2. WELCOME! What’s in store for the evening? 6.00-6.30pm:Careers Advisor Tracy speaks about: Careers Counselling @ SSSC How to apply for VTAC, SEAS and Scholarships for Year 12 students Open Days Pathways 6.30-8.00pm:Opportunity for students to meet with representatives from Universities and TAFE to ask any questions regarding courses, entry requirements, pathways and lots more!

3. Careers @ SSSC Careers appointments are available Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for students to discuss: Subject selection 2016 (Year 12) for Year 11 students Understanding entrance information for TAFE, Uni and ITCs How to read the VTAC Guide and apply for courses through VTAC How to apply for SEAS (Special Entry Access Scheme) How to read the TAFE Directory and apply to TAFE Getting a casual job – reading the Job Guide, searching for work, writing a resume and letter of application, and preparing for interviews Apprenticeships and traineeships Gap year activities and student exchange programs Referrals to other support staff Elizabeth or Marcus in Welfare Rachel and the team in Study Support

4. CAREERS APPOINTMENTS Term 3 is an incredibly busy time in the Careers Office! Year 12: I will continue to interview students during Term 3 Year 11: students are free to pop in any time or/and make appointments for Term 4

5. UNI, TAFE, ITC? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? University – provide professional qualifications with an emphasis on theory and skills Associate Degree (2 years) Undergraduate degree (3 – 4 years) TAFE – provide professional and paraprofessional qualifications with an emphasis on practical skills and expertise Cert I, II, III, IV (up to 1 year) Diploma, Advanced Diploma (1.5 – 2 years) Independent Tertiary College Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees

6. FEES University, TAFE and ITC courses are not free! Some TAFE and ITC courses require you to pay up front Courses end in “2” (DFP – domestic fee place) Courses end in “3” (IFP – international fee place) The government does contribute towards some courses CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) – courses end in a “1” VGF (VET Government Funded) – courses end in a “1” HECS-HELP Generally for undergraduate University courses (Degree & Associate Degree) Don’t pay for course up front – pay it back once you earn more than $54,126 FEE-HELP Generally for TAFE and ITC (Certificates, Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas) Applies to students who enrol in a ‘full fee paying’ course You will require a Tax File Number (TFN) to apply for HECS and FEE-HELP

7. WHAT IS VTAC (Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre) is a non-government funded organisation. Their role for Year 11 and 12 students is to: Calculate your ATAR (formally ENTER) Mediate between you and the various University, TAFE and ITC providers Process SEAS, scholarships and tests (STAT and ALSET) Run the website www.vtac.edu.auwww.vtac.edu.au Run the telephone information service – 1300 364 133

8. IMPORTANT DATES: APPLICATIONS COURSE APPLICATIONS Timely: 1 August (9am) – 29 September (5pm)$32 Late: 29 September (7pm) - 4 November (5pm)$100 Very Late: 4 November (7pm) - 2 December (5pm)$130 PAYMENTS DUE NO LATER THAN 4PM DECEMBER 19th SEAS APPLICATIONS 1 August (9am) – 14 October (5pm) SCHOLARSHIPS 1 August (9am) – 14 October (5pm) CHANGE OF PREFERENCE 3 August (9am) – available for each round. Closes approx 7 days before rounds

9. IMPORTANT DATES: RESULTS/OFFERS RESULTS ATARs Online: 12 December (7am) Post: 14 December Online access requires VTAC number and password created when applying for courses OFFERS (ONLINE or via EMAIL) Round 1: 18 January 2017 (2pm) Round 2: 7 February 2017 (2pm) Supplementary offers: After round 1 New: Change of Preference offered for each round – closes approx 7 days before end of each round

10. VTAC COURSESEARCH

11. VERY IMPORTANT! There will be one copy of the ‘ABC of Applying’ for each Year 12 student. These will be distributed during mentor in term 3. Some of the questions it answers: What is VTAC? How do I register for VTAC? How do I search for courses? How do I “read” the VTAC Guide? How do I apply for courses? What is SEAS and how do I apply? How do I apply for scholarships? How do I change my preferences? How do offers work? When are open days?

