Queensland Year 12 Students without OPs

How are you considered for tertiary entry?

Students who complete Queensland Year 12 and do not qualify for an OP can still gain entry to courses offered at tertiary institutions participating in QTAC.  All applicants, whether they have an OP or are OP ineligible, must still satisfy minimum entry requirements such as prerequisites.  Prerequisites may be subject requirements or portfolio/audition requirements for creative and performing arts courses.

How are selection ranks determined for OP ineligible students?

Selection ranks for OP ineligible students are calculated from schedules developed by the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) and QTAC in consultation with tertiary institutions.  Like OPs, the schedules provide selection ranks that are based on the best possible information about how well a student did against all other OP and OP ineligible students.

To calculate a selection rank for an OP ineligible student, QTAC uses the achievement levels for Authority, Authority-registered and approved Vocational Educational and Training (VET) subjects reported on the Senior Statement only.  Only the best 20 semester units of study are used.  Results in the QCS Test are also used, if the test was sat.  Please note that a poor result in the QCS Test cannot have a negative effect on a student's QTAC selection rank.  The QCS result can only be used to moderate the rank upwards.  

Students should be aware that the decision to undertake an OP ineligible program may make it difficult if not impossible to achieve the high selection ranks necessary for entry to very competitive tertiary courses.

Please note that the OP ineligible rank may not be recognised in other states of Australia or overseas. If you are intending to apply to tertiary institutions interstate or overseas you should check with the admissions office of the institutions before choosing the OP ineligible pathway.

Students completing Year 12 with fewer than 20 semester units of Authority, Authority-registered and VET subjects will not be eligible for a selection rank on the basis of the OP ineligible schedules.

Queensland Senior Applicants not eligible for the Award of an Overall Position^a(2007)

The ranks shown in this table and the numerical equivalents shown in footnote 'c' are specific to Queensland senior studies completed in 2007. Both the ranks shown and the numerical equivalents may change for 2008 dependent upon actual Year 12 achievement patterns. Where embedded units of competency/modules are reported on the Senior Certificate, these can be used to make up the best 20 semester units, if this advantages the applicant.

^a For assessment under this group of schedules, applicants must be OP ineligible, and must have at least 20 semester units of Authority, Authority-registered and/or Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects recorded on their Senior Certificate.  OP ineligible students who do not qualify for assessment under these schedules will be considered individually.

^b  Weighted by the number of semester units of Authority, Authority-registered and Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects reported on the Senior Certificate for the year of application.  For students with twenty or more semester units in Authority, Authority-registered and VET subjects, results in the best twenty semester units only, are taken into account.  VET subjects each count as 1 semester unit.

^c  Authority subjects based on: VHA = 8.9, HA = 6.3, SA = 4, LA = 2.3, VLA = 1.3
Authority-registered subjects (including Subject Area Specifications) based on: VHA = 5.3, HA = 3.5, SA = 2, LA =1.4, VLA = 1
Recorded Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects based on: Successful (J) = 3.5
Embedded modules based on: Successful = 4.4

Working it all out

An example below demonstrates how the rank is calculated for Stephen, a 2007 OP ineligible student (based on 2007 student data).

Stephen has received the following results on his Senior Certificate:
English Communication – HA – 4 semesters;
Ancient History – LA – 2 semesters;
Legal Studies – SA – 4 semesters;
Mathematics A – SA – 4 semesters;
Biology – SA – 4 semesters;
Industrial Skills (Furnishing 2003) – HA – 2 semesters;
Follow Safe Working Policies and Practices - J (competent) - 1 semester;
Individual Learning Plan - J (competent) - 1 semester.

Stephen has a combination of Authority and Authority-registered subjects and Recorded VET and Embedded VET Modules.  Each subject result is given a numerical value, which is then multiplied by the number of semesters Stephen studied each subject.  We can map this on a table as follows:

Subject	Achievement Level	Numerical Value	No. of Semesters	Num. value x No. of Semesters
English Communication*	HA	3.5	4	14
Ancient History #	LA	2.3	2	4.4
Legal Studies #	SA	4	4	16
Mathematics A #	SA	4	4	16
Biology #	SA	4	4	16
Industrial Skills (Furnishing 2003)*	HA	3.5	2	7
Follow Safe Working Policies and Practices (VET Embedded)	J	4.4	1	4.4
Individual Learning Plan (VET Recorded)	J	3.5	1	3.5
TOTAL			20	76.9

# Authority subjects
* Authority-registered subjects

Stephen has studied 22 semester units.  However, only his best 20 are required.  Ancient History, with the two lowest numerical value results, can therefore be left out of the calculation, as in the table above. Stephen's aggregate, or total score (leaving out Ancient History) is 76.9.  Divide this score by the mandatory 20 semester units and Stephen's semester weighted average score is 3.85.

When you refer to the schedules, you will see that a 3.85 score would give Stephen a selection rank between 59 and 72 depending on his result in the Queensland Core Skills Test.

It can be seen from this example that sitting the QCS Test can significantly improve tertiary entry outcomes for OP ineligible students.

How do I find out what selection rank I have been given?

OP ineligible students who have lodged a QTAC application can find out their OP ineligible selection rank by accessing QTAC's Current Applicant online service from 31 December 2008.  This service will enable applicants to view and print a record of the QTAC selection rank allocated to their Year 12 qualification.  Please note this service will not record selection ranks allocated to any additional qualifications submitted as part of a QTAC application such as traineeships or AMEB music qualifications.

OP ineligible students who do not lodge a QTAC application can find out their OP ineligible selection rank by calling QTAC Information Services on 1300 GO QTAC (1300 467 822).

This information was current at 1 April 2008.

 

 

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