UNSW set to reject claims it wants to lower admission standards  

Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald had a screamer of a headline, “top uni’s plan to cut entry standards.” The uni involved is UNSW but in a short statement DVC E Merlin Crossley replies, “don’t believe everything you read in the papers.”

The SMH story reported UNSWwants to lower its entry standards” for Year 12 and international entrants,” “to battle a multi-million dollar revenue shortfall.” It was based on a student recruitment marketing meeting after census date and suggested an alternative entry scheme in engineering, which accepts students with lower than regular ATARs, could extend to other courses.

However, the engineering entry scheme mentioned is a standard ex-ATAR programme which UNSW continues committed to.

UNSW observers also suggest the university will reaffirm its commitment to continuing entry standards that match other Group of Eight elite-entry unis and will explicitly state that marketers do not decide admissions.


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