Introduction and session overview

Good day and welcome to the National Virtual Expo. I'm Rob Malicki, coming to you today from Gadigal Country in Sydney. Welcome to this session on the Australian Catholic University, specifically for students who aren't at school. Maybe you've taken a gap year, or maybe you're a mature-age student, as we call them in higher education, and you're looking to return to study. This session is specifically for you.

Now, if you are a high school student interested in ACU, we did run a session specifically for you yesterday. You'll find that in the session catalogue. You can watch that on demand right now just by checking out the session catalogue. Those of you who are here live, thanks for joining me. If you have questions about studying at ACU or about being a student returning to study after a gap after high school, you can ask those questions either in the chat right here on the Expo session hub, or if you're on social media, just drop your question in the comments. And if you're watching this on the replay, you can join the Choosing Uni Discord or the Facebook community for parents and ask any questions you've got. Please don't hesitate. If you've got a very specific question about your particular case, you can ask that. But if you've got a really broad, general question about uni, that's okay too, and we'll be making sure that every single question gets a personalised answer. Without further ado, let's get into this session about ACU for non-school leavers.

About ACU: campuses, courses, and industry experience

Hello everyone and welcome to the Building Your Career: ACU Study Options for Non-School Leavers webinar. My name's Simone. I work in the Future Students Team, and I'd like to thank you all for joining us this evening. I'm also joined by a couple of our ACU students who later on will share their experiences about applying and studying at ACU. But before we jump into that discussion, I'm just going to run through some important information about ACU. Throughout the session you are able to ask questions via the Q&A function at the bottom of the screen. I would like to point out that if you do have any questions relating to your specific circumstances, you can also contact our Ask ACU team via our website. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of country and the continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We honour our elders past, present, and emerging.

Being a national university, we have seven campuses across Australia, including Ballarat, Blacktown, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, North Sydney, and Strathfield, and we also have a campus in Rome. We also offer online study through ACU Online. Each of our campuses is quite unique and offers different courses. If you'd like to explore your local campus and its facilities, you can do so via a campus tour, and I will provide some information on how to do that later.

At ACU, all of our courses have industry experience embedded into their programmes, either through work placements, internships with leading companies, or volunteering opportunities. The number of hours you need to complete for placement varies depending on the course you're studying, and to assist you with this process we do have a dedicated team who organises the placements and everything associated with that for you. So what this means is that when you graduate with ACU, you already have industry experience.

This next slide is really just an overview of the course areas you can study across our seven campuses and online. We offer a diverse range of courses in areas such as allied health, business, humanities and social sciences, nursing, midwifery, and paramedicine, and much more. If you want to explore what's offered at your specific campus, you can go to acu.edu.au/courses.

Entry pathways for non-school leavers

Now looking at entry pathway programmes, there are many ways to gain entry into ACU. Tonight I'll go through some of them in more detail, but all of our entry programmes are available on our website.

The Elite Athlete and Performer Programme is for students who are performing at a state or national level and is designed to give students the tools they need to achieve balance across sporting and academic lives, through priority timetabling, academic support, and financial scholarships.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Entry Programme is for students who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. They may be eligible for special entry based on their potential to succeed in a relevant course.

Our diplomas provide an alternative entry pathway to uni for students who haven't met the direct entry requirements for a bachelor's degree. They're designed to help you transition into the second year of a related degree at ACU, or they can also serve as a valuable standalone qualification. To be eligible for a diploma, you need to have either completed Year 12 with a minimum ATAR of 50, hold a Certificate IV or above, or meet the rank through the Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test. I'll go through that a little bit more shortly. There are a number of degrees you can transition into upon successful completion of your diploma.

Now looking at Foundation Studies, there have been some recent changes to this programme. This course is ideal if you do not have an ATAR or your ATAR was too low for direct entry into a degree at ACU. It is a CSP programme, so with no additional fees, and successful completion leads to a degree at any campus or online. With some competitive degrees, such as allied health, you may require a higher score in certain units. It is a one or two semester programme and is available at our Blacktown and Melbourne campuses as well as online. I'd also like to point out that upon completion of the programme we work with admissions to organise your degree offer for you, so you don't have to reapply. It's a really seamless process.

