Welcome and why alternative pathways matter

Hey, and welcome to the National Virtual Expo, coming to you from Garigal land in Sydney. I'm really excited about this one, because we get pumped with this message that uni is something you get an ATAR for and go straight into. The reality is that many students don't end up getting into university using an ATAR. There are so many different pathways into university, and in this session we're going to be exploring some of those pathways.

I'm joined by colleagues at UTS College in Sydney. In this session we're going to be talking broadly about different pathways into university, as well as specifically about UTS College and their unique approaches for making this happen. So if you're thinking about UTS College, you're going to find this incredibly helpful. And for those of you watching along who may be thinking about other alternatives, this session is still going to be really valuable, because we do get into a lot of the detail about the different types of alternative entry pathways and how they work. We also hear from students who've taken different alternative pathways into university, and hopefully that inspires you to realise that there are many different ways in, one of which almost certainly suits you.

If you're here live, you can ask your questions in the chat. If you're watching this as a recording, check out the Choosing Uni Discord and Facebook group for parents below, because you can ask any questions you have, even if this session has already finished, and still get a personal answer. Without further ado, I'm going to be handing over to my colleagues at UTS College.

What is UTS College and who is it for?

Welcome to our session: UTS College, your way to UTS. Today we'll go through pathways explained, which can be confusing for many of you. We have a great discussion panel with some of our students, a teacher, and a learning designer. We'll also go through the programmes we offer at UTS College, entry requirements, and then we'll have a live Q&A, so please put your questions into the Q&A function and our team behind the scenes can answer those for you.

So who are we? We're referred to as a pathway college. We're owned by UTS but we operate as a separate business entity. We're essentially here for Australian and international students who, for whatever reason, couldn't directly get into UTS. Students do their first year with us and then move, with most programmes, into second or third year at UTS, depending on what programme they choose. We go by your HSC results rather than ATAR, and we'll go through all of that in more detail shortly. We are another way to UTS, and we've been doing this as transitional education experts for more than 30 years. At the end of the year you'll have a diploma, and then you go into, ideally, year two or year three at UTS and come out with a bachelor degree. We have ambassadors who are already working in their industry using that diploma while they go on to study in year two and year three at UTS.

Student experience: receiving ATAR results and choosing UTS College

I'm pleased to introduce our wonderful panellists. We've got two of our student ambassadors, a learning designer, and one of our academic staff. I'll get them to introduce themselves.

Guest: My name is Torres, and I just completed my Diploma of Architecture and Design.

Guest: Hey everyone. My name is Michael. I just finished the Diploma of Animation Production and I'm going into second year of the Bachelor of Animation Production.

Guest: Hi, my name is William. I'm one of the learning design team at the college. Essentially what we do is support the academics in developing the learning materials for students.

Guest: Hey there. I'm Laura. I teach accounting in the Bachelor of Business, and I teach first-semester students.

Rob: Torres, take us back to this time last year, nine o'clock in the morning, you got your ATAR results. What happened? How were you feeling?

Guest: I was so nervous, and I was so stressed. I knew that I wasn't going to get a high ATAR because year 12 wasn't happening for me. I opened my laptop, logged into the system, viewed my ATAR and it was 57.25, and I was just like, oh. But the first thing I did was log into UAC, refreshing the page trying to see if I got any offers. A few minutes later I emailed UTS College, because I had already applied before, just because UTS is the university I've always wanted to go to. A few minutes after that I got offer emails from other educational institutions, but my main goal was UTS College. I just wanted an easier transition from high school. With things like smaller classes and more support, I thought it would be better to go through the diploma instead of going straight into university, because that would have been more overwhelming right after a pretty hectic year 12.

Rob: Laura, as Torres mentioned, she was nervous about that first year going straight into uni. Why is that first year so important, especially straight after school?

Guest: It's a really common experience. I teach first semester so I see a lot of brand-new students, and lots of them talk about feeling really uncertain. They're not sure if they can do it. They're worried they might not be smart enough. Any transition in your education is challenging because you're taking a step up to the next level. Transitioning out of high school into university is hard, but it is achievable with the right level of support.

How UTS College supports students through the transition

Rob: So what does UTS College do to assist students through that transition? How does that look?

Guest: We provide so much support. I'll talk about what happens in the classroom, because I'm a classroom teacher. First, we provide a lot of support around assessments. At university you might think you're just expected to get assessments done and no one's going to help or remind you. At UTS College we scaffold the assessments so that you can be successful in completing them. We also support students in making friends, because when you make friends it helps you feel relaxed and comfortable in class, and you've got someone you can lean on. And because our class sizes are small, around 20 students, teachers really get to know students. We know your name, we get to know a bit about you, and that's how we can provide individual support on the spot in the classroom where you need it.

