Higher Education Standards Panel consultation : Transparency of Higher Education Admissions Processes: Response from the Australian Council for Educational Research

This document has been prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in response to the Higher Education Standards Panel’s Consultation on the Transparency of Higher Education Admissions Processes. In developing the document, ACER has drawn on previous experience working in admissions research and admissions testing, and on discussions over time with universities in Australia as a result of this work relating to the issues of relevance to this consultation. This document explores four key areas identified by ACER as critical to improving the admissions processes of higher education providers in Australia. In developing this document, we have approached ‘transparency’ as a concept manifesting two specific ideals in relation to the issues of the consultation. We see transparency in admissions as both a means of ensuring public and stakeholder confidence in the quality of processes for enrolling students as well as a tool that can be used by providers to clearly articulate their academic expectations of students who are admitted for study.