did specialist mathematics he would get a better ATAR because they are historically scaled up. Chris got a 15 that was scaled to a 19 in specialist mathematics

Which scaled subject score is a better contribution to the ATAR. The one scaled up? Or the one scaled down?

• ATARs are released to students: ▫Monday 16 December 2013 from 7am. ▫All students who are eligible to receive an ATAR, irrespective

of whether or not they have applied, can access their ATAR online or via SMS. Two ways to access the ATAR on that day: Internet at resultsandatar.vic.edu.au SMS – must preregister for instructions go to

www.vtac.edu.au/sms


• Change of preference opens on Monday 16 December 2013 at 11am.

• All students are able to change their course preferences up until 12noon Monday 23 December 2013.

• Institutional change of preference days, these are worth checking out (see December 2013 Bulletin).


Before changing preferences students should check: ◦ Last years selection data – don’t panic if the ATAR is slightly

lower, still put it down. Selection data fluctuates annually.

◦ Extra requirements to make sure they are complete

◦ Prerequisites – to make sure they meet them.


In a lot of courses you will see last year’s selection data.

This gives you a guide of the ATAR standard for last year. It is not prescriptive!!

• If students do not pay their processing fee they won’t be considered for offers.

• All offers are provisional and subject to accurate information being supplied by the applicant.

• Rounds of offers: ▫ Early round offers – for non-year 12 applicants ▫ International VCE▫ Main round offers – majority of offers to all applicants at any preference

for undergraduate places. ▫ Round two offers – smaller number of offers – filling places ▫ After round 1:

Negotiated offer (for all applicants) Supplementary offers (for all applicants)


Round 1 offer made – accept – still eligible for a higher preference in round two. Don’t wait!!!◦ If you accept an offer made through VTAC, can withdraw if get

a round two offer and get monies refunded Round 2 – about 3,000 offers made – no guarantees. After round 1: ◦ Can submit a negotiated offer for a course lower than one

you’ve been offered or NOT listed on your course preferences. ◦ Can check your user account for the status of the negotiated

offer.

• Can apply for a negotiated offer if its lower than one you’ve been offered or the course is not on your application.

• Always: • Ensure course requirements have been met• Check place availability with the course selection officer

and what additional documentation you may have to provide.

• Then complete the negotiated offer request in the VTAC user account

• Once you have received a negotiated offer, you are not eligible for any more offers. It is your new first preference!


Are only available to applicants who have not received any offers in round 1 or round 2.

Applicants must give VTAC permission to be eligible for consideration

Supplementary offers are processed weekly in February 2014 ◦ Applicants may receive two or more offers at the same time◦ Applicants will need to decide which offer to accept

• Always accept an offer you receive • Never wait to see if you get a better offer in round two • If you don’t accept any of the offers you have been

made, you are not eligible for a supplementary offer • Negotiated offers are no guarantee for an offer, unless

the institution accepts you


Everything that we have covered is in the ABC of Applying. New and cancelled courses are added and removed weekly. We hope to be running some online webinars later in the

year so stay in touch and updated by subscribing to: ◦ vtacmedia.wordpress.com◦ Facebook: facebook.com/vtacguide◦ Twitter: @vtacguide


Parent Seminars July, August and September 2013. About VTAC and its resources Ways of accessing...

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