Adjustments and penalties in pathways

This paper will present case studies of sub-degree pathways course options available at a ‘group of eight’ university to highlight the ways that they both enable and inadvertently can constrain access. The Review of Australian Higher Education (2008) recommended that by 2025, 40 % of 25 to 34 year olds will obtain a Bachelor degree qualification. Access and equity are a key feature of this policy goal and ambition. To facilitate this goal, sub-degree programs represent a key access option for many students who do not immediately and initially satisfy admission requirements. This may be due to a lower ATAR score or no score because of alternative education experiences , e.g VET . Students undertaking sub-degree programs do so with an understanding and expectation that they represent a ‘pathway’ leading to a bachelor destination course. Yet not all such programs provide straightforward access in a consistent fashion. This paper will illuminate how sub-degrees as a model of access and equity can at times operate as proving grounds, representing a less flexible and responsive enabling approach than imagined. In contrast to standard first year undergraduate programs sub-degrees such as the pathways diplomas highlighted in this paper reveal some hidden pitfalls arising from different expectations and course structures and rules.