The University of Sydney has become the second major NSW university to fully disclose its admissions scores after Fairfax Media revealed the practice of admitting students below the advertised cut-off was rife throughout the sector.
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The move towards transparency from the nation's oldest tertiary institution follows rival UNSW's decision to do the same in June. It comes as thousands of future students prepare to submit their applications to the Universities Admissions Centre for this year's intake.
The University of Sydney's new admissions website, released on Monday, shows all minimum, median and top Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranks [ATAR] for its courses.
The data will allow students who previously felt they may have missed out after receiving an ATAR lower than the advertised cut-off to see if they have a chance of making it into their desired course. The information also discloses alternative entry pathways for students.
Students interested in taking up a Bachelor of Commerce at the university's Camperdown campus, for example, will see that while the ATAR cut off for 2016 was 95, only 67 per cent of students who were admitted actually received this score. The minimum ATAR when alternative pathways were taken into account was 85.90.
The University of Sydney's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Tyrone Carlin, said the information would give students greater confidence in making decisions about their degree by more accurately reflecting demand for courses.
"We've been concerned by the tenor of the ATAR cutoff debate and its suggestion that entry standards are slipping across the board, when our data quite clearly shows this is not the case at the University of Sydney," he said.
"We look forward to working with the Higher Education Standards panel, Universities Australia and our Group of Eight counterparts to further demystify what can be a complex process for prospective students and their parents."
In January, it was revealed that up to 60 per cent of students at some universities were being admitted below the advertised minimum requirements. The disclosure forced the federal government to direct the Higher Education Standards Panel to examine transparency in the sector.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham warned he would act if the universities failed to address entry standards. Senator Birmingham also criticised universities for claiming there was "nothing to see here" and said entry requirements were seen by students as "opaque as a double frosted window".
According to the disclosure in January, up to 26 per cent of students at the University of Sydney were admitted below the ATAR cut off this year, the lowest proportion of any university in NSW.
The Group of 8 universities, of which UNSW and the University of Sydney are members, have endorsed the recommendations to improve transparency made by the chair of the Higher Education Standards Panel, the former secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Peter Shergold.
All eight universities, including Monash, the University of Melbourne, University of Western Australia, University of Adelaide, University of Queensland and the Australian National University have now made their minimum, median and maximum ATAR marks transparent.
Mr Shergold's panel is due to report its findings to the federal government later this year. Applications to the Universities Admissions Centre are due by September 30.
