ATAR in the 50s? The universities where struggling students can study teaching

The Age

5 days ago

An analysis by economic research institute e61 earlier this year said within the profession, the annual attrition rate for teachers had fallen since 2009 and was actually lower than the turnover rate in all other occupation groups.
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However, it said there were fewer new teachers in the pipeline because not as many students chose to pursue a teacher education degree at university. Its analysis said setting a minimum ATAR requirement may reduce attrition by screening out candidates who are less well prepared to deal with the academic demands of teaching.
Its analysis matched ATARs with tax office data. It said very high-ATAR candidates were more likely to switch careers later on because they could get better pay elsewhere.
Recent years have seen a nationwide teacher shortage while about half of the people who enrol in a teaching degree drop out before finishing it.
University of Melbourne higher education expert Andrew Norton said unsuitable candidates for teaching were opting out.
'To me this has been a dilemma for years... if you say no to enrolments, you are actually denying an opportunity to someone who might finish,' he said.
In 2025, there was a 7 per cent increase in applications to enter teaching degrees.
Grattan Institute education program director Dr Jordana Hunter said it was important that teachers had a deep understanding of the subject matter, including in primary school where graduates must teach across maths, English, humanities and science.
'A lot of primary school teachers don't feel confident teaching maths,' she said.
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'There is a lot of work for universities to do to make sure all graduate students have the content knowledge ... it is also important for employers, in particular the public and Catholic system, to ensure students have opportunity to upskill in the subject matter they're teaching.
'Other countries like England and Singapore invest a lot more in developing teachers' maths knowledge – we should be doing the same in Australia.'
The University of Canberra had some of the lowest ATARs. Its education faculty dean Barney Dalgarno said circumstances can occur during year 12 that prevent a student from achieving their desired ATAR.
'We believe that it is misleading to judge a teacher education student's capability solely on the basis of their school academic performance in high school,' he said.
Last year, only 25 per cent of domestic education students at that institution were admitted based on their ATAR due to early entry schemes.
At Australian Catholic University, where the median ATAR was just above 62 for some courses for primary school teaching, its interim executive dean of education and arts Professor Phil Parker said students must pass the rigorous Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment.
'It is rare for students to be accepted with ATARs below the cut off, but when they are, it's often because there are extenuating personal circumstances that we – like all universities – consider,' he said.