Admissions Pathways - Flinders University

Flinders University is a strong advocate of providing opportunities for all people to pursue higher education and has an admissions policy which is non-discriminatory.

Flinders provides access for underrepresented groups and takes planned actions through a wide array of Admissions Pathways to encourage students from under-represented groups to apply to Flinders University, be accepted and participate at university.

Admission pathways

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General enquiries sustainability@flinders.edu.au

Student Association Environment Officer environment.officer@flinders.edu

The Indigenous Admissions Scheme (IAS)

The Indigenous Admissions Scheme (IAS) provides an alternative entry pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into Flinders University. The scheme is available to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Flinders also has an Indigenous entry sub-quota for admission to several undergraduate courses:

Bachelor of Clinical Sciences/Doctor of Medicine

Bachelor of Paramedicine (Northern Territory)

Bachelor of Health Sciences (Vision Science) / Master of Optometry

Master of Audiology

Flinders supports the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments’ key priority to increase the participation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in medicine, providing an Indigenous Entry Stream to Doctor of Medicine. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants can be considered for entry to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) at Bedford Park, in regional South Australia (through the South Australia Rural Medical Program), or the Northern Territory (Northern Territory Medical Program via the Indigenous Entry Stream).

Military Academic Pathway Program (MAPP)

Military Academic Pathway Program (MAPP): This pioneering, award-winning program is open to Australian Defence Force veterans – including personnel still serving, those in the process of transition and people who have already left the military. Upon successful completion of this program, students may apply to commence a Flinders University degree

Year 12 Grades Entry

Year 12 Grades Entry: Students can obtain a place at Flinders University by using their three best Year 12 grades. This pathway adds to a range of entry pathways for Year 12 students.

Universities Equity Scheme

Universities Equity Scheme: This contributes to the Year 12 Selection Rank when applying for Flinders University courses. The scheme is administered by the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC) and applicants may be eligible for points through attending specified schools, or for individual students in other schools. Eligible students will receive five points in the calculation of their selection ranks.

Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme

Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme: This program encourages students to strengthen their preparation for undergraduate studies by undertaking a language other than English (LOTE), or specified English and Mathematics subjects.

Rural and Remote Sub-quota

Rural and Remote Sub-quota: Flinders offers a rural and remote sub-quota for admission to a range of undergraduate Health degrees. This aims to increase participation of rural, regional and remote applicants, who are currently under-represented in higher education.

Foundation Studies Program

Foundation Studies Program: Not everyone takes the same pathway to university and this program provides an opportunity for those who may not have finish Year 12 and/or had a break from formal education. Foundation Studies is a university bridging course designed to give students the confidence and skills needed to start one of more than 30 Flinders degrees.

School Recommendation Program

School Recommendation Program: This allows current Year 12 students who may have experienced educational disadvantage to apply for admission to an undergraduate course on the basis of a school recommendation.

Inspire Mentor Program

Inspire Mentor Program: Mentors connect with primary and secondary students to support better engagement in learning, social and emotional wellbeing, which empowers mentees to consider higher education as an option. This program has collaborated with up to 100 schools in metropolitan and regional SA, as well as FLO sites and community organisations.

River Journey and Campus Experience Program

River Journey and Campus Experience Program: The program is designed to raise aspirations of students who are currently underrepresented in Higher Education. Funded by the Australian Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP), the Education Pathways Team offers a series of presentations and campus experiences designed to encourage students to examine Higher Education pathways and opportunities for future success.

Admissions pathways for gender equity.

Flinders University has strong and easily accessed admission pathways through higher education, underlining the University’s commitment to gender equality and its support of all diversity groups to achieve excellence in their studies and work. Our Admissions Policy supports our commitment. Flinders provides access for girls and women and takes planned actions through a wide array of Admissions Pathways to encourage girls and women to apply to Flinders University, be accepted and participate at university.

The importance of the Women In Stem: Branching Out group at Flinders fulfils a key role in promoting gender equality though outreach programs and contests (including STEM enrichments and the annual Aurora photo contest for female school students focused on STEM subjects), promoting peer support networks and enabling professional development for the University’s female higher degree by research students.