With our Veterans Entry Programme, we have a family pathway available to partners, spouses, or children of serving members or those who have served in the Australian Defence Force. Applications can be made directly to ACU through the Veterans Entry Programme web form, and applications are assessed on a rolling basis, so it doesn't matter when you apply. For more information on how to apply, you can search "ACU Veterans Entry Programme".

Entry requirements, STAT, and Recognition of Prior Learning

Moving on to entry requirements: the minimum entry for each course does differ, so it really is important that you check our course browser for the details. Each course will include assumed knowledge and/or prerequisites. The difference between these is that assumed knowledge is not compulsory, whereas prerequisites are compulsory. Your selection rank can be calculated from previous tertiary studies, you can sit the Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test, or completion of a Certificate IV or above can also meet entry requirements.

The Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test, or STAT: if you don't have formal qualifications to support your application, you may still be eligible for course entry by sitting this test. It's essentially an aptitude test designed to assess your critical thinking and analytical skills rather than testing your knowledge of specific academic subjects. Your results are then used to determine your selection rank, which you can use to gain entry into a course. It is worthwhile pointing out that the STAT is only offered on specific dates, so please check the website early to avoid missing out and potentially delaying your application. You'll need to make sure you receive those results so that you can use them to apply. For more information, you can visit acu.edu.au/stat.

With Recognition of Prior Learning, or RPL: if you've completed any tertiary study or gained relevant skills and knowledge from your work experience, you may be eligible to apply for RPL. Once you receive an offer from ACU, you can submit your request using the credit search tool, which is available on the webpage shown on the slide. I definitely encourage you to have a look and to reach out to our Ask ACU team if you want to find out what RPL you might be eligible for, because it can really help reduce your study time.

How to apply and what to have ready

Generally, to apply for most undergraduate courses, you need to do so through your state tertiary admissions centre, or TAC. For some courses you may apply directly through ACU; the course browser on our website will direct you to the correct application platform. If applying through your state TAC, check the application fees because some TAC fees increase depending on when you lodge your application. From memory, I do know that some on-time applications close at the end of September, so please check your TAC websites and apply early.

After you receive an offer to study at ACU, whether through your state TAC or our direct admissions team, our Ask ACU team will reach out by phone, email, and text if you haven't enrolled. This is really just to check in and see if you need any further assistance or have any questions about the course you're looking at studying. Alternatively, you can contact the Ask ACU team at any time and they can assist you with the process.

When it comes to what you'll need to have handy: when applying, make sure you have copies of your academic transcripts or evidence of previous study, your resume or CV, and your STAT results if applicable. When enrolling, you'll need your Unique Student Identifier, or USI, which you can find by visiting the website shown on the slide, and finally your tax file number, but only if you're applying for a HELP loan.

Scholarships, fees, and HELP loans

At ACU we have close to 400 scholarships on offer, ranging from $1,000 up to $166,000 for our Bachelor of Arts (Western Civilisation) programme. Our scholarships fall into two main categories: merit-based and equity-based. We also offer scholarships to support accommodation costs, fees, and placement expenses. I'd encourage you to have a look at the website to see the full range; the tool there will let you know what you are eligible for. Many of our scholarships go unallocated each year, so I really do encourage you to apply because you have nothing to lose.

For domestic students there are two main fee types. First, the Commonwealth Supported Place, or CSP: with a CSP, the Australian Government subsidises part of the course costs and you pay the remaining amount, known as the student contribution. All bachelor's degrees at ACU are offered as a Commonwealth Supported Place for eligible students, including Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, New Zealand citizens living in Australia, and permanent humanitarian visa holders. The second type is domestic fee-paying, or DFP: most postgraduate coursework degrees fall under this category, meaning there is no government subsidy and you'll pay the full course cost.