Guest: That's what helped me most, especially in my last semester doing the diploma. We had a big assessment task worth 50%, and I just wasn't sure if I could do it. I was really scared and nervous. I spoke to my classroom teacher and he helped me create a learning plan, he would send me email reminders, and he would check up on me in class multiple times, which is something my high school teachers never did. He went above and beyond just to make sure I got the assessment task completed on time and that I put my best effort into it.

Guest: As teachers, we're on your side. All we want to do is see you thrive and be successful. Everyone's different and everyone needs different support, and that's what we're there for. With the small classes, we can really give that personal attention to students.

Learning design: active learning and building knowledge collaboratively

Rob: William, your role as a learning designer is very exciting. Can you share what you do, how you impact curriculum, and how your team helps students who come from all different walks of life, whether they've taken a year or two off, had health problems, or didn't get their ATAR?

Guest: As I mentioned, we support the academics in designing content, but we've also developed a learning model at the college that focuses on two phases. Students do some independent study first, because being able to study independently is a very important skill they'll need at UTS. That independent study is guided and supported, and the focus is on active learning, where students are watching videos, doing case studies, doing short readings, and checking their understanding as they go, so they're getting a little bit of feedback while they study. Then the crucial point is phase two, where they go into tutorials. The tutorials are designed for students to apply the knowledge and skills they picked up during independent study, get support from teachers, work collaboratively with other students, and build friendships and support networks.

Guest: What differentiates us is that we don't just use a lecture model. Students are using different multimodal avenues to learn, so they're not passively receiving knowledge. They're actually interacting as they go. In animation, for example, it's so group and teamwork based. We're always working together, giving each other feedback on individual work as well as group work.

Guest: The same in business. Students are working in teams solving business problems, and the feedback I get from students is they love working in groups rather than sitting by themselves. They love collaborating with the classroom community.

Guest: And even as part of some of my assessment tasks, we have to give feedback to other students on their work, and that just creates a conversation with a classmate you might never have approached otherwise. It creates a new friendship connection.

Guest: Those activities are designed to help you build those connections. It's no accident. We're building in these activities and tasks to produce exactly this result, and it makes learning more fun because you get to do it with other people. It's based on learning theory, specifically constructivism, the idea that students build knowledge together rather than just independently.

Technology, generative AI, and preparing students for UTS

Rob: UTS is renowned for its innovative model of learning and its use of technology. William, how is UTS College preparing students for UTS, especially around technology?

Guest: We're preparing them for UTS but also for the workplace, because everybody's heard of generative AI and it's one of the most discussed topics right now. We have a significant and slightly unique approach at the college where we really focus on guidance. We're guiding students to use generative AI in a way that benefits them. Essentially we're focused on two things: why students shouldn't use AI in certain ways, and how they should use it. We're not banning it. We're not saying don't use it, but we are saying don't use it to produce work for you, because if you do that you're not actually going to develop the skills you're here to develop. You can use it to help you build knowledge, because that's not going to impact your learning. It's like having another student in your class who can help give you that knowledge.

Guest: An important project we have at the moment is that we're building AI agents, and we're trialling one this semester. Instead of going to Google and various different sources, students can use the agent as a focused, centralised tool that's configured pedagogically to support the learning. So it's not the same as ChatGPT, which will just produce the answers for you. The agents we're building will support you as you go, and if you ask them to do something for you they'll push back and say, that's not what I'm here for. I'm just here to support you. That's another way we're pushing technology forward at UTS College.

Guest: That's so helpful, because for animation software skills it would take me hours to find the right information otherwise. Having an agent that's targeted makes it so much easier to get the information without spending time researching things that might not even be useful.

Career readiness and student support services

Rob: Laura, can you help us with some of the services the college offers around being career ready?

Guest: We have a great new programme called Career Smart that provides group and one-on-one support to help students explore their careers. A lot of students don't really know what they want to do when they finish university, or even what they want to major in, so that's really going to help support them in making that decision.

Rob: Michael, you mentioned earlier that you had access to student support. Can you share how that helped you through your time at the college?

Guest: I was working on the side as well as doing the diploma, which was manageable because the diploma only involves a few classes a week, giving me the opportunity to do other things with my time. But I had a lot of issues with work that caused me a lot of distress and stress. I reached out to my student success advisor and she was very supportive. She helped me contact my academic coordinator and tutors so they could support me in and outside of class, and allow me to not have to worry too much about assessments and due dates while I focused on my mental health. Then I was able to go back and finish my assessments. It was really helpful to have them by my side and to be able to reach them easily. I also found it interesting that as a student I thought I'd be restricted to just college support, but my student success advisor directed me to counselling services at UTS as well, which really helped me overcome those challenges.

Guest: That's a really good point, because students at the college have access to UTS services and facilities as well.

