ATAR Educational Access Schemes (EAS) 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which organization primarily administers EAS applications for NSW universities?
- TAFE NSW
- UAC (Universities Admissions Centre) (Correct answer)
- NESA
- ATO (Australian Taxation Office)
Correct answer: UAC (Universities Admissions Centre)
UAC (Universities Admissions Centre) processes EAS applications for most NSW and ACT universities.
Question 2: A student's school was severely disrupted for two terms due to a natural disaster affecting the local area. Under EAS, this situation most likely falls under which category?
- Financial hardship
- Personal illness or disability
- Disrupted schooling and non-schooling (Correct answer)
- Language background other than English
Correct answer: Disrupted schooling and non-schooling
Prolonged school disruption caused by external events like natural disasters falls under the 'Disrupted schooling and non-schooling' EAS category.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of an EAS adjustment factor added to a student's ATAR?
- To reward students who attempted extra HSC courses
- To compensate for educational disadvantage so universities can compare applicants fairly (Correct answer)
- To penalize students from elite private schools
- To replace the ATAR with a different ranking system
Correct answer: To compensate for educational disadvantage so universities can compare applicants fairly
EAS adjustment factors compensate for circumstances that disadvantaged a student's performance, enabling fairer comparison with unaffected applicants.
Question 4: A student applies for EAS citing that both parents have never attended university. Which category does this typically fall under?
- Financial hardship
- First-in-family (low parental education) (Correct answer)
- Language background other than English
- Personal illness or disability
Correct answer: First-in-family (low parental education)
Being the first in the family to pursue university education, indicated by low parental education, is a recognized EAS disadvantage category.
Question 5: Under EAS, what does 'isolation and rural disadvantage' primarily address?
- Students who studied entirely online by choice
- Students whose schools lacked resources due to geographic remoteness (Correct answer)
- Students who immigrated from rural countries
- Students who lived in cities but commuted long distances
Correct answer: Students whose schools lacked resources due to geographic remoteness
Rural and isolated students often have limited access to teachers, resources, and extracurriculars, which EAS recognizes as genuine disadvantage.
Question 6: Which of the following is NOT typically considered valid supporting documentation for an EAS application related to personal illness?
- A letter from a registered medical practitioner
- A statutory declaration from the student only (Correct answer)
- Medical reports outlining the condition's impact on schooling
- School records showing attendance patterns related to the illness
Correct answer: A statutory declaration from the student only
A statutory declaration from the student alone is generally insufficient; EAS requires corroborating evidence from qualified third parties such as doctors.
Question 7: If a student receives an EAS adjustment factor of 3 points and their ATAR is 75.00, what is their selection rank used by universities?
- 72.00
- 75.00
- 78.00 (Correct answer)
- 75.03
Correct answer: 78.00
EAS adjustment factors are added directly to the ATAR to produce the selection rank, so 75.00 + 3 = 78.00.
ATAR Educational Access Schemes (EAS) 2
Which organization primarily administers EAS applications for NSW universities?