Students’ hard luck stories on the march: Doubling of university entry exemption claims
EXCLUSIVE BRUCE MCDOUGALL THE DAILY TELEGRAPH OCTOBER 14, 2014 12:00AM SHARE
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No hardships for these students (see story below) ... Nora Samir, Amy Walburn and Emily T
No hardships for these students... Nora Samir, Amy Walburn and Emily Tjoeng from Randwick Girls High School after the first HSC English exam for 2014. Picture: Adam Taylor
THOUSANDS of year 12 students are claiming bonus points on hardship or disadvantage grounds to gain entry to their preferred UNIVERSITY COURSE, with numbers doubling in the past three years.
The Educational Access Schemes (EAS) — which allow students to top up their score and ENTERa course they would have missed out on — have become an industry as school-leavers seek to qualify under any of six major categories of disadvantage.
The number APPLYING FOR bonus points to enter tertiary institutions has been growing for several years. In 2011 data from the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) showed that 10,813 applied under the program. Now more than 20,000 apply annually.
Students can receive up to a potential 10 extra points that can get them over the line and into a chosen course if they can prove disadvantage such as illness, financial hardship or English-speaking difficulties. The special provisions — along with a separate scheme allowing year 12 students with special talents such as leadership or other achievements aside from results to gain entry to university while still at school — are changing the face of tertiary institutions.