VTAC - Applying for further study after Year 12

VTAC (Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre) is the organisation responsible for calculating the ATAR and for distributing offers to courses for universities and TAFEs in Victoria. Students who are interested in further study or training in a course that requires a VTAC application will need to be sure to follow the processes outlined by VTAC to be considered for their course.

VTAC is also one of the first stops students should be using to research potential courses for the future. It provides information in a clear and consistent manner on most courses that are available to students finishing Year 12.

Some important dates to keep in the diary for this process include:

To find out more about VTAC including information on how to apply, special considerations (SEAS applications), scholarships and due dates, be sure to visit www.vtac.edu.au

Helping your child with upcoming subject selection

The subject selection process is an exciting part of your child's education journey. It allows them to reflect on how the subjects they study at school affect their future career path. And if you support your child to choose suitable subjects, they are more likely to achieve good results in their final years of school.

If your child knows what they want to study after leaving school, they can identify a number of courses to explore. Each provider and each course has prerequisites that students must meet. So it's important that you and your child are aware of these.

In the final years of school, your child should choose subjects that:

• enable them to work from their strengths

• challenge them to make the most of their capabilities

• provide them with the qualification they need to pursue their ambitions after school

• are enjoyable while they study

• offer a range of study that is manageable, with a balance between theoretical and practical subjects

• provide life skills

• are their choice and not the choice of others.

Open days

Most universities and TAFEs have open days (usually throughout August). These provide a chance to speak to staff and current students about courses and university/TAFE life.

Open days allow you to see what the campus looks like and what facilities and services are on offer. There are often information sessions held throughout the day. For details, see the tertiary admissions sites listed below.

Encourage them to look back at their achievements

It will be important for your child to think about their achievements. They should identify:

• the subjects they have done well in, or not so well in

• what their achievements tell them about their abilities (e.g. mechanical aptitude, verbal ability, numerical ability).

Building a picture of themselves

Encourage your child to build a career profile to help in their decision-making process by:

• listing their strengths, abilities, skills, knowledge and interests

• looking at how their family and other people in their life are influencing their decisions

• knowing the occupations they are suited to and interested in.

Morrisby Profile

All students in Year 10 have completed a Morrisby Profile in Term 1 (if your child was away during this time, they were sent an email with instructions on how to complete it at home). This Morrisby Profile allowed students to complete an aptitude test to help create a career and interest profile for them to consider when thinking about subjects they would like to do in Year 11.

Students can log on at any time at the Morrisby website: www.morrisby.com and this profile can be accessed beyond their time here at MSJ.

Students can also add a parent or guardian to their account to allow them to provide guidance to their pathways planning. Please note that the Pathways Leader is unable to provide access to the account and must be done through the student account - have a chat with your child about getting access.

MyFuture

The MyFuture website is a government funded initiative that has a similar career profile as the Morrisby Profile, only this one is free and does not have aptitude testing. Students are required to create a free account (and parents and guardians too) to create a career profile that can help them explore future careers and pathways.

You can access lots of resources from this site to support your child: www.myfuture.edu.au

Tertiary Open Days

Students are encouraged to continue their pathways planning by attending as many open days to universities and TAFEs as they can. Why not make it a family event and take the whole family to explore what life is like on campus, the types of courses available, and speak with lecturers, teachers, and students to see if the institution is the right fit for you!

Click on the link to visit the events page for the listed institution.

Free TAFE

To help you get the skills for the job you want, the Victorian Government made Free TAFE available to more Victorians.

Even if you already have a VET qualification or a university degree, you can now access Free TAFE.

Now, you can also do more than one Free TAFE course within the same occupational pathway. This means you can do a Certificate III, Certificate IV and Diploma within the same pathway without paying tuition fees. For more information about pathways, go to ‘Free TAFE priority pathways’ below.

With more than 70 courses to choose from and even greater access, there is no better time than now to kick-start your new career or to upskill. Check out the Free TAFE courses on this page and find a course that is right for you.

Visit the website to see what courses are available: https://www.vic.gov.au/free-tafe

Jay McMillan - Pathways Leader