These diplomas have lower entry requirements, and for some diplomas – including engineering and architecture – 100 per cent of the course is transferable, effectively pasting over students’ first year.
“They’ll do basically the same units they would in faculty, but we just give them a bit more scaffolding,” he said.
“There’s no time lost, there’s no money lost, and there’s no loss of face when they can turn up in second year.”
Other major Brisbane universities offer similar branching programs, such as Griffith College and University of Queensland College.
Most universities also offer a tertiary preparation program, which can take between one and two semesters and boosts a student’s ranking.
“The ATAR isn’t everything, and it doesn’t define you – you will be able to get to where you want to be without hitting that high ATAR,” Beutel said.
UQ student Joshua Ryu undertook an internship in San Francisco this year.Credit: Joshua Ryu
Second-year UQ pre-medicine student Joshua Ryu said students stopped talking about their year 12 scores soon after beginning tertiary studies.
“If anything, it’s more of like a stepping stone to trying to do better things in life,” he said.
“For students who are trying to get into university programs, you’ll get a GPA [grade point average] there, so that will supersede your ATAR anyway.”
Joshua Ryu graduated from Brisbane State High School in 2023.Credit: Joshua Ryu
Ryu graduated from Brisbane State High School with an ATAR of 99.80, receiving an outstanding academic achiever award from the Queensland curriculum board for his individual subject scores in 2023.
He said his score helped him earn two scholarshipsbut that his success came more from his responses to application questions and his CV of extracurricular activities.
“University is a really good place to learn that this one number doesn’t define you because, for example, my GPA is lower than what my ATAR was compared to other people, and that hasn’t affected me negatively in any way,” he said.
“There are so many more opportunities that are offered to you post high school, and you just have to look out for opportunities and really put yourself out there.”
Ryu and Meddows said their extracurricular activities were now taking centre stage, with Ryu scoring short study and internship trips abroad this year – including to San Francisco’s Silicon Valley – and both are planning international exchanges before the end of their degrees.
About 34,000 Queensland year 12 graduates will receive their ATAR scores at midday on Thursday, with the curriculum authority revealing on Tuesday about one-quarter had ranked at or above an ATAR 90.
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