There are two types of HELP loans to assist with tuition fees. HECS-HELP applies to Commonwealth Supported Places, usually undergraduate degrees. FEE-HELP is for domestic fee-paying students and is most commonly for postgraduate degrees. HELP loans are available to Australian citizens, New Zealand Special Category Visa holders who meet long-term residency requirements, and permanent humanitarian visa holders. These loans let you defer payment of your tuition fees until you're earning a regular income; repayments are made as a percentage of your salary through the ATO and can be automatically deducted by your employer. HELP loans are interest-free but are adjusted annually in line with the Consumer Price Index, which is usually around one to two per cent.

Support services and the ACU Thrive programme

There is quite a long list of different support services available to students. For example, the Academic Skills Unit offers workshops on how to write essays, reference correctly, and even refresh maths and English skills. We also have the Career Development team, who can assist you with tidying up your resume and preparing for interviews. There are really good resources and teams around to help you succeed at university and beyond.

We also have ACU Thrive, which supports first-year students' academic and personal success through flexible learning options, structured weekly activities, and condensed on-campus schedules. Students can complete work at their own pace while receiving personalised support and advice from staff. It includes online modules, quality resources, and targeted access to university services, and it is really aimed at making sure that your transition and your first year at university is a successful one.

Student panel: pathways into ACU as non-school leavers

Guest (Simone): I'd like to now introduce our panel. Dara, Hannah, and Tiffany are all non-school leavers studying at ACU. Thank you for joining us this evening. I'm sure our audience tonight would love to hear about your journey and experience as a non-school leaver. How about we start with Hannah? Hannah, if you could share with the audience what you are studying, what led you to consider ACU, and your pathway.

Guest (Hannah): I am in my fourth and final year of physiotherapy at the Ballarat campus. I was really keen to study physio for a really long time but didn't have the confidence. COVID kind of kicked me into action and I applied directly to a different university and did one year of biomedical science, and then was able to apply for physiotherapy at ACU and I got through.

Guest (Simone): Excellent. Thanks, Hannah. Maybe now we'll move over to Tiffany.

Guest (Tiffany): I'm actually in my final year of midwifery. Before I started I was actually studying the Bachelor of Nursing, and that was through ACU also as a non-school leaver. I was just always passionate about midwifery, so leaving school I just didn't have the marks to get into the course. I felt I should work and get some life experience, and then found out that I could get into midwifery through nursing. I applied through ACU, got in as a non-school leaver, and then ACU in New South Wales introduced the Bachelor of Midwifery, so I was able to internally transfer with my marks from nursing. I'm loving it. Very passionate about it and so glad I had the opportunity through ACU.

Guest (Simone): Thanks, Tiffany. And now we'll head over to Dara.

Guest (Dara): I tried applying for university previously, but because I didn't finish high school in Australia I had to do an English test, and I was also in the Army. Then I found out about ACU's veteran entry pathway and applied for that and got in. I was on a boat somewhere off the coast of Australia, working with the Navy, when I got my acceptance to ACU. And as Simone mentioned, that programme has since expanded to defence members' families, not only ex or current serving members. I'm now in my third year of paramedicine and loving it.

Preparing for the transition back into study

Guest (Simone): How did you prepare yourselves in the lead-up to starting university? I think for many non-school leavers it can be quite daunting.

Guest (Hannah): I have kids, so for me the biggest thing was to try and make sure I could manage my time really well, so I could do everything I needed to do at home but also have time to study. It was a lot of preparation, finding out and chatting with the university about what the hours were that I would need to be on campus, and then really timetabling myself well to make sure I was managing my time and able to separate university from home life.

Guest (Tiffany): Having two years out of high school meant that life experience made me feel a bit more mature going back into study. The thing I was most nervous about was going back into academics, writing essays and everything like that. But ACU is amazing in the way they have so many support services. The one I definitely loved was Academic Skills, and even just asking questions through Ask ACU. The support ACU provided meant I was able to get more organised and get that encouragement. They understood that I hadn't studied in two years, and they were very much like, "Yeah, it's such a normal thing; this is how you do things." Very personable. I really love that about ACU.

