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Admissions Procedure

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Section 1 - Purpose / Objectives

(1) See Admissions Policy .

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Section 2 - Scope / Application

(2) See Admissions Policy.

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Section 3 - Definitions

(3) To be added as needed

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Section 4 - Policy Statement

(4) See Admissions Policy .

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Section 5 - Procedures

(5) The admission of domestic applicants to any course of study at Victoria University (VU) is at the discretion of the Academic Registrar in line with the following procedures.

Part A - Eligibility for Admission

(6) To be considered eligible for admission at VU a person must demonstrate that they meet all relevant:

  1. University entry requirements; and
  2. minimum academic or training requirements (or equivalent) for the course level they are seeking to study; and
  3. Genuine Temporary Entrant visa requirements if they are not an Australian citizen or permanent resident; and
  4. published course entry requirements and selection tasks specific to the course they are seeking to study; and
  5. any other legislative or external requirements relevant to their eligibility to study

(7) Where a person can demonstrate that they meet all relevant criteria in (6) (a), they are eligible to be admitted to a course at VU.

(8) Where a person meets the relevant criteria in (6) (a) and (6) (d) but does not meet the academic or course entry requirements as outlined in (6) (b) and (6) (c), VU may elect to make an alternate or substitute offer of a course for which the person satisfies the entry requirements.

(9) Where a person does not meet the relevant criteria in (6) (a) and (6) (d), they are not eligible for admission to VU.

University entry requirements

(10) To be admitted to VU, a person must be able to provide verifiable proof of their identity, citizenship and date of birth in support of their application, as required by the University and relevant legislation.

(11) All persons admitted to VU must be at least 15 years of age at the time delivery of the course commences.

(12) A person under the age of 15 years of age at the time delivery of the course commences may only be admitted with the expressed written permission of the Dean of the relevant College.

(13) International applicants who, should they be successful in gaining admission, will be under 18 years of age at the time of enrolment may also be required to satisfy additional requirements and provide written, binding consent from a parent or legal guardian in order to be permitted to enrol.

(14) Admission of international applicants under the age of 18 years may require approval from additional relevant regulatory authorities.

(15) International applicants seeking to study on a student visa, and for whom English is not their first language, must be able to demonstrate a current test score with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or equivalent.

(16) Different IELTS scores apply to different courses. Applicants can seek advice on the relevant IELTS level from the College or VU International.

(17) A current IELTS or equivalent test score will be considered to be recorded within 2 calendar years of the scheduled commencement of delivery of the intended course.

(18) VU will not admit persons who are currently excluded or suspended from study at VU.

(19) Current or previous suspensions from other tertiary institutions may be considered grounds not to admit a person to VU as part of the selection process.

(20) Applicants who have met the entry requirements but have previously been excluded from VU or any other institution on academic progress grounds must demonstrate that they have an improved likelihood of success in the course for which they are applying.

(21) VC also reserves the right to refuse admission where, in the opinion of the Academic Registrar or Provost, the person's conduct would provide reasonable grounds to take action to exclude the person from study.

(22) An outstanding or unresolved debt to VU may be considered grounds not to admit a person to VU as part of the selection process.

Minimum academic requirements by course level

(23) A person seeking admission to a course at VU must be able to demonstrate that they have met the minimum academic requirements by either prior study or equivalent recognised competency for the course level at which they are seeking to study.

(24) Course level academic requirements are measured in terms of the course level in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), and are enacted to gauge an applicant's potential capacity to succeed at the level of study.

(25) International qualifications will be assessed to establish an equivalent level in the AQF framework in order to establish eligibility against academic requirements.

Course-specific entry requirements and selection tasks

(26) Entry requirements specific to the course may be set for any course at VU.

(27) All course-specific entry requirements must be documented and made available to persons who are seeking to apply for admission to the course.

(28) All course-specific entry requirements should be set with a demonstrable capacity to assess an applicant's potential capacity to succeed in the course and applied reasonably and equitably for all applicants.

(29) Course-specific entry requirements may include a specified level of prior study, including a specified minimum level of achievement in that study, particular perquisite courses, subjects or units, including specified minimum scores in these, and selection tasks. Equivalent study or significant work experience in a relevant field may also be considered in lieu of prior studies.

(30) Course entry requirements should be reviewed with in preparation for each admission intake to ensure currency.

Legislative or external requirements

(31) In addition to University and academic requirements outlined above, a person's eligibility for admission and to enrol at Victoria University may also be subject to meeting all relevant legislative or external requirements.

(32) The University will not admit a person where to do so would be contrary to Australian law.

Part B - Application

(33) All admissions administered via a formal admission centre require a completed application for admission into a course.

