Updated 7th September 2021

There’s no way around it - Year 12 is always a stressful year, however this year has certainly been even more difficult for students, parents, teachers and school staff. Outside of school, families (along with everyone else) have been monitoring the changes in restrictions and the number of COVID cases, and on top of that there’s been the continual shift between on-site and remote learning. This lack of opportunity for you to be physically present with your subject and career teachers has led to more anxiety at this time of year, and just in case that wasn’t enough, now we’re going to add exams, the release of final results and offers for tertiary courses. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

Normally students would have had more support in making choices about tertiary study options from their school, and while careers teachers are undoubtedly doing their best, there simply hasn’t been as much time to check in with everyone as there normally would be. For students who are still unsure about what they want to do when they finish school, this added pressure of completing the application process and choosing courses on top of keeping up to date with their school work and study can cause significant angst. 

Being aware of what needs to be done allows you to move forward and take action. Some institutions accept direct applications for their courses, however it’s likely you will need to complete a VTAC application if you want to continue studying next year. Here are the relevant dates and tasks:

●      The final cut-off date to submit a VTAC application is 3rd December. After this date you miss out on the first round of offers, which is when most offers are made.

●       On top of this, payment must be made to VTAC by 20th December for the application to be considered for the first round of course offers 

●       Submitting and paying for an application does not mean it’s set in stone. You can change the courses in your preference list right up until 20th December.

●       Scholarship applications through VTAC close on 8th October, and there are other scholarships available that may still be open and are worth looking at (you never know what’s out there in less you check!).

Just to reiterate, you can change your preferences any time you like right up until 20th December, which is after you get your results. After the first round of offers are released on 14th January you will have another opportunity to change your preferences, and this happens again after each round. For right now, if you’re still not sure what you want to do next year, you can submit your application with one course listed, and then spend some time looking at courses and making decisions about what to include in your preference list after exams if you need to.

Having said that, I strongly recommend that you take the time to think about what you want to do next year before results are released on 16th December. Plan your preference list around what you actually want to do (think about who you want to help and what problems in the world you want to solve). Include a range of courses with varying lowest selection ranks (the ATAR required to receive an offer into the course), so that you don’t need to change your preferences after you know your ATAR. This will help you resist the urge to completely change your preferences to unrelated courses if your ATAR is higher than you expected and makes it more likely that you will actually enjoy the course they get into, because it reflects what you really want.

This post was written by Kim Whitty for The Tutoring Company, a home-based and online tuition service that empowers students to believe in themselves, strive to be their best and achieve their learning goals. Check out their page for more information about what they offer: https://www.thetutoringcompany.com.au/