E I P
		University Admissions for NSW Tafe Graduates Procedures and Outcomes for NSW and ACT Universities
		97/14 Ruth Cohen Don Lewis Jacqueline Stone Graham Wood September 1997
		Evaluations and Investigations Program Higher Education Division Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs

©Commonwealth of Australia 1997

ISBN 0 642 236887

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the manager, Commonwealth Information Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601.

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction (Graham Wood)

Executive Summary

1. University Admissions Procedures for NSW TAFE Graduates
Ruth Cohen and Jacqueline Stone

2. Admission Outcomes for NSW TAFE Graduates who Apply to University:
Evidence from NSW and ACT Universities, 1991–1996
Don Lewis

The authors of this report would like to thank the members of the Evaluations and Investigations Program (EIP) Advisory Team which guided this project:

• Graham Wood, Principal Policy Officer, Higher Education, New South Wales Department of Training and Education Co-ordination (Project Director);
• Yvette Devlin, Director, Quality and Equity Section, Higher Education Division, Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA);
• Peter Nicholson, Director, Educational Developments and International Section, Higher Education Division, Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs;
• Cathy Barry, Manager, Curriculum Policy and Support Services Unit, TAFE New South Wales;
• Greg Chapman, Quality Assurance Co-ordinator, Curriculum Policy and Support Services Unit, TAFE New South Wales;
• Robwyn Miller, Curriculum Manager, Community Services, Health, Tourism and Hospitality, Educational Services Consortium, TAFE New South Wales;
• Dr Ed Parkinson, Director, Werrington College of TAFE, Western Sydney Institute of TAFE;
• Professor John Loxton, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Macquarie University;
• Dr Anthony Haydon, Director, Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee Credit Transfer Project;
• Andrew Stanton, Executive Director, University Admissions Centre;
• Robert Fordham, Higher Education Council; and
• Dr Lann Dawes, Senior Lecturer, School of Adult Education, University of Technology, Sydney.

The authors of the two complementary research studies which form the basis of this project also separately acknowledge the support of those who assisted with their work, as follows.

Ruth Cohen and Jacqueline Stone are grateful to the following people for their support and assistance with the qualitative component of the research project:

• John Allsopp, Lann Dawes, Maree Joulian, Erica Mann, Rod McDonald and Marina Paxman, University Admissions Officers; and
• TAFE Institutes and staff who assisted in the co-ordination and administration of the survey.

Don Lewis wishes to thank:

• San MacColl of TAFE New South Wales for valuable suggestions;
• Mike Kirby-Lewis and Andrew Stanton who assembled the TAFE and University Admissions Centre data files respectively;
• Lin Smith for merging the files and writing the programs to generate the data contained in the numerous tables and figures;
• Lai Sim Tan for assisting with the statistical analysis;
• Rob Hood for producing the figures; and
• Julie Chin for typing the tables.

Graham Wood gratefully acknowledges the evident and primary contributions to the project by the researchers involved:

• Professor Don Lewis, University of Wollongong; and
• Ruth Cohen and Jacqui Stone, University of Technology, Sydney.

Thanks also go to:

• the staff of TAFE New South Wales, in particular the Recognition Co-ordinators from TAFE New South Wales Institutes, who have been involved in a range of important ways; and
• the Vice-Chancellors and identified staff of Macquarie University, the University of Wollongong and the University of Technology, Sydney, for their willingness to be involved in this project.

Graham Wood also acknowledges the assistance received, at various stages of this project, from Anne Ricketts, Rick Kolan, Adrian Hall, Deirdre McDonald and Margaret Krause-Wegner.

CSU	Charles Sturt University
Macq	Macquarie University
Newcastle	University of Newcastle
Sth Cross	Southern Cross University
TAFE	New South Wales Technical and Further Education Department of Training and Education Co-ordination
TER	Tertiary entrance rank
UNE	University of New England
UNSW	University of New South Wales
USyd	University of Sydney
UTS	University of Technology, Sydney
UWS	University of Western Sydney
Woll	The University of Wollongong

This research project involved two complementary studies, both of which are contained within this volume, and which have their own Executive Summaries. Both studies looked at 1996 university admissions in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from the point of view of New South Wales TAFE graduates seeking admission. In order, the two studies are:

• Ruth Cohen and Jacqueline Stone, University Admissions Procedures for NSW TAFE Graduates; and
• Don Lewis, Admission Outcomes for NSW TAFE Graduates who Apply to University: Evidence from NSW and ACT Universities 1991–1996.

The first study is qualitative in approach, and the second quantitative.