12. SEAS: SPECIAL ENTRY ACCESS SCHEME SEAS puts students who have experienced long or short term disadvantage on an equal playing field with students who haven’t. SEAS is not so much about what happened – it’s about the impact it had on you and your studies There are 6 categories that students can apply for and many students will be eligible for more than one: Personal Information and Location Non-English Speaking Background Difficult circumstances Disadvantaged financial background Disability or medical condition La Trobe University SALT, University of Ballarat REEP, Victoria University PPP, (The) University of Melbourne ACCESS MELBOURNE Please speak to your mentor, year level managers, welfare or careers adviser for more information about documentation required to support your SEAS application IF IN DOUBT, LODGE A SEAS APPLICATION

13. SCHOLARSHIPS One application through VTAC makes you eligible for hundreds of scholarships! Scholarships available through VTAC fall under two categories: Institutional Access and Equity Academic Merit Students applying for scholarships may be required to submit supporting documentation as evidence of Centrelink payments, disability or medical conditions or difficult circumstances. Many institutions also offer their own scholarships that are not linked to VTAC –visit the institution websites for more details.

14. HOW TO REGISTER AND APPLY Step 1: Register Quick process via www.vtac.edu.auwww.vtac.edu.au Your VCAA number is your VTAC ID This is your student number that you used for the GAT You must allow “pop-ups” Step 2: Apply for courses $32 Register personal details in MyInfo section of www.vtac.edu.auwww.vtac.edu.au Apply for courses (be wary of the codes that relate to course fees) Choose a proxy to act on your behalf (need date of birth of proxy) Choose payment method Step 3: Apply for SEAS and Scholarships In order to apply for SEAS and Scholarships you must first complete your VTAC course application You can start collecting your documentation prior to applying to save time and hassles later

15. VTAC WEBSITE

16. ATAR & PREREQUISITES The majority of higher education courses (Associate Degrees & Degrees) have ATAR and prerequisite based entry. The ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) is a ranking score for Year 12 students, which combines the scores for their performance in SACs, SATs and exams from Unit 3 & 4 studies. Prerequisites are studies that a student must have completed in order to apply for a particular course. Most courses also have specific scores that must be achieved in these studies to be eligible e.g. 25 out of 50 as a study score in English. For Year 11 students, it is VERY IMPORTANT to start considering your subjects for Year 12 now, based on the prerequisites required for your courses of interest.

17. EXTRA REQUIREMENTS A number of courses now select applicants using a range of additional criteria such as: VTAC Personal information (Pi) form Pre-selection kit/test Folio and/or interview You can find what the extra requirements are, their due dates and where more information is available using COURSESEARCH on the VTAC website. Many of the due dates are in September, October and November – before your exams! Please make sure you don’t miss out on being eligible for a course because you didn’t fulfill the extra requirements.

18. PATHWAYS There are a number of different pathways that students can pursue after completing Year 11 and 12. Some of these include: TAFE to Uni Apprenticeships & Traineeships Full-time, Part-time, Casual work Gap year programs – work overseas, volunteering Short courses Every student is encouraged to list AT LEAST TWO TAFE courses on their VTAC list to act as pathways into their desired University degree If a student decides not to apply for further education at the end of Year 12, what they do between graduation and re-applying will be considered by the institutions

19. Need MORE information? Look no further!

20. SSSC COMPASS & VTAC BLOG Regular newsletters and updates from Careers are posted as News Items on Compass, as well as emailed to parents and students. The VTAC Blog is available for students to sign up to via the VTAC website – it is updated regularly with course cancellations and changes, due dates and much more!

21. OPEN DAYS Open Days occur at every institution and generally run on weekends throughout late July and all of August. These are a chance for students to speak to academic staff and current students about courses of interest and to get additional information relating to extra requirements. The times, dates and contact information for Open Days will be posted on Compass, and posted around the school.

22. CAREERS CENTRE & APPOINTMENTS There are course guides and information brochures available for most University, TAFE and ITC providers - if you want information and it’s not available just ask Tracy and I’ll try my best to follow it up! Careers appointments are very important to clarify and solidify your subject and course selections, so please attend when you book one! Students need to be actively involved in the process - come prepared with questions of your own and an idea of subjects or courses you would like to investigate or apply for.

23. Thank-you!