That's why the government has decided to spend $490 million dollars on improving teaching quality/ratio's and to allow demand driven university selection by 2012. Good move I think.
What I'm saying is that ATAR/UAI/OP etc is not the be all and end all of selection and is not always the best way to pick students. How often are students picking law or medicine, simply because of the pay or it is the thing to do. Ten years ago, it was IT. And how many of those students get towards the end of their degrees and realise they made the wrong choice, or that they weren't up to the standard required for university, despite what ATAR they got. Statistically, approx 20% of first year students transfer or defer, due to poor course choices or an inability to reproduce the same quality they showed in high school.
The current system is reasonable, but I think it could be done a lot better. Whether it's selective testing, interviews or what, I don't know. But I think there is a better way. As I said before, I also think the mark should be reset to a par level at the end of each selection period, to give those students who may not have got the mark required to get into the course they want a chance to prove they can do it. I'm happy for them to do that and transfer, rather than picking a course they weren't sure they wanted to do and then transfer.
I also think it comes down to guidance in schools. I can barely remember my career advisor sitting down with me to have a chat about what I wanted to do or even just to give me some ideas in grades 9 and 10. Some of my peers felt the same way further down the track (6 or 7 years later). They are between two high schools, so it may well be over a large group of schools. A little guidance for those who aren't sure what they want to do goes a long way.
