01 Feb 2019
Submissions and reports
Reallocation of Commonwealth-supported Places for Enabling, Sub-bachelor and Postgraduate Courses: UAC response
The Department of Education and Training Consultation Paper notes that enabling programs 'give students the requisite background skills and knowledge to undertake further tertiary education' and are targeted at students 'who enter university through non-traditional pathways, particularly those without an ATAR'.
Given the increased entry into bachelor programs resulting from demand-driven funding for those programs, many students have avoided enabling programs. This is in spite of the fact that in many cases an enabling program would have been a better option for those students.
UAC data and analysis show that Year 12 students who complete an enabling program before entering a bachelor degree have lower attrition rates than those entering directly into a bachelor degree.
It is clear that Pathways programs are an excellent preparation for bachelor level study and should be widely available to students without the appropriate qualification to enter directly into a bachelor program.