Guest (Dara): It had been a long time since I'd left school, so I was completely unprepared for what to expect, to be honest. I didn't know what the workload was going to be like, what the expectations were going to be like. I went in eyes wide shut. In hindsight, some of the best tips I can give are: when you get your assignments, break them down into bite-sized chunks. A thousand-word assignment has a ten per cent introduction, so that's a hundred-word intro, a hundred-word conclusion, and 800 words of body. Divvy up your work that way. Also utilise websites. For the first year my referencing was atrocious, and it wasn't until second year that I found out about mybib.com. You can pretty much put your references into that. It's not AI, it's not academic misconduct, it's just a resource to help your assignment writing. Once you get that structure down you can start becoming a better student and learning how to research more effectively. Librarians at the university are an awesome resource too. I developed a very good relationship with the librarians at ACU in first year, just in terms of structuring essays, researching, and learning how to use all the academic aids available. You also have mentors you can work with, and they're a good source of information to tap into. By first year you want to have as many hot tips up your sleeve as possible so you can hit the ground running. The assignments are relatively straightforward in first year, and you can score well in them if you prepare effectively.

Guest (Simone): Thanks, Dara. Great points. With the support services, there's so much available to students and quite often you just don't know, so it is worthwhile speaking to lecturers, peers, and things like that, because there's a lot out there to help you. Hannah, did you end up accessing any support services that haven't been mentioned so far?

Guest (Hannah): I don't think Studios was mentioned. That one is in our student platform, Canvas. You can click on a link for Studios and I will always submit my assignments to them. They'll proofread and give tips, all within limits. I use that quite a lot. And Ask ACU: if I have any questions I just call them. They're always a good go-to for all questions.

What the transition to university was really like

Guest (Simone): What was the transition to university like as a non-school leaver?

Guest (Hannah): I found the transition, the last time I'd studied was about 15 years prior, so that was a really big learning curve. When I transferred across to ACU I felt a lot more comfortable, and in saying that there was support along the way. All you have to do is ask your lecturers. I think as mature-age students we are quite good at putting our hand up and asking when we need to, and finding the answers we need. Everybody is really, really helpful. Everyone knows that you're new, that you're a student, that you don't know everything. Just ask questions until you get the answers you need.

Guest (Tiffany): Very similar to Hannah. It was definitely nerve-racking, everything being so new. But at the end of the day everyone was new, especially starting from first year. Everyone is just in that same position. ACU is great in that sense with the support services. It's also very personal and close-knit. I actually really loved it, especially going into such a big course like the Bachelor of Nursing. The teachers knew your name. They just made you feel so comfortable. Some were non-school leavers, some straight out of high school, and you just make those relationships. It was a great transition. Having that time away and then going back into study with the right mindset was just great.

Guest (Dara): Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It was definitely difficult. If you think you're just going to rock up, sign up for uni, and get a degree in a couple of years, you're in for a rude shock. Yes, there are all these services and resources available to you, but you absolutely need to be putting the work in. If you are not doing the online prep, if you are not turning up for the non-mandatory lectures, you're going to be a headless chicken. When it comes to the medical subjects like midwifery, nursing, and paramedicine, if you haven't done the pre-class work you'll be completely lost when it comes to the practicals. The classes are divided up between online lectures, in-person tutorials that do not have mandatory attendance, and mandatory attendance for practicals. For paramedicine that's where we go into the labs: we learn how to cannulate, draw up medications, perform certain procedures on patients, and do our obstetric work. Depending on your course, that can vary between three to ten hours a week in person. And depending on your private life, social life, and work commitments, these are all things you need to weigh up. I absolutely suggest you try to get one to three weeks ahead on your lectures. Effective note-taking is another massive one. Learn how to use OneNote or whatever your preferred system is. That was a learning curve for me as a non-school leaver that high school students coming straight into uni take for granted. Don't take it for granted. Do your pre-class work and try to keep up. Once you fall a week behind, you're behind the eight ball. You've still got last week's work to do as well as this week's, and on top of that you've got assignments due. It can become a big workload fast if you let it slide.