Background

The research project was the result of a successful proposal for research funding under the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs’ (DEETYA) Evaluations and Investigations Program in order to examine, both quantitatively and qualitatively, university admissions procedures for TAFE graduates. The study was undertaken during 1996, focusing on the 1996 university admissions process.

TAFE New South Wales and three universities (the University of Wollongong, the University of Technology, Sydney and Macquarie University) agreed to participate in the project in a detailed way. In addition, 1996 admissions across all universities in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been analysed quantitatively.

The project involved a twofold approach:

• a qualitative analysis of the 1996 university admissions process, through a series of interviews with relevant staff from the three nominated New South Wales universities and a survey of final semester TAFE students (researchers—Ruth Cohen and Jacqueline Stone); and
• a quantitative analysis of 1996 data on the number of TAFE graduates and others seeking admission to university. This study analysed the number and distribution of applications, offers and enrolments in universities in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory between 1991 and 1996, further developing Professor Lewis’s 1991–1995 studies in this area (researcher—Professor Don Lewis).

An Advisory Committee was formed for this project comprising:

• Yvette Devlin/Peter Nicholson (DEETYA);
• Cathy Barry, Greg Chapman, Robwyn Miller and Dr Ed Parkinson (TAFE New South Wales);
• Professor John Loxton (Macquarie University);
• Dr Anthony Haydon (Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee’s Credit Transfer Project);
• Andrew Stanton (University Admissions Centre);
• Robert Fordham (Higher Education Council); and
• Dr Lann Dawes (University of Technology, Sydney).

I undertook the role of Project Director. The principal researchers were Professor Don Lewis of the University of Wollongong and Ruth Cohen, School of Adult Education, University of Technology, Sydney.

Project Rationale

In order to effectively promote and improve cross-sectoral linkages, it is necessary to have a sound understanding of current practices with respect to articulation and student pathways. The transition of students from TAFE to university has been at the forefront of educational issues in recent years. Prudent use of credit transfer can improve the equity and efficiency of the higher education sector:

• equity can be improved if all relevant educational experiences are taken into account and fairly assessed when making decisions about admission and credit transfer; and
• efficiency can be improved if students are not required to repeat material in university that they have adequately covered at TAFE.

Credit transfer and performance at university, however, become meaningless when TAFE applicants fail to receive an offer, or decide not to enrol following receipt of an offer. Previous research indicates that gaining admission to university is a major hurdle for many TAFE graduates.

The findings of research carried out by Professor Don Lewis in 1993 and 1995 identified several areas of concern and established the need for a comprehensive study that would examine admissions procedures and practices with respect to applicants with TAFE qualifications.

Project Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes

Objectives

The objective of the project was to analyse the process of university assessment of applications for enrolment from former TAFE students. This included analysis of:

• the way in which TAFE qualifications are assessed (including the relevance of the level and grade of the TAFE award);
• the way in which work experience is assessed; and
• other factors which influence the admissions process.

The project also planned to analyse the outcomes of the admissions process and compare the success of former TAFE students in gaining admission to university relative to that of other applicants.

Finally, it planned to compare the outcomes of applications for admission by TAFE graduates in 1996 with those in previous years to determine the impact that new factors, including the admissions procedures used for the first time in 1996, had on the likelihood of former TAFE students gaining admission to university.

Anticipated Project Outcomes

The project initially aimed to develop a model (or models) of best practice which would:

• serve as a guide to universities in assessing applications from TAFE graduates;
• lead to more consistent admissions procedures between universities and clarify these procedures in the minds of potential applicants; and
• improve articulation between the sectors.

At initial meetings of the Advisory Committee, it was considered that models of ‘desirable practices’ were a more realistic goal, rather than any set model of ‘best practice’ in this area. One important reason for this was that the study was not a comprehensive one targeting all universities or all admissions procedures.

The project also aimed to provide a quantitative analysis of the relationship between specific admission assessment practices and the resulting outcomes with respect to applications for admission by TAFE graduates. After controlling for other factors which are known to influence the likelihood of an offer, such as course cut-off and the level and grade of the TAFE award, the project aimed to compare:

• the relative success of TAFE graduates in gaining admission across universities which use different methods of assessment procedures; and
• the relative success in gaining admission by TAFE graduates at a given university in 1996 with the success of applicants to the same university in previous years.

Key Findings

The findings of the two studies are detailed in the following reports, both of which include separate Executive Summaries. The following overview outlines the key findings (in italics) and following each finding, some of the major issues and policy implications which stem from them.