(34) Formal admission centres are defined as:

  1. Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre
  2. Direct Application to VU
  3. Victoria University International
  4. Research Admissions
  5. Internal applications or transfers
  6. Partner institutions for offshore international places

(35) Each admission centre will have its own application requirements. However VU, course level and course-specific entry requirements will be applied equitably to all persons applying for each course.

(36) Information provided as part of the application process, along with any selection tasks, will be used to determine an applicant's eligibility for offer.

(37) Any information provided as part of the application that is false or cannot be verified by the applicant may be grounds to not offer a place at VU.

(38) Any information provided as part of the application that is later found to be false or unable to be verified by the applicant may be grounds to revoke the offer of a place at VU, regardless of whether the student has subsequently accepted the offer by enrolling.

(39) Non-disclosure of information will also be considered grounds to not offer a place at VU.

(40) If non-disclosure is later discovered, this may also be grounds to revoke the offer of a place at VU, regardless of whether the student has subsequently accepted the offer by enrolling.

(41) To be considered for selection, all applications must be submitted by the relevant deadline, via the correct channel and completely.

Alternative Entry

(42) VU may also offer admission alternative entry modes into courses or intakes that are not administered via the formal admission centres.

(43) Alternative entry may be made available in circumstances where:

  1. the duration or delivery of the course would make formal application, offer and enrolment administratively cumbersome ; and/or
  2. the language and literacy levels of applicants could result in the application process being a barrier to admission ; and/or
  3. there is a formal training plan, a memorandum of understanding or an agreement or letter of intent/contract to provide training; and/or
  4. VU would be commercially disadvantaged in its relationship with external organisations if it imposed a formal direct entry application process.

(44) In all cases of alternative entry, the primary considerations must be for the equity of admission to the course and the person's potential capacity to succeed at the level of study.

Part C - Selection process

(45) The authority to select or deny applicants for admission for particular courses rests with the relevant College/s Dean.

  1. Implementation of this authority will be via the development and publication of selection criteria, which can be applied by both central Admissions staff and Selection Officers based within Colleges.

(46) All staff involved in selection must disclose where there may be a conflict of interest by completing and submitting a Declaration of Potential or Actual Conflict of Interest Form to their manager.

(47) The staff member must also withdraw himself or herself immediately from the situation giving rise to the conflict, pending advice from the manager to whom the disclosure was made.

(48) The selection methodology for each course requiring formal application must be documented and approved by the relevant Dean or College Board, and made available to all staff delegated authority to select applicants for admission to the course.

(49) All University and course entry requirements will be applied consistently and equitably to all applicants for a course.

(50) Where the information provided in the application is not sufficient to determine a selection outcome, a request for additional or supporting information may be made to the applicant. Failure to provide additional or supporting information within the required timeframe may impact the capacity of VU to make an offer.

(51) Permission to obtain additional or supporting information from other bodies or organisations may be requested from the applicant by VU. Where permission is not granted this may impact the capacity of VU to make an offer.

Equity in access

(52) VU believes in equitable access to educational opportunities for people of all backgrounds, experiences and abilities and will seek utilise recognised access schemes to facilitate this goal.

(53) Wherever possible applications will not be held for pooling or competitive selection at a later point and offers will be made based on an individual applicant's suitability for the course.

(54) Pooling applicants, to select competitively in relation to all applicants, may only be employed with approval from the relevant Dean or College authority.

(55) When seeking approval for pooling applicants, consideration must be given to the impacts of this practise on all admission centres.

(56) When selecting competitively, all applicants who are eligible for admission are to be ranked in relation to one another against documented ranking methodology with offers made in order of these rankings.

(57) Where required due to matters of profile, limitations of the College or VU to deliver teaching or limitations on the availability of places for external placements as part of a course requirement, the relevant College Dean may authorise the use of quotas as part of selection.

Part D - Outcome

(58) All completed applications will receive a formal selection outcome.

(59) To support VU's principles of providing equal access to educational opportunities, and to actively engage with and serve its communities, the University will seek to offer every applicant a place at VU, whether in the course for which they applied or another course deemed to be suitable based on the information supplied in the application.

(60) Where the applicant demonstrably meets all relevant criteria for admission, a formal offer of a place in a course at VU will be made in writing signed by the Academic Registrar.

(61) An offer in any other form, including in conversation or by written communication other than signed by the Academic Registrar, will not constitute an offer of admission to a course at VU.

Converting offer to enrolment

(62) All applicants who have received an offer for admission to a course are eligible to enrol in that course in that intake, subject to the conditions of the Enrolments Policy, by no later than the relevant enrolment deadline, or else defer their acceptance of the offer until the next commencing intake for that course.

(63) Failure to accept the offer by formally enrolling in line with the Enrolments Policy or deferring their acceptance by the relevant enrolment deadline for that intake may result in the offer being lapsed.