On-campus time and course delivery for health programmes

Guest (Simone): We have a question that came through for Tiffany: how much of the midwifery course requires you to be on campus, and is there any flexibility with doing some parts online?

Guest (Tiffany): Midwifery and other allied health subjects are very content-heavy. There is a big component of clinical placement, and that's 1,000 hours across three years. It is a mixed study mode in the sense that there are online classes and online content, but most of the time, as Dara said, there are tutorials. That's a common theme for nursing, midwifery, physio, and paramedicine: the tutorials are where you practise in person what you've been studying online. Midwifery is not available in a fully online mode; it's that mixed one. You do the lectures online and some classes online, but then you come onto campus for tutorials and clinical labs to practise your clinical skills before you go out onto placement. And the time on campus really differs by year as well. I'm in my final year and we have intensive classes, so I was only on campus for about four weeks this year and now I'm all on placement. As compared to first year, where I was on campus roughly twice a week for ten weeks. For midwifery it is very much practical-based, so yes, you are on campus quite a bit, because before you go on placement you need to be confident in your skills.

Guest (Simone): Excellent. And I think with those more health-related courses, there is a bit more face-to-face because you need to learn those hands-on skills.

Balancing work, life, and study commitments

Guest (Simone): How do you balance work and life commitments alongside your studies? I'll start with Dara.

Guest (Dara): I found it hard. I was fortunate in first year: I said, right, I'm going to work very little and give study one hundred per cent, and if it's a flop at least I can say I gave it a red-hot crack. I pretty much worked through a whole bunch of savings just trying to attend class and pay household bills, keep the cars on the road. It was hard. You've got your pre-class work, you're attending tutorials and practicals, and that's if you have a preferential timetable where it's two or three days a week. If you're in four days you've got travel time and parking expenses on top of everything. Obviously there's Austudy as well, which is something to be aware of. They give you around $800 a fortnight. I only got onto that halfway through second year, so it made a big difference once I did. Your time for assignments is additional study time on top of all your regular class attendance. Don't let it slide. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: it is very challenging as a mature-age student to balance all of those things. Some people do work. There is also the option to go part-time. You have four units per semester and you can drop that down to two or three. Obviously be aware that will blow out your completion date. You might choose to do a content-heavy subject like biology alongside only one or two other subjects so you can focus, and then pick up the dropped subject in a later semester or a winter semester. Just be aware that some units have prerequisites, so if you drop a unit you may not be able to progress without having completed it first.

Guest (Hannah): It just ebbs and flows. There are some semesters where it feels heavy, and then there are others where you feel really on top of things and things feel a little bit easier. It does depend on what subjects you're studying, whether you're doing placement, and what's going on in your life as well. I backed off work, but I did pick up two casual jobs at ACU, and they are fantastic: really well paid and really great at working around your studies. I highly recommend finding out what jobs are available on campus.

Guest (Tiffany): Very similar to Hannah. It is very dependent on what's happening in life, with placements and everything, especially for midwifery. It was a struggle balancing work, placement, and personal mental health. But working for ACU, like Hannah said, was amazing because they understood our commitments as students and worked around them. And coming in as a first year, it was hard to set a time to study, do the online content, and then come on campus for skills. It was a hard time, but I've gotten used to it. It is a juggling act.

Upcoming events and how to get in touch

Guest (Simone): Well, I'm conscious of time and I think that's all we'll have time for with the questions. I'd like to thank you all for sharing your experiences with us tonight. We have a couple more slides to go through. We do have several upcoming events, both online and in person. We run monthly virtual consultations and campus tours across all of our campuses, and these are a great opportunity to learn more about our course offerings, discuss your specific circumstances, or explore the local campus and its facilities. We also have our Talk With webinar series, which features alumni and graduates from different areas who share their experience in the industry and what it's actually like to work there. That can be found on our website at the URL shown on the slide. Thank you for joining us tonight. We hope you found this information helpful as you plan your next steps. If your question wasn't answered tonight, or if you have any questions about applying to study at ACU, please don't hesitate to contact our friendly Ask ACU team at acu.edu.au/askacu. Thank you and have a good night.