17 Feb 2020

Uni pathways don’t always get the credit they deserve. Your teachers can sometimes be so focused on making sure you get a good ATAR that they forget that there are other ways to get into uni.

If ya don’t get the ATAR you need to get into the course of your dreams, that dream of yours is definitely not dead. There are plenty of ways to get into uni, and pathway programs is actually one of the best.

However, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about pathway programs. That’s probably because most schools don’t really place much focus on them, so instead their students are left thinking that pathways are some strange, mysterious option designed for someone else.

Truth is, pathways are there to help people achieve their goals. Pathways are the solution to the old “your ATAR shouldn’t decide what you can and can’t do in life” problem.

Here’s three things we got wrong about uni pathways:

1. They make you fall behind your peers

Two of the following three statements are correct:

  1. Pathway programs teach you the foundational stuff that helps ya succeed once you get to uni and are generally the same units as the first year of uni
  2. Pathway programs feature smaller class sizes to ensure you get the support you need to make the transition to uni easier
  3. If you undertake a year-long pathway program to get into uni, you therefore fall a year behind everyone else in your year group

If you thought that statement #3 looked a little suss, you’re not wrong.

Pathways don’t make you fall behind your mates who went straight to uni. In fact, when you successfully finish a pathway program, you’ll usually have the option to go straight into the second year of a corresponding degree at uni.

This means you’ll still get to graduate at the same time as all your mates.

2. You’ll miss out on the ‘uni experience’

Some people think of pathway programs as a completely separate entity to uni. They think that they’ll be studying in a separate location to their friends and be missing out on all the fun. These people are completely wrong.

Pathway programs are usually on the campus of the uni that you’re planning to graduate from. You’ll have the exact same access as everyone else to all of the facilities, social activities, uni societies, cafes and bars. So in between classes, you can link up with your mates for lunch, hit the gym, or just chill out on the uni grounds together.

And while the classes may be smaller in a pathway program, that’ll just help ya have a smoother transition from high school into the more independent learning experience you’ll find at uni.

3. Pathways are pointless unless you go on to finish the whole degree

It’s often assumed that uni pathways are only worth undertaking if you’re certain you’ll complete the full uni degree.

Wrong again.

By completing a pathway program, you’ll also earn yourself a qualification like a Diploma - even if you decide not to progress to the uni degree. This means that if you’re no longer vibing with what you studied in the pathway; you have the freedom to study something else without walking away empty-handed. This Diploma is a pretty handy qualification to have. Some students even take an overseas gap year after completing their diplomas and are able to put their qualifications to use before they start their second year of uni.

Who knows, that Diploma could come in handy down the track and help you land a job.

If pathways are all of a sudden sounding like a pretty darn good idea, then you should look into what options are available to you if you don’t/didn’t get the ATAR you were after. There are a bunch of different pathway providers on our website that can help ya get into that course you’ve always been dreaming of. Check ‘em all out below, based on where you’re located:

NSW

SA

VIC

WA

QLD