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Your pathway to uni
What is it?
The Gateway Admission Pathway is an early conditional offer to UNSW for Year 12 students that is administered through the UAC Schools Recommendation Scheme. Your application will be assessed on the basis of your personal statement and your schools’ ratings of your aptitudes and performance in relevant areas of study. If your application is successful, you will receive an early conditional offer with an ATAR entry requirement significantly lower than the Lowest Selection rank. Then, if your ATAR result is the same or higher than the requirement set for you in your early conditional offer, you will receive a firm offer to that UNSW degree, if it is your highest eligible preference.
Getting an early conditional offer through the Gateway Admission Pathway
Participating in the UNSW Gateway Program is the best way to maximise your likelihood of receiving an early conditional offer.
1. Check if you’re eligible
You are eligible if you are in Year 12 and receiving an ATAR and either:
- Attending a Gateway school or
- are identified by UAC as eligible for the Educational Access Scheme based on SEIFA consideration.
2. Pick the degree you want to study
Use our Degree Finder to help you. You need the UAC Course code and name of your preferred UNSW degree.
UAC Course codes for each UNSW degree can be found in our Degree Finder.
3. Submit your UAC application.
Be sure to list your chosen degree as your highest UNSW preference.
Make a note of your UAC application number and pin.
4. Apply through the UAC Schools Recommendation Scheme before Sunday 19th September
Upload your personal statement answering the following three questions:
- Why are you interested in the course you are applying for? Tell us how this degree relates to your passions and goals.
- What are your learning strengths? How have you applied them to overcome challenges in school or other aspects of your life?
- Thinking about your future self at university. What do you identify as the key challenges for you and how do you plan to manage these?
Upload a portfolio if required
- An early conditional offer to UNSW with an ATAR requirement up to 15 points below the 2021 Selection Rank
- A guaranteed $1,000 payment as support for transitioning to university
- Priority for UNSW Equity scholarships which may include awards of $5,000 or $10,000 per year for the duration of the degree, or accommodation scholarships valued at $24,000 per year (for students who meet UAC eligibility for Educational Access Scheme under the SEIFA criteria)
An equity scholarship may assist you if you are experiencing financial or other educational disadvantage. Scholarships can help you reach your academic potential.
All High School Leaver and Future Student scholarships will be advertised on the Scholarships website each July.
NB. A separate scholarships application is not required. You simply register your interest in being considered for an Equity Scholarship when you complete your UAC Application. For more information go to uac.edu.au/current-applicants/equity-scholarships and scholarships.unsw.edu.au/unsw-equity-scholarships.
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Applications open
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Applications close
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Early conditional offers are released
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Early conditional offers converted to firm offers
Applications are open now and there are some important extra deadlines you need to be aware of. You can find out more here.
Gateway Admission Pathway - FAQs
UNSW is committed to student equity and we want to ensure that as many young people as possible are able to access higher education. We understand that the ATAR alone is not the only measure of academic potential and that schools can experience different levels of educational advantage.
For UNSW Gateway, we have considered the level of disadvantage associated with where schools are located in terms of geography and socio-economic status and we are prioritising places for students who attend a Gateway school and who are identified by UAC as eligible for SEIFA consideration.
The Gateway Admission Pathway is now administered through the UAC Schools Recommendation Scheme. You will no longer need to upload a school report and assessment task. Instead, UAC can directly access your Year 11 results as well as your schools’ ratings of your aptitudes and performance in subject areas relevant to your chosen degree.
You can apply for all undergraduate courses at UNSW Sydney, excluding:
- UNSW Prep Program (17-21)
- Co-Op Programs
- Bachelor of Medical Studes/Doctor of Medicine has different eligibility critiera and a different application process - see Gateway Medicine Entry Scheme for more information
- B Aviation (Flying) has considerable costs associated and final entry to the program is dependant on additional selection criteria - see Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) for more details
- B Vision Science/M Clinical Optometry will prioritise places for regional/remote students and less than 10 places are available
You will need to upload a personal statement answering the following three questions:
- Why are you interested in the course you are applying for? Tell us how this degree relates to your passions and goals.
- What are your learning strengths? How have you applied them to overcome challenges in school or other aspects of your life?
- Thinking about your future self at university, what do you identify as the key challenges for you and how do you plan to manage these?
The below listed degrees in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture also require a portfolio to be uploaded:
School of Art & Design
- B Design
- B Design/B Media (PR&Ad)
- B Fine Arts
- B Fine Arts/B Arts
- B Media Arts
School of Built Environment
- B Architectural Studies
- B Computational Design
- B Industrial Design
- B Interior Architecture (Hons)
- B Landscape Architecture (Hons)
Upload your personal statement and (if required) your portfolio when asked for institution specific documents in the UAC Schools Recommendation Scheme portal.
We will also consider your schools ratings of your aptitudes and of your performance in relevant areas of study, but UAC will ask your school directly for these so you won't need to upload them yourself.
Most degrees offered through the Gateway Admission Pathway have no caps on the number of places available. It is a competitive process, but we want as many students as possible to succeed in getting an early conditional offer!
The exceptions are:
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Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Clinical Optometry: Fewer than 10 places are available and students from regional and remote areas will be prioritised for these places
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Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine: Up to 10 places are made.