Ruth Cohen and Jacqueline Stone—University Admissions Procedures for NSW TAFE Graduates

• Despite recent changes to university admission procedures, there still appears to be a lack of predictability, consistency and transparency of the assessment procedures which TAFE graduates will confront.

Universities need to publicise more clearly and effectively their admission policies and procedures, as well as procedures for credit transfer, in order to improve the opportunities for TAFE graduates when seeking admission to university.

Universities may also need to divert a proportion of their resources currently used to promote university enrolments in secondary schools to a specifically targeted program of student and staff information in TAFE institutions.

• The three universities surveyed presented assessment procedures varying in the relative weighting of different criteria, flexibility and degree of centralisation. A centralised system appears to offer the advantage of consistency and clarity of procedure while the flexible approach is better at accommodating students coming from a population with diverse backgrounds.

The research could not identify a single best system; however, important attributes of the different approaches are identified and should be considered when establishing procedures. Flexibility is needed to accommodate unique circumstances and students from varied backgrounds. Internal service consistency also is seen as crucial to student selection procedures and transparency of the process is essential.

• While over half of the TAFE Survey sample indicated an interest in attending university, only a proportion of these students appeared to have clearly accurate information on university admission procedures.

This finding clearly demonstrates the need for significantly more information to be provided to New South Wales TAFE students on university admission policies and procedures.

• Students identified TAFE staff and TAFE students as the two major information sources about university admission procedures.

It is significant that knowledge of universities and university admission procedures held by the TAFE sample came largely from their peers and their teachers. This confirms the need for universities to provide accurate, up to date information to TAFE students and liaise with TAFE teachers, in a variety of clear and effective ways.

Professor Don Lewis—Admission Outcomes for NSW TAFE Graduates who Apply to University: Evidence from NSW and ACT Universities 1991–1996

• Applications to universities across the board declined from a peak in 1992 to a low in 1996. Conversely, the number of offers were in reverse to this trend, peaking in 1996.

Changing conditions of demand (applications) and supply (offers) are a major source of uncertainty with respect to entry standards as tertiary entrance rank (TER) cut-offs and their equivalents have fluctuated widely for many courses.

• As a result, entry requirements for all students, including former TAFE students, fluctuated widely for most courses, with competition easing as 1996 approached. Not surprisingly, the percentage of students who received an offer increased during the same period.

Fluctuations in the number of applications, the number of offers, the offer rates and the entry requirements make admission to university something of a year to year lottery and require students and universities to make decisions under conditions of great uncertainty. Some effective, longer term strategies are necessary to improve predictability. Such fluctuations are a cause of concern for students, parents and academic planners.

• The percentage of TAFE-qualified applicants increased dramatically from 6.3 per cent of all applicants in 1991 to 10.6 per cent by 1996 and this was matched by a doubling of the number of offers to TAFE students in the same time period. This growth appears to have been mainly due to the increase in the total number of university offers and the declining application rates from other non-HSC categories of students.

The market for domestic students changed rapidly between 1991 and 1996. Applications from TAFE graduates grew at an annual rate of 9.7 per cent while applications from school leavers increased by only 2.4 per cent. Applications from other categories (non-TAFE and non-school leaver) declined by 9.1 per cent annually. Universities and government policy makers need to be aware of these trends and consider their impact on university admissions and broader educational policy and planning.

Other findings of note include:

• Between 1991–1994, TAFE graduates faced greater difficulty than other applicants in gaining admission to university, but this pattern reversed after 1994, with 1996 TAFE graduates more likely than school leavers to receive an offer for their first preference.

Universities in 1996 were faced with the need to make more offers to a smaller pool of applicants. Large increases in the number of offers to school leavers would have lowered the TER cut-offs considerably. This would have been interpreted (rightly or wrongly) as an indication of a decline in quality. Instead, the data suggest that more offers were made to former TAFE students and other non-HSC students, thus enabling universities to maintain higher TER cut-offs than otherwise would have occurred.

Encouragement for more streamlined credit transfer and articulation arrangements, for TAFE and other non-HSC applicants for university admission, would have economic advantages in terms of time and resource savings, as well as distinct educational advantages.

• Former TAFE students continue to select fewer preferences than other university applicants and are relatively unsuccessful in gaining admission to courses with high cut-offs.

Part of the reason for the selection of fewer preferences by former TAFE students is that many such students have opted for a specific field in which they are already working. Despite this, improved information dissemination from University Admissions Centres, other State/Territory admissions centres and the universities is needed to inform applicants of the consequences of selecting fewer preferences than other university applicants. TAFE applicants should be alerted to the broadened opportunities available through a fuller use of the choices available to them in the course preference component of the admissions application form.

