Minimum ATARs for teaching degrees at Federation University
An article published in The Australian on 9 April 2025 suggests that 15 Australian universities – including Federation - are using equity admission programs to adjust entry admission ATARs into teaching degrees.
The article sourced out-of-date data from a 2021 CourseSeeker website and referenced a Bachelor of Education degree that has not been offered at Federation University for four years.
To be clear, Federation’s current lowest acceptable ATAR for the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) is 50, and an ATAR of 55+ must be achieved to guarantee entry into this teaching degree.
The minimum ATAR requirement for the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary), the Bachelor of Education (Primary) and the Bachelor of Secondary Education (all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Degrees), is 70. Federation does not accept school leavers directly into these degrees who do not meet the minimum ATAR.
The question of how to assess someone’s capacity to pursue higher education is complex, and a single ATAR score should be part of that assessment, but not the only consideration. In other words, on top of the 70 ATAR, there are other requirements that must be satisfied such as personal Literacy and Numeracy and interpersonal skills.
This is particularly the case for students from regional and remote areas, who must navigate many more hurdles to access education – geographic, financial, resources, socio-economic.
The article mentions the use of adjusted ATARs to increase students’ chances of getting into university.
Adjusted ATARs are a mechanism under the Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) designed to assist students who have faced significant disadvantage during their high school years which may have contributed to a low ATAR, including financial hardship, geographic remoteness, under-resourced schools or personal struggles.
The reality is many school leavers from regional areas would not gain entry to university if SEAS did not exist. Adjusted ATARs help level the playing field for students who don’t have access to the resources and opportunities that living in a big city provides.
A student’s ATAR should not solely determine their future – aptitude, passion, persistence and resilience in the face of hardship are vital indicators of a person’s future success professionally and personally.
Regional primary and secondary schools need passionate, skilled and dedicated teachers who know their communities. Teacher training programs delivered by Federation provide a pipeline of teachers who will stay working in their local region.
ATARs only tell us part of the story about a student’s likelihood of success in university. ATARs alone won’t tell us if someone would be a great teacher at their local primary or secondary school
A great many of Federation’s students come to us via direct entry, which means they are not school leavers, and in many cases don’t have an ATAR at all.
Federation University is proud to support student equity as the number one ranked university in Australia for First-Generation Student Enrolments, with 50 per cent of the University’s cohort being the first in their family to take the step into higher education.