Applications are open now and close on 19th September 2021 at 11:59pm.
If you are successful in receiving an early conditional offer you will be notified on the 12th November.
Then, if you meet the ATAR condition of your offer, you will receive notification of a firm offer on 26th January.
Remember, to receive a firm offer you will need to keep the UNSW degree as your highest eligible preference.
No, unfortunately only domestic students can be considered through the Gateway Admission Pathway.
You must select ONE (1) UNSW degree to apply for through the Gateway Admission Pathway.
The degree that you list as your highest UNSW preference in your UAC application will be the degree you are considered for in your Gateway Admission Pathway application (administered through UAC Schools Recommendation Scheme).
UNSW Gateway considers a range of factors that contribute to your success at university. Gateway is separate to UAC’s Educational Access Scheme (EAS). For further information EAS, please click here.
Don’t sweat. There other admission pathways to UNSW:
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UNSW Prep Program
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UNSW Prep is a one-year (18 months for Engineering) pathway to a UNSW degree place. You study subjects that allow you to develop your academic skills, including maths skills if needed, so that you can achieve your best results. You also study degree level courses from week one, to give you a realistic introduction to university level study. If you do well in these courses, you can earn course credit towards your degree.
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Portfolio Entry to Art & Design or Built Environment Degrees
More information about these admission pathways can be found at:
https://artdesign.unsw.edu.au/future-students/portfolio-entry
https://www.be.unsw.edu.au/students/future-students/be-portfolio-entry -
Faculty of Engineering Admission Scheme (FEAS)
FEAS offers an adjusted ATAR pathway to Engineering degrees, on submission of an application, including submitting a short video.
- Bachelor of Information Systems Admission Scheme (BISAS)
BISAS offers an adjusted ATAR pathway to the Bachelor of Information Systems degree, on submission of an application, including submitting a short video. This degree is offered by the UNSW Business School. - Indigenous Admission Scheme
Administered by the Nura Gili Centre for Indigenous Programs, the Indigenous Admission Scheme provides an alternative pathway for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into UNSW undergraduate degree programs, and includes all Nura Gili Indigenous Preparatory Programs for Medicine, Law, Education, Science & Engineering and Social Work.
Yes. If you successfully achieve the conditions of your Gateway offer, the firm offer you receive from UAC in January can be deferred.
To find out if you attend a UNSW Gateway school, please see the schools list here.
The below listed degrees in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture require a portfolio to be uploaded with your Gateway Admission Pathway application:
School of Art & Design
- B Design
- B Design/B Media (PR&Ad)
- B Fine Arts
- B Fine Arts/B Arts
- B Media Arts
School of Built Environment
- B Architectural Studies
- B Computational Design
- B Industrial Design
- B Interior Architecture (Hons)
- B Landscape Architecture (Hons)
School of Art & Design
UNSW School of Art & Design uses portfolios to evaluate your potential as an artist, designer or theorist, and to understand your commitmentto succeed in creative studies.
To demonstrate this, your portfolio should include no fewer than 4 and no more than 6 of any combination of the following:
- Images of artwork(s) or design(s)
- Video(s)
- Animation(s)
- Soundwork(s)
- Website(s)
Note: Online links to video or sound files are preferred
- A short written statement for each item noting the context in which it was made (e.g. a school project, a competition, a personal project, etc). Include the original instructions you were given in a school project or a competition. For a personal project, describe the aims you set yourself. What were you trying to achieve? (Max. 100 words for each item of visual material, excluding any original instructions)
- An evaluation of your work: What worked well? What could be improved? (Max. 50 words)
School of Built Environment
What should you include in your portfolio?
Your portfolio submission should be a selection of your best own creations and should be a combination of where your creative skills and imagination come together.
Portfolios can come in many formats and contain a variety of work, including items such as photography, design work, drawing, painting, sculpture, online works, digital art, conceptual art, animation, websites, video work.
Suggested length:
5x A4, PDF submission, please include any links to personal websites, videos or multimedia.
Note: it is essential that the portfolio itself and all the work in it has been created by you.
A short statement may also accompany each work(s) within your portfolio. This short statement may describe; the work and the context of this work (i.e. for a school, competition or personal project)
Top Tip on structure/content:
Show your process work and convey your narrative
The end product is not always what’s important. We value creative thinking and iterative process’, so show us how you arrived at your final work. What idea did you start with? How have you explored this idea and developed the idea to reach the final product? How are you showing this information visually?
How can you show your work visually?
Techniques here may include early sketches of ideas, short written extracts, drawings, process modelling, and any form of experiment that you can document visually to show your process and explain your narrative from idea – product.
Key attributes we are looking for at BE:
- Critical thinker with a curious mind
- Creative potential and passion for design
- We are not looking for highly developed skills, that’s what your degree will provide you
- creativity, innovation, critical thinking, strong communication and problem solving skills.
If you are eligible to apply through the Gateway Admission Pathway, you are not required to sit the Law Admission Test (LAT). LAT results will not be used to assess your Gateway Admission Pathway application. However, you can still register for and sit the LAT if you would like to retain the option of entry to the Bachelor of Laws through the LAT admission process.
If you want more information about the Gateway Admission Pathway, please email us: unswgateway@unsw.edu.au.