• There is a correlation between the level of academic success at TAFE, and the likelihood of receiving an offer to university.

As there appears to be a fair degree of correlation between success at TAFE and the likelihood of receiving an offer to university, this information should be evident in the questions on the application form. That is, the university application form should explain that the applicant’s assessment record in their TAFE course will influence the selection process.

This finding also indicates the importance of a grading system for competency-based courses. Such a system allows TAFE applicants to be marked efficiently for the purposes of university admission, while preserving the essential aspects of the competency-based approach adopted in TAFE.

TAFE students need to be aware that better results in their TAFE subjects will enhance their opportunities to study at university.

• The number of applications from, and offer rates to, former TAFE students vary significantly across universities. Larger, inner city universities tended to have far lower first preference offer rates for TAFE graduates than newer, regional universities.

While some of the variations in the applications and offer rates may be explained by the location of the university (e.g. proximity to transport), the type of courses offered (e.g. full-time/part-time), and the TER cut-off for various courses, much of the variation remains unexplained. Former TAFE students, for example, have particular difficulty in gaining admission to universities located in Sydney.

• The new University Admissions Centre computerised admissions processing system introduced in 1996 by University Admissions Centre has made the assessment of TAFE qualifications more transparent and standard across universities, but appears to have had little impact on the likelihood of a TAFE graduate receiving an offer to a university.

The new University Admissions Centre computerised admissions processing system has clearly increased the potential for the assessment of TAFE qualifications to be more consistent across universities. This, however, depends on the extent to which universities take advantage of the features the new system offers. Key features are:

• the central assessment of qualifications by University Admissions Centres to categorise and assess TAFE awards; and
• the provision of standard schedules for the ranking of these assessments.

The schedules are made available for the use of universities, although individual institutions need not use the schedules produced by University Admissions Centres.

University Admissions Centres and universities should continue to monitor the impact in New South Wales of the new computerised admissions processing system. Further studies could be undertaken in this regard.

Both of the studies included in this report provide valuable insights into university admissions procedures for TAFE graduates and the current implications of these procedures, and will provide important reference points for future research in this area.

Graham Wood
Project Director
June 1997

Previous research has highlighted the difficulty of university admission for former TAFE students: TAFE graduates applying to university have been found to experience lower offer rates, face admission procedures which vary significantly across universities, and possess limited knowledge of these procedures. The purpose of this study, focusing on university admissions procedures and practices which apply to TAFE applicants, is to improve the pathway with respect to access, equity and efficiency. This study examined admissions procedures for TAFE graduates in three universities and surveyed TAFE graduating students to ascertain their level of knowledge about university admissions procedures and their university intentions.

It was found that universities are increasingly addressing the diverse needs of current student intakes in a range of ways including tailoring courses, providing bridging courses and monitoring performance in relation to academic background. Despite recent changes to university admission procedures, the lack of predictability, consistency and in some cases, the transparency of the procedures that remain still present TAFE graduates with immense difficulties in accessing reliable information to assist them applying for university admission.

The way in which policy relating to admission is determined was found to vary substantially across the three universities, as was the administration of admissions procedures. Flexibility in admissions practice suggested greater access for TAFE graduates and was more apparent where the system was less centralised. While flexibility of admission procedures is desirable to accommodate unique circumstances, clear principles are essential to information dissemination on admission policies. A more centralised system appeared more conducive to consistency and clarity of procedures.

Significant differences were evident in the methods and criteria used to assess applications. While all applications were assessed to some extent by way of the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) computer system, the degree to which factors other than academic qualifications and performance are taken into consideration and the method of assessing these varied greatly, consequently having access and equity implications for TAFE graduates and resource implications for the universities. Issues relating to the implementation of prerequisites and the appropriateness of some credit transfer arrangements were commonly raised concerns. Close liaison between universities and TAFE on these matters was acknowledged to be crucial.

Well over half of the survey sample of TAFE students responded as being interested in going to university; however, less than half of these named a specific university in which they were interested. More than a quarter of the participants indicated that they had no information about university admissions and it was found that much of what respondents felt they knew was in fact inaccurate information.

Survey respondents indicated that the two major sources of their information about university admission were TAFE staff and TAFE students. The university interviews revealed that most commonly information was transmitted via telephone inquiries. These findings and the evident lack of knowledge about university admission amongst TAFE students suggest the need to enhance existing strategies of information dissemination involving both TAFE and universities.

The report describes elements of good practice which are current, as well as elements of good practice that are desirable, but not yet widely implemented.