Admissions Policy

Purpose

This policy details the admissions requirements for Alphacrucis University College (AC) courses of study.

Scope

All courses of study across all campuses.

Policy

AC aims to attract, select and retain the best-fit students for courses of study. To facilitate this AC has established:

1. minimum admission requirements to ensure that all commencing students will be able to meet the standards and succeed in studies;
2. admission requirements that are merit-based, but may be reconsidered on educational or disadvantage grounds;
3. course specific admission requirements as benchmarked and set out in accreditation documents to ensure that commencing students have the appropriate academic knowledge and/or language skills required for success;
4. open, fair and transparent admission procedures for making decisions about student selection and treatment of all applicants. Students are admitted regardless of gender, race, national origin, marital status, faith or disability;
5. applicants who are ineligible for the course they have applied will be considered for alternative courses where applicable
6. consistency of admission decisions across delivery sites through the Online Application Form which is processed at AC Sydney Campus by the Student Experience Department. The processes for establishing applicant student identification are published as part of the student application process;
7. original documents (or certified copies) may be requested in the case of degree testamurs and/or transcripts, related academic awards, and, where relevant, character references, employers’ testimonials, and certification or licences to practice where professional registration bodies are relevant. This practice equally applies to students who apply for advanced standing (other than former students or alumni of AC). All applicants must be properly identified, usually through sighting of a birth certificate or passport, and any qualifications they have received be checked for verification. It is a condition of application that the applicant must provide permission for AC to verify any supporting documents, including the academic qualifications and/or transcript(s) of academic record presented by the applicant with the issuing institution.

 

Entry Requirements

A person is qualified for entrance to AC courses of study if they:

1. satisfy all the relevant minimum requirements as prescribed in the course regulations.
2. satisfy the requirements of an alternative entrance or specific admissions scheme and/or hold a qualification approved by the Program Director (or equivalent) to be at least equivalent to the entrance requirements.

An interview between a representative from the Student Onboarding Team, Program Director (or equivalent) and applicant may be warranted especially for students who are entering under 'Special Admission' or 'Provisional Entry' categories to ascertain the student’s suitability to their specified program.

If an applicant does not have an ATAR (or equivalent) or any other qualification and is 21 years old and older, they may be admitted on Provisional Entry on the basis of work and life experience.

 

Other Essential Requirements for Admission

An interview with an applicant may be warranted especially for students who are entering under 'Special Admission' or 'Provisional Entry' categories to ascertain the student’s suitability to their specified program. This will occur as part of the admission procedure and prior to the applicant receiving a letter of offer.

All applicants must provide a valid Working with Children Check (or state-based or overseas equivalent) and Police Check for admission into a course of study, where the course may require students to participate in work-integrated learning involving vulnerable groups.

Certain AC delivery sites have pastoral or other requirements that must be met in order to study at that campus. These will be made available during the application process.

All AC students require access to computer and internet facilities, as written assignments are submitted online in typescript with some assignments requiring database and internet research. Applicants are advised before admission that computer and internet literacy and access are essential skills.

 

Educational Disadvantage Entry Criteria

A student’s admission requirements may be reconsidered on educational disadvantage grounds if the applicant meets one or more of the following criteria:

1. socioeconomic reasons (such as low-family income or poor living conditions);
2. language difficulties;
3. learning difficulties;
4. disrupted schooling;
5. physical disability;
6. serious family illness;
7. excessive family responsibility;
8. geographical isolation of home and/or school and lack of support, time or facilities for study at home or school;
9. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent where the normal HSC entry path has not been followed;
10. home schooling and with evidence of being able to manage tertiary study;
11. an IELTS result is awaited;
12. completion of a prescribed program of non-award study (four subjects or 40 credit points) with an overall GPA of 1.8 or better.

A student in this category may be placed on 'Provisional Entry Qualifying Period' as deemed appropriate by the Program Director (or equivalent).

 

Special Admission Pathways

For those applicants who meet the Educational Disadvantage Entry Criteria listed above, there are various special admission pathways which demonstrate an ability to undertake a course of study, including:

• Prior educational experience – documentation including awards, certificates and other evidence of educational achievement;
• Schools recommendation – a letter from the school (usually the School Principal) outlining why the school leaver applicant is suitable for the course of study;
• Leadership experience – demonstrated leadership experience and/or community service e.g. in the community, profession, church etc. which demonstrates sufficient engagement in extra-curricular activities;
• Provisional entry i.e. the student must successfully complete RES101 or RES401;
• Evidence of a Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT);
• Pathway for students of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent: applicants may participate in a testing day to demonstrate required skills of literacy and/or numeracy;
• For Education courses of study – completion of Mathematics and/or English subjects that align to the Band 4 Higher School Certificate subject descriptors;
• Special admission is also available for Year 12 students whose ATAR (or equivalent) falls within 5 points of the published guaranteed entry ATAR but have done well in subjects relevant to the course of study.
• Professional Entry Criteria as per policy

These Special Admission Pathways are evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Program Director (or equivalent). For Higher Education students, the Program Director’s (or equivalent) recommendation is then submitted to the Head of Student Onboarding.

 

Refusal of Admission

Admission may be refused if the person:

1. has been excluded from another AC award due to 'Unsatisfactory Academic Progress' or 'Academic Misconduct';
2. has been excluded from another institution for reasons of unsatisfactory progress or reasons of discipline;
3. is deemed to be unlikely to cope academically, or if the application form or personal references indicate that a student is likely to struggle with AC life and AC discipline.

 

Deferral of Admission

Deferral relates to postponing an offer of a place in an AC course before the course or the first course in a package of courses has commenced. This may take place on application to the Student Experience Department, and shall remain in force for a maximum of one year, after which time either the student shall enrol or the Student Experience Department may withdraw the offer of a place.

International students shall be advised that deferral of their enrolment may affect their visa.

 

English Proficiency for International Students of Non-English Speaking Background

International students are required to have attained an International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) score or equivalent according to the admission criteria of each specified course.

IELTS (or equivalent) is not required for applicants who have successfully completed at least one year of full-time study (or equivalent) of a secondary or tertiary qualification at AQF Diploma level or higher, where the medium of study was English. Some courses have external registration/accreditation requirements which have additional English requirements. These will be specified on the individual course pages.

For Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses, IELTS (or equivalent) is not required for applicants who have successfully completed at least two years of full-time study (or equivalent) of a secondary or tertiary qualification at AQF Diploma level or higher, where the medium of study was English and completed no earlier than two years prior to the commencement of the course of study to which the student seeks admission. 

Processing a student requiring an IELTS or equivalent includes:

• confirming the score meets the entry requirements for the course;
• verifying that the IELTS result is from a registered IELTS provider as listed on the IELTS website (http://www.ielts.org) or equivalent.

Responsible for implementation

Student Experience Department
Program Director (or equivalent)
Admission Committee
Academic Board

Key stakeholders

Prospective Students
Student Experience Department
Academic Board
Faculty

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Procedures

Admission Procedure

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