What is VTAC?

VTAC Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre

- is the body that processes the tertiary applications, Scholarships & SEAS applications- is not a government body- is a non-profit organization- scales VCE Study Scores & calculates the ATAR

VCAA Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority

- designs VCE Curriculum & Assessment- provides VTAC with VCE Study Scores

Resources for parents & students

Blog for everyonehttp://vtacmedia.wordpress.com

Facebook – preferred method for parents and students Facebook.com/vtacguide

Twitter - @vtacguide

VTAC Guide 2014 is a reference bookwww.vtac.edu.au definitive resource

How to use the VTAC Guide

• Important dates & fees – p 1 - 2

• Relevant Information pp 5 - 62

• Index of courses pp 63 – 120

• Course Information pp 121 – 424

• An index of major study areas pp 425 - 445

Types of Courses

CSP Commonwealth Supported Places Course codes end in 1 e.g. 1400514301 (CSP) Deakin University – Health Science

Full Fee Course codes end in 2 Payment is required up front (Some type 2 courses available for admission into degree courses at TAFE but majority are for courses at Independent Tertiary Colleges) Example Elly Lukas Beauty Therapy College 9600196052 (DFP) (Domestic Fee Place)

International Fee courses – end in 3 e.g. 1400514303 (IFP)

TAFE Courses – majority are government funded and end in 4

Useful web site http://www.goingtouni.gov.au

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

Online course entry

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

All material in this presentation is copyrighted.

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.

Online Course Entry continued

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.

Independent Tertiary Institutions

- offer courses on a full fee basis - range from 1-4 years full time - subject to an accreditation system

e.g Photography Studies College Endeavour College of Natural Health Elly Lukas Beauty Therapy College

Qualifications through VTAC

VET qualifications Higher education

• Certificate III• Certificate IV• Diploma• Advanced Diploma

• Undergraduate – Advanced Diploma – Associate Degrees– Bachelor

• Post graduate – Masters – Graduate entry teaching

• V

Refer to Page 11 – Colour Coding of Courses

Application Procedure

1. Students must register for a VTAC ID by logging on to www.vtac.edu.au

2. Students answer a number of questions …VTAC ID will be given3. Students will be asked to select their own Pin number4. Students log into VTAC User Account to apply for courses (using

VTAC ID and Pin)5. The VTAC User Account is also where students will - apply for scholarships - apply for SEAS (can only proceed after preferences submitted) - update personal details - change pin - change preferences - email VTAC - get their ATAR & Offer

Register

Receive VTAC ID and PIN

Login to VTAC User Account

Apply for courses

Apply for SEAS

Apply for Scholarships

To register with VTAC and enter preferences online you need Java

installed on your computer

• Identification: – Students need to include their name and date

of birth as registered with VASS and on CourseLink. If different use what’s registered then change.

• Citizenship type

What the registration includes:

The year 12 question!

• Residential address

Always use an Australian address – if students are going overseas check messages from the message centre in the User account.

• Include a four digit PIN• Confirmation for students before submitting:

Registration continued…

The VTAC user account

The SEAS application is activated once the course application has been submitted.

The course application

To add course preferences: Select institution and/or course or type in the course code.

To move a course on the preference list use the up/down buttons.

To delete a course use the x button.

Information and permissions

Confirmation screen

Payment screen

Cost of applying

$27 immediate online payment (timely applic)$91 Late application$116 Very Late application

Student’s responsibility to complete application accurately, answer all relevant questions and provide required information.

Payment is via: – Credit card/Visa or MasterCard Debit – PayPal

Don’t pay by the due date, the application won’t be processed and passed on.

Extra Requirements

What is an Extra Requirement?

e.g. Interview,Form,Folio,Audition

What is Additional Information? Information Session, Bonus Points

Pre-requisites Units 3 & 4 a study score of at least 30 in English (ESL) or 25 in any other English (Raw score not the scaled up score)

VTAC Personal Statement Online access via VTAC User Account

Listing Courses• Courses should be arranged in order of preference• Maximum of 12 courses• Applications close 27 September 2013• Safety net ….if still unsure students should…….

Assess skills & strengths Use Job Guide, Course Search in VTAC site Know course options – single degrees, combined degrees, TAFE Have obtained information from Institutions, Open Days, parents, teachers… Employment prospects Style of learning TAFE (hands on) Uni (theory) Location & style of Campus Investigate majors, minors …..

