Access Melbourne eligibility requirements for 2022

General eligibility criteria for Access Melbourne

All Access Melbourne applicants must meet all of the following requirements:

• Be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident, or hold a permanent humanitarian visa; and
• Have not received results from a degree course at a tertiary institution (excludes high school extension studies or single subjects completed outside of an official degree program. Does not apply to non-school leaver entry pathway applicants and/or recognition as an Indigenous Australian applicants); and
• Demonstrated your capacity to successfully undertake the course of your choice; and
• Applied for a University of Melbourne undergraduate course through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC).

If you meet each of these requirements and meet the criteria for at least one of the Access Melbourne categories, you are eligible to apply.

Please note: Access Melbourne consideration is not applicable for honours or concurrent diploma applications.

Study score consideration criteria in addition to ATAR

Current Year 12 applicants who are eligible for at least one of these four Access Melbourne categories below with an ATAR below the usual level selected, may be considered using criteria in addition to ATAR by achieving a (raw) VCE study score of at least 35 in one or more of the VCE Unit 3/4 subjects (or equivalent) specified for their course(s) of interest and providing a personal statement:

1. Disadvantaged financial background
2. Resident of a rural or isolated area
3. Difficult circumstances
4. Disability or medical condition.

To be eligible for study score consideration in addition to ATAR applicants must achieve an ATAR of at least:

• 72.00 for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Design and Bachelor of Science
• 80.00 for the Bachelor of Commerce
• 86.00 for the Bachelor of Biomedicine.

The personal statement should highlight your career ambitions, outline the future benefits for the community you hope to achieve, and your motivations for participating in higher education study at Melbourne.

See step 4 of how to apply for details about submitting your personal statement.

Eligible Unit 3/4 VCE subjects

Disadvantaged financial background

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet one of the below criteria:

• You're in receipt of a means-tested Commonwealth income support payment (such as Austudy, ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance etc), or
• Your parents are in receipt of Family Tax Benefit A, or
• You're able to demonstrate how your disadvantaged financial background has affected you.

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) application via the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) under SEAS Category 2: Disadvantaged financial background.

Our Access Melbourne pathway takes into account any external factors that may have impacted your results. This means ATAR requirements for eligible Access Melbourne applicants are lower than our standard published ATARs.

Find out how to apply

Resident of a rural or isolated area

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if meet all of the below criteria:

• Your residential address is located within a Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1), an area that is not defined as a major city by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), and
• You completed your final two years of schooling in a rural or regional secondary school.

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 1: Personal information and location. Our Access Melbourne pathway takes into account any external factors that may have impacted your results. This means ATAR requirements for eligible Access Melbourne applicants are lower than our standard published ATARs.

Read the full details about applying as a rural student

Difficult circumstances

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet all of the below criteria:

• You have been prevented from reaching your full educational potential because of family or other life circumstances; and
• These circumstances have had a long-term impact.

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 4: Difficult circumstances.

Find out how to apply

If you have experienced short term circumstances that have impacted your studies, you may be eligible for Year 11/12 Special Consideration.

See Year 11/12 Special Consideration

For current Year 12 applicants, impacts of the 2019/2020 bushfires, and/or COVID-19 are expected to be considered through Year 11/12 Special Consideration.

Disability or medical condition

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet all of the below criteria:

• You have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition that has affected your studies; and
• These circumstances have had a long-term impact.

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 3: Disability or medical condition.

Find out how to apply

If you have experienced short term medical circumstances that have impacted your studies, you may be eligible for Year 11/12 Special Consideration.

See Year 11/12 Special Consideration

For current Year 12 applicants, impacts of the 2019/2020 bushfires, and/or COVID-19 are expected to be considered through Year 11/12 Special Consideration.

Recognition as an Indigenous Australian

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet one of the below criteria:

• You're of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, or
• You identify as a person of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage and are accepted as such by the community in which you have been living in or are associated with.

Read more about applying as an Indigenous Australian

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 1: Personal information and location.

Graduate of an under-represented school

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet the below criteria:

• You completed Year 12 in 2021 at a Victorian school defined by the University of Melbourne as under-represented in both the tertiary sector and at the University of Melbourne.

See a list of under-represented schools

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 1: Personal information and location.

Non-English speaking background

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet all of the below criteria:

• You were born outside Australia in a non-English speaking country, and
• You arrived in Australia after 1 January 2016.

Find out how to apply

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 1: Personal information and location.

Mature-age consideration (non-school leaver entry pathway)

You are eligible for Access Melbourne consideration if you meet all of the below criteria:

• You are 23 years of age or older on 30 September 2021 (for Semester 1, 2022 entry) or 31 May 2022 (for Semester 2, 2022 entry); and
• You have no qualifications obtained throughout the past seven years that may be used to support your application.

To apply for this Access Melbourne category, submit a SEAS application via VTAC under SEAS Category 1: Personal information and location.

Read more about applying under the non-school leaver entry pathway