Jack Stathis Hi, I'm Jack Stathis, director, Education Queensland International. If you are an international student currently studying or thinking about studying years 11 and 12 or the International Baccalaureate here in Australia, you can apply through QTAC (Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre). QTAC processes, applications for the majority of the undergraduate and selected postgraduate programs offered by Queensland universities. The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is not a score. It's a rank. For example, if a student gets an ATAR of 80, they are 20 percent from the top of the year level. The ATAR number is then used by universities to select which students will be offered a place in a particular course. Some years there are less people in the queue or more places in the course. These annually different conditions affect the effectiveness of your ATAR score and its ability to get you in. I would like to welcome QTAC Chief Executive Officer Dr. John Griffiths. Dr. John Griffiths QTAC, as an organization, places applicants into 16 institutions, primarily in Queensland, but some into northern New South Wales as well, between sixty-five and seventy thousand students a year, and approximately thirty thousand of those being year 12 students. So we play a vital role in placing students into the process. Jack Stathis What is ATAR? What is its purpose and why do we need one? Dr. John Griffiths The purpose of the ATAR is to admit students into university in a transparent and fair way. If we didn't have an ATAR, it would be really difficult and subjective to admit students to do such a high demand course, for example, medicine. And so a student should be admitted over another student. So, we have the ATAR and we put students in a rank order and those students are admitted. So students across Australia, under the Queensland ATAR will have the equivalent ATAR that they would have received in another state. They will compete for the same course and have the same equivalent ATAR. And of the 50 places in a course, we will take the 50 most qualified applicants based on the basis of their ATAR and they will be admitted. Jack Stathis Thank you. What pathways does QTAC open and are the alternatives? Dr. John Griffiths The ATAR is not the only pathway into university, and in Queensland we're very proud of a range of pathways into university. So a lot of pathway options will be based around VET study. Universities depending on their entry requirements, will accept either a Certificate three certificate four or diploma level study and a lot of students will complete that study alongside the ATAR pathway. That study can either be included as part of the ATAR and the and the four plus one model, or it can be as a standalone qualification. Outside of those pathways, as pathways for students to complete a bridging program at university or program that will lead into their dream course, and that we strongly encourage that. Jack Stathis What do students need to know when applying from International Baccalaureate studies for admission to university? Dr. John Griffiths So the International Baccalaureate will have a score from 25 to 45 and we equate that to an ATAR score. In terms of subject prerequisites, they are set by the universities if it's an advanced maths in just making sure that equates through to the math’s methods or specialist math. Jack Stathis In those few cases where students are not in years 11 and 12 long enough to achieve the QCE and the ATAR. Would the special tertiary admissions test or the STAT, be an option for students to pursue a higher education pathway here in Queensland? Dr. John Griffiths So we still continue to offer the STAT test in Queensland. It is a test which tests numerical and reasoning ability for entry into university. And it is it is a pathway that students can take if they haven't completed the ATAR or they haven't completed a VET qualification and they would like entry into university. Jack Stathis And so there you have it. And a bridge guide of all things QTAC and ATAR. I hope this has been a help to you all. And thank you for watching.