Most families start looking seriously at Australian universities in Year 12. By then the
shortlist is not really a shortlist. It is whatever is left after decisions taken two or
three years earlier, usually in a fifteen minute conversation about a timetable.
Subject choice is presented as an administrative exercise, the child picks what they enjoy
or what their friends are taking, and the form goes back to the school office. A subject
selection meeting at school is not the place where Australian entry requirements come up.
Three words that look similar and are not
Australian universities describe course requirements using terms that read almost
interchangeably in a handbook and mean completely different things in practice. This is the
single most useful thing in this article, and it takes about a minute to learn.
Prerequisite. This is a mandatory requirement. Without the named
subject at the named level, the application does not proceed. No amount of strong results
in other subjects substitutes.
Assumed knowledge. The university will admit the student and teach the
first year as though the student has prior knowledge. The student who has not studied this
subject can enrol and then find themselves a term behind in a subject everyone else did at
school.
Recommended studies. Useful, not required, and generally not something to
reshape a school timetable around.
The practical consequence of subject choice is large. A course listing chemistry as
assumed knowledge is still open to a student who dropped chemistry, though it will be harder
to understand the concepts and catch up to the rest of the class. A course listing chemistry
as a prerequisite is closed and a student will be unable to apply if they have not studied
this subject previously. Same subject, same student, but different outcomes.
Whether a course calls a subject a prerequisite, assumed knowledge or recommended differs
by university and by state. It is common for institutions in New South Wales to lean on
assumed knowledge where institutions elsewhere set a firm prerequisite. That variation is
worth knowing, because it means a door that is shut at one university can be open at another
university for the same degree.
The decision point in each curriculum
Advice written for Australian families talks about Year 10 and Year 11, because that is
when Australian students choose senior subjects. In Dubai most students are not in that
system. The decision point moves, and in two of the four common curricula it arrives
noticeably earlier.
| Curriculum | Decision point | What is being decided |
|---|
| British |
End of Year 9, then end of Year 11 |
The IGCSE combination narrows which A Levels are available. The three or four A Levels chosen at the end of Year 11 are what matters to admissions offices at Australian universities. |
|---|
| IB Diploma |
End of Year 11 |
Higher Level subject choice. Some courses require a named subject at Higher Level specifically, and a Standard Level pass in the same subject does not qualify for the entry requirement. |
|---|
| CBSE and Indian boards |
After Class 10 |
Stream selection: Science, Commerce or Humanities. It is almost impossible to reverse the decision once made and important to understand the university requirements as early as Year 10. |
|---|
| American, AP and SAT |
Ongoing, through to senior year |
Whether the student reaches calculus by senior year, and whether AP sciences are taken at all matters. Some universities also accept SAT scores if a student is willing to appear for it. |
|---|
For a family on the British curriculum this means the first consequential choice happens
after Year 9. For a CBSE family it happens after Class 10 and it is close to final. In both
cases the conversation that would prevent the problem costs nothing and takes half an hour
of consultation.
The subjects most commonly required
Three come up again and again.
- Chemistry. The most common prerequisite. Health and life science
degrees, veterinary science and pharmacy, frequently require Chemistry as a
prerequisite.
- Mathematics at the higher level. Not simply mathematics, but the more
advanced strand. Engineering, computer science, physics, economics and actuarial degrees
often specify the higher option, and the standard mathematics does not substitute for it.
- Physics. Applies for engineering and related fields. Certain
universities and programs require assumed knowledge and some need it as a
prerequisite.
Biology is the interesting exception. Families often assume it is the essential subject for
medicine or veterinary science. Frequently it is chemistry that is required and biology that
is merely recommended or assumed, which is the reverse of what most people expect.
What to check, and when
- Year 9, or before Class 10 ends. Do not try to pick a degree. Pick a
subject combination that keeps the widest set of degrees reachable. Keeping options open
at this stage is a wise decision as they can be narrowed later during degree and
university selection.
- Year 11. Name three or four courses the student is genuinely drawn to
and read the current entry requirements for each, at the specific universities.
- Year 12. Confirm nothing has changed, because requirements are revised
between intakes. Then work on the shortlist, the total cost to graduation, and
scholarships.
- Already in Year 13 and worried. Check before assuming the worst. A
surprising number of the doors families believe are shut were never prerequisites in the
first place.
If the door really is closed
It is rarely the end of the pathway, though it usually costs time or money or both. Three
routes come up most often.
- Bridging units. A number of Australian universities run short intensive
courses in chemistry, physics or mathematics before first semester, designed precisely for
students who did not take the subject at school.
- Articulated entry. A diploma or pathway program with guaranteed
progression into the second year of the degree. Adds time, and sometimes lands the student
in a stronger position than a direct entry.
- A related degree with a transfer point. Enter an adjacent course that
is still open, meet the prerequisite along the way, transfer across. The most common
workable answer when the deadline is close.
Case note · composite, illustrative
A family came to me in Year 12 with a shortlist of highly ranked universities and a
daughter set on veterinary science. The subject combination chosen two years earlier had
closed the prerequisite, and nobody had raised it.
We remapped to a related pathway with an articulated entry route, modelled total cost to
graduation against the original plan, and found a university with great graduate outcomes
and a lower fee base. She started the following February.
- Arrived
- Year 12, mid-cycle
- Constraint
- Prerequisite closed in Year 10
- Work
- Remap, cost model, articulated entry
- Outcome
- Offer held, lower fee base
A composite drawn from
several families, not one client.
The caveat that matters more than the rest of this
Entry requirements change between intakes, differ between universities, and differ again
between states. Nothing above is a substitute for the current handbook entry for the
specific course, at the specific university, for the year the student will actually apply.
Anyone who tells you what the requirements are without first asking which university and
which intake is guessing. That includes people who are confident about it.
If your child is in Year 9 or later and you have not checked this against
the courses they are drawn to, it is worth half an hour. Bring their year group, the
subjects already chosen, and a rough budget.
Aqeeb AkramFounder of Ironbark Advisory. He has worked in international education
since 2014, at Macquarie University, the Australian National University and Study NSW in
the New South Wales Government, and went to Sydney as an international student himself in
2016. He now advises families in the UAE on studying in Australia, and education providers
on the region. More about Aqeeb
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