Pondering Careers - Edition 14

Welcome back to another week of pondering what's possible! This little weekly newsletter aims to bring you a quick wrap-up of what's happening in our space, so that you can get back to what you're doing with a couple of extra resources in your back pocket.

This week, you'll find an overview of the university application process, as well as some ideas about alternative education models.

University Applications

We’ve just released our Apply to Uni Guide for 2023 for Australian students, which has got me thinking about the university application process.

It seems that each year there are changes to the application process – some of them deliberate, some of them less so. In the deliberate camp, this year QTAC have released their new applications portal which seems to be tracking well so far, and I’m loving the Maptivate tool from Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) shown below: ?

One of the changes we’ve seen this year is a trend away from Early Entry programs – not driven by the students, but rather by the schools and tertiary application centres.

For those not from Australia: Early Entry programs allow students to apply directly to the university on the basis of earlier results or extra information (like a Principal’s Statement) and receive an offer months earlier than they would normally. It can help them feel more comfortable about their future, and give them more options to choose from, but there have been some reports that it makes the process of managing the applications more difficult for schools, plus students may choose not to work as hard once they have an offer.

For context, in NSW last year there were about 47k ‘standard’ applications, but over 126k Early Entry applications. As there were only 67k students in total leaving school in NSW last year, we can safely assume many students made more than one application.

In NSW, universities aren’t allowed to hand out early offers until September , which does seem to defeat the point of the early offer, as the aim was to give students peace of mind before they sit their final exams.

I’ve noticed that more universities are offering Uni at School programs that allow students to bypass the ATAR and progress straight into a degree on successful completion of one of the first year units, and I’m wondering if this may be one way the universities can circumvent the restrictions on Early Entry. For example, 澳大利亚皇家墨尔本理工大学 Extension allows you to complete two undergraduate subjects in Year 12, with up to 5 points extra on your ATAR and no fees, and CQUniversity give you direct entry into an aligned degree when you complete a unit successfully.

Why do we put together Apply to Uni?

Because the process can be complicated, and we want students to review their options without all the shiny brochures and marketing hype that tends to surround the university application process.

We break down myths about the process, and give students (and their families) a step-by-step process to follow to get the ball rolling. In Australia, there are six different tertiary application centres to get your head around – each with their own process – plus in many cases students can apply directly to each individual institution, which can get a bit overwhelming.

Although I’ll probably be shot down for saying it, it’s possible that having one centralised admissions service for all of Australia would be a good thing. It could also streamline the vocational application process and bring everything into one place, but now I’m really dreaming.

But, UCAS in the UK does just this – they process literally millions of applications each year for over 380 universities and colleges, as well as apprenticeships, all through the one central system, so perhaps there is hope after all...

Some facts and figures about uni applications in Aus?

In 2022, most people who wanted an offer got one.

In NSW, there were 46,812 applicants, and 43,015 applicants received an offer. While I don’t have access to all the data, I would assume this doesn’t mean that if everyone applied we’d all get an offer – more that the people who choose to apply for university are the people who should be applying.

From the same dataset from UAC (thank you for the great data btw) we can see that lots of young people are applying for university a couple of years after school has finished – over 22k under 25s applied through UAC last year.

Which is great – these people have had some time to think about their options, maybe try some other training, perhaps earn a bit of cash, before enrolling in uni.

And the last stat that I found interesting (but not good) is that First Nations students make up just 2% of all university students , well below population parity of 3.8%, and for the most illustrious universities in the Group of Eight , Indigenous students make up just 1.2% of the student population.

Some universities, however, are leading the charge, with CQUniversity boasting 4.9% First Nations, James Cook University up at 5.7%, and Charles Darwin University well ahead on 7.8%.

Alternative Models of Education

The 74 Media have put together a great resource with a stack of case studies from some of the USA’s most innovative secondary schools, and it’s well worth a read for any of us thinking about what the future of education might look like.

These case studies are fascinating, and give us proof that it is possible to make alternative methods of schooling work even in some of the most difficult areas.

Take the program from Arizona ; they reformed the traditional model with 11 high schools into a system with 11 comprehensive high schools, six small specialty schools, three microschools, three alternative programs and an online-only school.?They have schools where you can focus on coding and cybersecurity, or bioscience, and other schools have been reconfigures to offer workforce technical training.?

A couple of weeks ago I had a great chat with Scott O’Hara from Jerrabomberra High School who is doing some amazing work rethinking what school might look like here in Australia, which reminds me of this approach but on a more local level. Students at Jerra will be able to choose from project based electives linked to the world of work, and he’s using the Career Clusters to provide context to the options.

Not busy this afternoon?

I’m hosting a quick Professional Development session for Humanities teachers who want to learn more about the Career Clusters and how they can be used in the classroom – this session is designed for educators but Career Advisors are of course more than welcome.

The session starts at 3.30pm AEST and you can register (or catch up) here .

That's it!

Thanks for joining me, whether it's your first time or you've been with me from the start.

As always, if you have any news, resources, or information you'd like to include in the newsletter please let me know - you are the reason why I write, and this newsletter is as much yours as it is mine.

Have a great week!