Guest: And it's not just support for troubling times. It's also about setting yourself up for success. We have such a large array of support: Student Success Advisors, the HELPS team who provide workshops and on-the-spot help with assessment tasks, and support embedded within the classroom. With small classes, if you're learning something and you don't understand it, instead of sending an email and waiting for a response or booking an appointment, you can talk to us right there in class. We also create a supportive learning environment where you don't have to know everything and you don't have to get everything right. Mistakes are part of the learning process and we encourage you to make them and learn from them. As a student that means you can feel a bit more relaxed, knowing you don't have to get everything perfect.

Guest: Feedback is important here too. Making mistakes is crucial for us to iterate on our work and get better. And not just feedback from tutors, from classmates as well. I've even had tutors reach out to me outside of class hours, which has been really nice.

Guest: We are available outside class time. I'm running study groups at lunchtime with my accounting students where they can just drop in anytime. And across the college we look at student data, check in on progress, send messages with suggestions for support that can be accessed, things like that.

Student reflections: advice to your year 12 self

Rob: Torres, if you could give your HSC self a piece of advice, this time a year ago, what would you say?

Guest: A year ago I was unsure of what to do and what I wanted to major in if I went straight to university. That was also one of my main reasons for coming through the diploma, because it branches out to different bachelors. The advice I would give myself is: it'll all work out. Just go with the flow. And it has all worked out. It's been the best. I've figured out what I want to do and what I want to major in, which is the Bachelor of Interior Architecture.

Rob: Michael, what would you say to yourself a year ago?

Guest: That's a very difficult question, thank you for putting me on the spot. In all the chaos, I had that security of knowing I was going to UTS College, but my main worry was: what if this isn't what I want to do? Since then I've met quite a few people who've done so many different things. And as Torres was saying, the diploma branches out into so many different avenues, so it's good to have those options.

Diploma programmes: what's on offer and how they differ

Now we'll move into the courses and talk about the different programmes we offer. On screen you can see the different diplomas available at UTS College: Business, Communications, Design and Architecture, Animation Production, Engineering, Information Technology, and Science.

There are two ways to do the diploma: accelerated and standard. Both have the same subjects. The difference is the length of time. An accelerated diploma covers all subjects in two semesters, around eight months. It moves very fast and is very busy. The standard diploma, which is the most popular, covers all subjects in three semesters, so if you started in January you'd finish by the end of the year. If you want to work part time as well, the standard diploma is probably better so you can have a balance between study and work.

Each UTS College diploma leads into a specific UTS bachelor degree. For example, the Diploma of Business leads into second year of the Bachelor of Business at UTS. And as both Torres and Michael mentioned, the diploma is also a great way to explore majors before committing to a specialisation at UTS.

Guest: In the Diploma of Business, for example, you do around eight subjects including accounting, finance, statistics, marketing, management, social impacts, and economics. You get to taste a little bit of every subject. I was a UTS student myself and I did the Bachelor of Business without knowing what I wanted to do, and I loved my first year because you get to try everything. Most of my students don't actually know what accounting is when they arrive. They think it's just tax and maths. When they do the subject they go, okay, this is really different to what I thought, and they start thinking maybe this could be a good career fit. It really opens up opportunities they might not have had if they'd jumped straight into specialising.

Guest: It's the same with design. From what I remember in semester one, some people said they wanted to get into Fashion or Product Design. But throughout the diploma we got a little taste of everything, and a lot of people did switch their options because they didn't know what the bachelor degree was actually going to be about until they got that experience. And as Laura said, how do you know if you've never tried it?

Entry requirements, fees, and how to apply

Now for entry requirements and intake information. As mentioned at the beginning, we don't assess you on ATAR. Admissions are based on your HSC results. We take your top four subjects including your English mark and average those out. Depending on that percentage, you go into either the accelerated or the standard programme.

This approach is particularly helpful for students such as those in art subjects, where ATAR scaling can disadvantage you relative to students doing subjects like physics. Our entry requirement is designed to give a fair assessment that reflects your true ability. The entry thresholds are 75% of your top four subjects including English for the accelerated diploma, and 67% for the standard diploma.

For fees, both the accelerated and standard diplomas are $38,000 for the year, which works out to just under $13,000 per semester for the standard stream, and you can pay per semester. We appreciate that is a significant investment. We are eligible for FEE-HELP, which is a government loan, and you can find out more about that on our website. It's slightly different from HECS-HELP for university because we operate at a different provider level. It's also important to note that we're not for profit, so any profit made at the college goes straight back into the college or to the university. The investment reflects the small class sizes and the heavy investment in extra support services.

Applying involves three simple steps. Go to the website, fill out the application form online, and have your supporting documents ready, including the FEE-HELP application if you're going down that route. Turnaround is fairly fast. Around this time of year it's usually two to three business days, allowing for the Christmas break. If you've already applied, like Torres, we'll have your marks in the system and would have already sent a conditional offer. Once ATAR results are released, a full offer will come through. And applying early for next year does not impact your UAC preferences.

If you have any questions, please put them into the Q&A function. We have a team there who can answer them. Thank you for joining us. We wish you all the best of luck, and we hope to see you either with us at UTS College or at UTS.