Transcript Unlocking the Secrets of UAC Admissions

Unlocking the Secrets of
UAC Admissions
Friday 10 December 2004
Council Chamber
UNSW
Who are we?
 Will Johncock, Admissions Assessment Officer
 Rebecca Kimber, Team Leader, UAC Admissions
 Sonia Nitchell, Head, UAC Admissions & Equity
Programs
 Kathryn Whittingham, Manager, Admissions &
Student Recruitment
UNSW STUDENT SERVICES
What are the key dates?
 3 December: Early Round (UNSW does not
participate in the Early Round)
 17 December: NSW HSC results e-release
 18 December : UAIs e-released by UAC
 21 December: Mail HSC results and UAIs
 5 January : Preliminary Round (ADFA and onshore HSC International offers) – Accept Online
opens for these applicants
 5 January : UNSW Info Day
………more key dates
 6 January:







19 January:
20 January:
28 January:
2 February:
9 February:
18 February:
21 February:
Close change of preferences for
Main Round
Release of Main Round Offers
Accept/Enrol Online opens
Last day to Accept offers
Late Round Offers
Final Round Offers
Last day to Enrol
O’Week begins
Who are UAC applicants?
 Broadly two groups of applicants:
A = current or recent HSC only, UPP only
B = hold multiple qualifications (eg. secondary, several
tertiary) or tertiary only
 Group A are straightforward
– only qualification on which to assess for entry is their
secondary or bridging rank (UAI or equivalent)
– UAC converts non Aust Year 12 quals to provide
equivalent admission rank (eg IB 30 points=AR 90.40)
Who are UAC applicants? (cont’)
 Group B generally more complex
- usually have both a secondary rank AND one or more
tertiary ranks
- UNSW will look at some ranks but not others
- Tertiary ranks are derived from UAC Schedules (agreed
to by all institutions in NSW/ACT) depending on grades
achieved in each qualification
- overall assessment of an applicant will differ depending
on the UNSW program to which they are applying
What does UAC do?
 Provides a centralised system for allocating
offers to local undergraduate applicants
 UAC does what we ask them to: they do
NOT make decisions about which
applicants we make offers to
 At UAC assessors specific to UNSW
process our applicants according to
guidelines we provide and in close
consultation with Rebecca
What is an Admissions Rank?
 A rank derived from a qualification or work
experience which can be used to differentiate
applicants for admission to university
 All qualifications/work experience are assessable
BUT not all are recognised by UNSW
 UNSW considers:
 Year 12 qualifications (Australia and some overseas eg. HSC,
A Levels, IB)
 Completed TAFE/private provider qualifications
(minimum level - AQF Certificate IV)
 Tertiary study (minimum of one full time year 0.75FTE)
What is the UAI?
 An example of an Admissions Rank (ie secondary, SR)
 The UAI indicates the rank of a NSW/ACT Year 12
student, relative to their age group
 Based on an aggregate of a range of scaled HSC marks
 The UAI is a numerical value with the range
0.00 to 100.00
 A UAI of 100 does not mean a “perfect score”
 Students may be eligible for a Limited UAI if they were at
least 20 years of age on 1 March 2004, and have taken
between 5 and 9 eligible courses in 2004, including at least
1 unit of English
What are CRSDAs?
 Course Rank Set Derivation Algorithms (aka “algorithms”)
 There is no “perfect” algorithm – hence, we provide
reports to Faculties to ensure suitable applicants are not
disadvantaged
 A means by which different ‘weightings’ can be applied to
secondary and/or tertiary qualifications
 Faculties use different algorithms e.g
4J – Best of any rank (ADFA and Atax)
5Y – Most recent tertiary study (COFA)
5X – 80:20 (Arts & Social Sciences, Grad/PT Law)
 Final Rank for each preference is determined by CRSDA
How are the number of offers
calculated?
 UNSW Enrolment Plan gives expected
enrolments, by program, by funding type, as
at 31 March
 Attrition factor of ‘initial’ to ‘final’
enrolment applied
 Conversion rate of ‘offer’ to ‘initial
enrolment’ added on
 It is not an exact science – applicant
behaviour can change!
Calculation of offers – an
example
 B Social Science (3420)
 Enrolment Plan – 54 persons
 Trends suggest a 6.25% attrition rate
between initial and final enrolment – 57
persons
 70.59% conversion rate, offers to enrolment
– 81 offers
How are offers and cut-offs
determined?
 “Supply and Demand”
 Allocation meetings – Professor Robert King,
UNSW Student Services, Institutional Analysis &
Reporting, in consultation with Deans
 Review UAC simulation results
 Aim is to fill the OVERALL University enrolment
target
 Parameters and sub-quotas set in the UAC system
 Parameters : number of offers/minimum cut-off
 Sub-quotas : ACCESS
How are offers and cut-offs
determined?………..continued
 Allocation meetings will be held 11 –17 January
to look at data simulations
 23 simulations in total for Main Round
 Offer pool also affected by other universities –
domino effect
 Same process for LFEE, subject to “35% rule” and
filling of Commonwealth Supported (CS) places
 LFEE cut-off may be up to 5 points below the CS
cut-off
What happens next?
 Offers are finalised w/e 15 & 16 January
 Main Round “Live Run” : 10.00, Monday 17
January
 e-release of offers : 21.00, Weds 19 January
 Students have until 28 January to accept their offer
 Acceptances inform the number of vacancies
available for the Late Round & Final Round
How does ACCESS work?
 The ACCESS Scheme is the UNSW scheme for
(predominantly) Year 12 applicants who have experienced
long-term educational disadvantage (eg. financial, rurality,
illness/disability, parental death)
 Students apply through the Educational Access Scheme
(EAS) administered by UAC on behalf of the universities
 EAS guidelines determine eligibility
 UNSW notifies applicants of eligibility for the ACCESS
Scheme in early December
ACCESS (cont’)
 UNSW – 5% quota of places in each program
 ACCESS eligible applicants whose rank is below
the standard cut-off compete with each other for
an ACCESS place (ie.within the 5% subquota)
 ACCESS applicants can receive an offer with a
rank up to 10 points below the published cut-off
(both HECS & LFEE)
How does SCATS work?
 Special Consideration for Applicants with Tertiary Study
(www.unsw.edu.au/scats )
 Students apply directly to UNSW
 Application closing date: 26 November
 Assessed for eligibility by the UAC Admissions Team, in
conjunction with the Faculties, according to EAS
guidelines
 Admission Ranks are adjusted accordingly
What we can do for you…….
 Advise on UAC Admissions policies &
procedures
 Provide Preference Statistics for each UAC
closing date to VCAC, Academic Board and
Faculty Executive Officers
 Supply mailing details for applicants who
have a preference with UNSW
What we can do for you (cont’)
 Run Applicant Reports – after close of
change of preferences (midnight 6 January
2005) and assist with processing these
 Provide output after each simulation
 Supply details of all applicants who receive
an offer
 Manage unsuccessful applicant appeals
 Acceptance and Enrolment Statistics
Handouts
 Presentation slides
 Bookmark and leaflet of key dates
 Copies of “You and Your UAI”
 Example applicant report
 Example course report
Any questions/want to know
more?
Rebecca Kimber
[email protected]
Sonia Nitchell
[email protected]
Kathryn Whittingham
[email protected]
Come and see us in LG17 – Chancellery!