In the eyes of some Australian newspapers, the nation’s universities have been admitting “large numbers of sub-standard students”. It led Simon Birmingham, education minister in the Liberal-led government, to convene a review of university admissions transparency in February this year. The government “wants to ‘shine a light’ on the practices and habits that may be keeping students in the dark”, he said.

The debate boils down to the issue of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), which indicates a student’s academic achievement relative to those who started high school at the same time. It is the route of entry to university for less than half of all undergraduates.

The charge in the media is that universities publicly advertise high ATAR requirements to appear prestigious (resulting in some students being deterred from applying) while in reality admitting “large numbers of sub-standard students” to maximise revenues. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in September that the University of Sydney had become the second university in New South Wales “to fully disclose its admissions scores after Fairfax Media (the SMH owner) revealed that the practice of admitting students below the advertised cut-off was rife throughout the sector”.

Belinda Robinson, Universities Australia chief executive, says “concerns about low-ATAR admissions are significantly over-stated”. Nevertheless, the ATAR coverage could have major consequences in undermining confidence in the demand-driven system. The system, which abolished caps on student numbers, was introduced by the Labor government in 2012. It is under fire from the Group of Eight research-intensive universities for supposedly devaluing degrees while creating unsustainable costs.

Comments Hamish Coates, professor of higher education at the University of Melbourne: “Basic machinery for admissions hasn’t changed in decades, despite (a) massive change in applicants and more generally… Australia needs to evaluate how people apply for higher education, and how they succeed. Assumptions of old no longer play into new futures — better evidence is needed.”

Meanwhile, students are “not informed, for example, about the non-completion risks” linked to a low ATAR score. “That is much more important information than whether they need an ATAR of 65 or 70 to be admitted,” he says. The Higher Education Standards Panel will report to the federal government on the issue later this year.