Community Access Program and Bachelor of Arts Degree Entry
Studying subjects through the Community Access Program may enhance your chance of entering or re-entering degree courses in the Arts Faculty.
General Information
While there is no guarantee of selection into the Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University via Community Access Program, it is possible to use Community Access Program subjects as the basis of selection, either to demonstrate academic merit if Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) results were not sufficient for selection, or as an equivalent to a Victorian Certificate of Education.
Demonstrating consistently high grades across Arts subjects studied through Community Access Program may improve the likelihood of selection in the case of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Students should also note, however, that assessed Community Access Program studies constitute an official academic record, therefore poor academic performance in Community Access Program will have a negative impact on selection.
Studying through the Community Access Program is an effective way for those returning to study to reacquaint themselves with academic work. Normally, previous qualifications that are the basis of entry into an award course must have been acquired in the past 10 years. The Faculty often recommends Community Access Program to applicants who have not studied during the previous 10 years. High results in Community Access Program subjects, together with results from previous study, are taken into account by the Selection Committee. Community Access Program is an avenue through which unsuccessful applicants to the Bachelor of Arts can work towards future selection.
Applicants proposing to use Community Access Program for the purpose of Bachelor of Arts selection need to weigh up carefully whether it would be wiser for them to: (i) opt to undertake all four subjects in the one semester, in order to be in a position to apply as soon as possible; or (ii) instead, decide to take the four subjects over two semesters, in order to be in a better position to achieve the high standards required.
Students who are considering Community Access Program as a pathway to a degree program should note that the Faculty of Arts is not in a position to guarantee what the required grade average will be when you apply. This varies according to the number and standard of applicants, and the places available.
How To Apply for the Bachelor of Arts
If applying to commence in the first semester of an academic year, applicants need to apply for the Bachelor of Arts through Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) (T: 1300 364 133) either via the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre website or by obtaining a Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre guide from a newsagent. The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre closing date is generally towards the end of September in the previous year.
Community Access Program students who intend applying for the Bachelor of Arts through Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre are advised to investigate the University of Melbourne's combined special entry and access scholarships scheme Access Melbourne.
All applications for mid-year entry are submitted directly to the University, usually by May 31st.
Students applying to resume a discontinued or suspended Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne are also required to apply through Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre for semester 1 commencement.
Please note, it is appropriate to submit applications for award courses prior to receiving all your results, as application closing dates will always fall well before results become available. Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre and the Faculty will access your Community Access Program results when they are released. Please ensure that you provide Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre with all the documentation they request, as failure to do so many render your application invalid.
Applying for Credit
Students undertaking Community Access Program subjects to gain admission to the Bachelor of Arts degree are required to complete a minimum of 50 points, and should note that selection is based on academic merit. If a Community Access Program student is successfully admitted to the Bachelor of Arts, credit needs to be applied for at the time of enrolment and will be granted as follows:
- Where the Community Access Program subjects are used because previous year 12 or tertiary studies were undertaken more than 10 years ago, credit will be granted for all arts subjects passed, up to the maximum credit allowable for the course.
- Where the Community Access Program subjects are used because academic performance within the last 10 years at Year 12 or in subsequent tertiary study was insufficient, (eg. an Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) that did not meet the Clearly in Rank or a tertiary Grade Point Average (GPA) that did not meet later-year entry requirements) or to demonstrate academic rehabilitation after suspension or termination within the last 10 years, credit will only be given where a grade of H2B or higher is achieved.
- Where Community Access Program subjects are used as the sole basis for admission (ie. for applicants without the usual entry requirements such as a Year 12 Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank or equivalent), no credit will be granted.
- A former student (i.e. one who has been suspended or one who has discontinued) may not complete the requirements of a degree through the Community Access Program. Furthermore, upon re-entering the degree they will usually be required to complete a minimum of 50 points.
- No student may qualify for the Bachelor of Arts degree without completing at least 100 points of second/third year subjects as an enrolled student within the Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Melbourne.
Further Information
Further information is available from the Arts & Music Student Centre.
Return to the Faculty of Arts Single Subject Study/Community Access Program web page.