How thousands of students are overcoming challenges and gaining entry to uni

Not everyone gets an equal shot at their Year 11 and 12 studies. Life throws in some pretty serious challenges along the way, like chronic illness or ongoing financial stress.

If you are navigating health issues, a family break-up or other challenges that affect your education, the Educational Access Scheme (EAS) can help you get to uni by increasing your selection rank and making you more competitive for an offer.

An EAS application is automatically generated for UAC undergraduate applicants who live in identified low socio-economic areas.

There are also eight general categories of circumstances you can claim:

• disrupted schooling
• financial challenges
• severe family disruption
• excessive family responsibilities
• English language difficulty
• personal illness/disability
• refugee and humanitarian status
• school environment.

More than 8,000 students have applied for EAS since applications opened in April this year.

How to apply for EAS

There’s still plenty of time to get your EAS application in. Just follow these steps:

1. Complete your UAC application for undergraduate study.
2. In your UAC application, follow the link to EAS.
3. Claim all the circumstances that apply to you and submit your application. You’ll be given instructions to upload specific supporting documents (eg applicant statement, educational impact statement provided by your school, medical impact written by a health professional).
4. Once you’ve collected your documents, upload them to your application.

Submit your EAS application and documents by 21 November 2024 to have them considered when offers are made in December Round 2 (23 December 2024).