(64) An offer of a place in the course will include an offered fee rate based on knowledge of the student's eligibility against published criteria. An applicant must be able to providing verifiable proof of their eligibility to accept the offer and enrol, in line with the relevant requirement or legislation.

(65) An offer may be made conditional on the applicant subsequently meeting criteria such as providing confirmed academic results before they are permitted to enrol.

Alternative offers

(66) Where an offer cannot be made in the course for which the applicant has applied, but the applicant is deemed suitable for another course based on the information supplied in the application, an alternate offer can be made.

(67) Alternate are made with respect to the applicants preferred academic outcome and should consider realistic means by which the applicant may gain entry to their preferred course.

Packaged offers

(68) The University may make packaged or sequenced offers, where students are offered a guaranteed pathway through a number of levels of study, conditional on them progressing through each level successfully and sequentially.

(69) In packaged and sequenced offers, students will be admitted to the next level of study only once their eligibility to progress has been confirmed. A new application is not required; however the University may require the student to indicate that they are seeking to be admitted to the next level in line with their original offer.

Part E - Deferment

(70) The Dean or relevant College authority has the discretion to permit deferment for each intake in particular courses at particular locations. The ability to defer an offer may not be possible for all courses or intakes at VU.

(71) An applicant may only defer the acceptance of their offer once, and only prior to accepting their offer by enrolling in the course.

(72) International applicants may only defer by application to Victoria University International. If the international applicant has already accepted their offer, VU is required to report this deferral to the relevant government department.

(73) An applicant may only defer the acceptance of their initial offer once and may not defer at subsequent levels of a sequenced or packaged offer. Once an applicant has accepted the first level of such an offer by enrolling, they are deemed to be an enrolled student of VU and not eligible to defer any course to which they have gained admission as a result of this offer.

(74) The period of deferment will normally be until semester 1 the following year, unless a course is available for commencement in an earlier admissions intake.

(75) The period of deferment will normally be no longer than a year, except in exceptional circumstances where approval to defer the acceptance of an offer is granted by the relevant Dean or College authority.

(76) Upon receipt of a complete and timely request to defer acceptance of an offer for which deferment is available, VU will continue to consider the person an applicant in that course and not a student at VU.

(77) By granting deferment, VU does not guarantee that the course offering will be available to the applicant at the end of the period of deferment.

(78) Where the course is no longer available for an intake at the end of the period of deferment VU will seek to make an appropriate alternate offer.

(79) As the applicant has deferred the acceptance of their offer, the fee type and rate will be as applicable at the time of commencement of their studies, as determined by their enrolment.

(80) Where the applicant's eligibility for a particular fee arrangement may have changed over the period of their deferment, the applicant will have their eligibility for this arrangement reassessed prior to being permitted to enrol.

(81) At the end of the period of deferment the applicant will be invited to enrol to accept their offer. Failure to do so by the relevant enrolment deadline may result in the offer being lapsed.

Part F - Readmission

(82) Students of Victoria University whose enrolment lapses may reapply for admission to their course and will be subject to the same requirements as all other applicants at the time of applying.

(83) Applicants who fail to accept their offer by enrolling by the relevant enrolment deadline may reapply for admission to the course and will be subject to the same requirements as all other applicants at the time of applying.

Part G - Review of decision and appeal process

(84) An applicant who is not offered a place, or is made an alternate offer, is entitled to seek a review of the selection decision on the following grounds:

  1. the applicant demonstrably met all relevant University and course entry requirements; and
  2. the application was lodged completely, including providing all requested additional or supporting information, on time and in the correct manner; and
  3. the Admissions Policy and/or procedure was not correctly applied.

(85) A request to review the decision must be lodged in writing, addressed to the Academic Registrar, within 10 University business days of the selection decision.

(86) The Academic Registrar will arrange for a review of the selection decision by:

  1. the relevant College Dean or their nominee if the application was rejected on course specific grounds, or
  2. a Senior Officer of the University if the application was rejected on general University criteria.

(87) A written outcome will be provided within 10 University business days of the date received by the University.

(88) Where the outcome is in favour of the applicant, and a new offer is subsequently made, the applicant will be required to meet all relevant enrolment criteria in order to enrol. Where a new offer is made too late for the applicant to reasonably enrol and commence study, with a view to their ability to succeed in the course, a deferment will be applied on the applicant's behalf.

(89) A request to review the decision may be dismissed where the applicant cannot substantiate their request in line with clause (84).

(90) If the review is unsuccessful, the applicant may then appeal the admission decision on relevant procedural grounds via the University's Student Appeals process as detailed in the Student Appeals Regulation and Procedure . The grounds for appeal are specified in those instruments.

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Section 6 - Guidelines

(91) Nil