• Different types of special consideration: – SEAS through VTAC

– Others directly to the institution

• The Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) is the umbrella program run by a number of institutions through VTAC

Allows selection officers to grant special consideration to applicants who have

experienced educational disadvantage

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

Special Consideration – Special Entry Access Schemes Pages 28 - 42

SEAS Continued

• To access the SEAS application, applicants must:– Register with VTAC and create their VTAC user account and – Submit a course application – SEAS only becomes available after the course application has

been submitted. – No course application, no SEAS.

• Support documentation must be in by the closing date. • Students can go in and change/resubmit their SEAS as

many times as they like before the closing date.

• Closes: 5.00pm 8 October

SEAS Categories include

• Category 1: Personal information and location • Category 2: Non-English speaking background • Category 3: Difficult circumstances • Category 4: Disadvantage financial background • Category 5: Disability or medical condition• Category 6:

– Schools Access La Trobe (SALT)– University of Ballarat (REEP)– Victoria University (PPP) schemes.

• Other institutions recognise these factors, but take their applications via Category 1. Applicants should apply for Category 1 to be considered for other university under-represented schools schemes.

SEAS

Key to a successful submission:

- Meet all the eligibility criteria

- Tell the truth

- Keep the application individual

- Demonstrate IMPACT

- Clear and concise supporting documents

- Provide a timeframe for the disadvantage

Scholarships• The scholarships application:

Opens 9.00am 6 AugustCloses 5.00pm 18 October 2013

• All students are encouraged to apply - let the system sort out if you are eligible or not.

• Victorian universities provide their own scholarships to assist students both through VTAC and directly.

• Scholarships determined via the VTAC scholarships application may be awarded to: – students suffering with financial difficulties– Indigenous Australians and – other equity and access groups as defined by each institution.

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank

• The ATAR: – Is not a score out of 100 it is reported as a rank

between 0.00 and 99.95– Allows tertiary institutions to compare students who

have completed different combinations of VCE studies.

– Is calculated by VTAC solely for use by institutions.

• An ATAR of 75.00 means that a student with that ATAR has achieved VCE results that places them in the top 25% of the Year 12 age group.

Results and Change of Preference

Results will be available on 16 December

- internet ….resultsandatar.vic.edu.au

- SMS (must pre register)

Change of Preference 16 – 23 December (12noon)

Period where students can add, remove or put

preferences in different order.

Mrs Connolly available at school

Golden Rules of Change of Preference

• 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.

How to read selection data

The Clearly in: is the ATAR at or above which everyone who applied and was eligible for this course received an offer.

The % below is the percentage of offers made to applicants with an ATAR lower than the clearly in. This also gives you some idea on the percentage of people who had an ATAR lower than the clearly in but received bonuses to boost them up into the offered group.

Offers

Round 1 17 January 2014 Round 2 6 February 2014

Accepting an offer

Offers and enrolment instructions can be accessed by logging into VTAC User Account (on VTAC website) at the specified periods for each offer round.

Students also receive an offer letter by mail if VTAC fees paid.

Verbal offers have no status.

To accept the course students must enrol in the course.

The Offer Rounds

• 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:

– Round one offers – majority of offers are made– Round two offers – smaller number of offers – filling

places – After round 1:

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

Offers Continued

• 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

Enrolment

How do I enrol?Enrolment procedures will be outlined in offer letter (also available on student VTAC User Account)

Students can only enrol in one course and are required to attend in person on a specific date and time.

If unable to attend sudents must nominate aProxy…..plan ahead

Negotiated Offers

• Ensure course requirements have been met, including extra requirements such as interviews, folios etc.

• 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

• If the status is pending, the student can choose to change their course request.

• If the status is approved, the student will receive an offer in the next round and is not eligible for any further offers.

• If the status is rejected the student can submit another request for another course.

Supplementary Offer

• Available only if student has not received an offer in Rounds 1 or 2 or

• Have not been granted an Negotiated offer

• Have given VTAC permission to release their application to all courses with vacancies

Things to remember

• Applying Interstate

• Always check for new/cancelled courses

• Change of Address

• Change of Pin Number

• Deferring

• GAP year

• Don’t panic

Important dates

VTAC Applications Open now

VTAC Applications Close 27 September

SEAS Schemes close 8 October

VCE Results & ATAR 16 December

Via mail 17 December

Change of Preference closes 23 December

First Round Offers 17 January

Second Round Offers 6 February