Through offering unique programs for postgraduate, undergraduate women and high school students, this group serves to make STEM more inclusive, supporting women’s choice to research and teach in STEM by providing them with greater awareness and knowledge of what STEM study and work involves.

This commitment follows through to ensuring access to Flinders courses – including the achievements of more than 120 women undertaking Flinders’ award-winning Diploma of Digital Technologies in 2023 – a 100% female intake for the year that included both industry applicants (from BAE and other industries) along with teachers. It occurred thanks to special targeted funding from the Federal Government Women in STEM Cadetships and Advanced Apprenticeship Program.

The success and ongoing going commitment to champion equality is underlined by Flinders University being awarded Institutional Bronze Accreditation in the SAGE Athena SWAN program. Delivered through the national body SAGE (Science in Australia Gender Equity), this recognises advances to achieve gender equity across academia, with a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM). As part of this project, Flinders is committed to the 10-point Athena SWAN charter and to implementing the four-year action plan developed as part of the project.

Measuring and Tracking Equity at Flinders University

Flinders University is committed to championing diversity and creating a vibrant, inclusive and values -based community.

Flinders measures and tracks a range of data relating to women and equity students to help the university monitor the success of its initiatives for improving university access and success for these groups and to identify any areas we can target for further improvement.

The charts below measure women’s progress from application through to enrolment, providing a comprehensive picture of the process and the success of the initiatives Flinders has in place.

Women's Applications

The graph shows domestic applications by gender for the period 2020 – 2024 ensuring that we are monitoring the rate at which women apply to courses at Flinders. For the most recent year (2024) women made up 65.6% of applicants, a pleasing rate which has remained consistent over the period thanks to our various policies and outreach programs that promote female engagement in higher education.

Women’s Entry Rate

This chart shows the domestic applicant entry rate for women in the 2021-2024 period. The entry rate is the ratio of enrolling students to applicants. Over the 2021-2024 period, the average entry rate for women was 33.8%, slightly higher than the 31.5% average entry rate for men. This shows our admission pathways for women are successful in assisting women in accessing university.

Women’s Commencing Enrolments

This chart shows commencing enrolments by gender for the period 2020 – 2024 ensuring we are monitoring women who commence studies at the university. In 2024, women made up 66.7% of commencing students.

Women’s Graduation

The chart below measures graduations by gender for the period 2019 – 2023, monitoring women successfully completing their studies. For the most recent complete year (2023), women made up 69.2% of all graduates highlighting the success of Flinders initiatives to assist women to success in their studies.

Tracking Underrepresented Groups Access and Graduation

The charts below measure applications and commencing enrolments for Indigenous Australian students – an important equity group in Australia.

Indigenous Australian Student Applications

The graph shows the number and percentage of domestic applicants who identified as Indigenous Australians for the period 2021 – 2024, ensuring we are monitoring the rate at which these students apply to our university. The steady increase in proportion is evidence our program to improve access for these students is having a positive impact.

Indigenous Australian Student Commencing Enrolments

The charts shows the number and percentage of commencing domestic students who identified as Indigenous Australians for the period 2020 – 2024, monitoring the rate at which these students commencing studying at the university. There is an overall increasing trend, showing the success of our initiatives for these students.

Indigenous Australian Student Graduations

The chart shows the number and percentage of all domestic graduates who identified as Indigenous Australians for the period 2019 – 2023 to ensure we monitor these students successfully completing their studies. While there has been some fluctuation, there is an overall increasing trend.

Low Socioeconomic Status Students Applications

The chart below shows the number and percentage of all applicants who were from a low socioeconomic background for the period 2020 – 2024, ensuring we are monitoring the rate at which these students apply to our university. This shows there has been some fluctuations in the results for this measure.

Low SES Students Commencing Enrolments

The chart shows the number and percentage of domestic commencing students who were from a low socioeconomic background for the period 2020 – 2024, monitoring the commencement of these students. There has been a gradual increase in the proportion of domestic commencing students from a low socioeconomic background over the last four years.

Low Socioeconomic Status Students Graduations

The chart shows the number of percentage of graduates from a low socioeconomic background for the period 2019 – 2023, monitoring these students successfully completion of their studies. It shows a gradual increase over the last four years.