Scholarship and selection
Selection
The Bachelor of Accounting is only open to citizens and permanent residents of Australia, and is intended for school leavers, meaning applicants who are currently in Year 12 or only one or two years out of school are those sought by the employers who sponsor the course. Applicants more than a few years out of school are less likely to be selected - based on our selection criteria - but are still eligible to apply. All applicants must note that the course starts with compulsory fast-track classes 6 weeks before most other university courses.
Entry to the Bachelor of Accounting is very competitive and is not based on ATAR score alone. Selection criteria are as follows:
- a genuine and informed interest in an accounting-based career
- personal attributes needed to succeed both as a student and in a business career - communication skills, interpersonal skills, team-working skills, problem-solving skills, enthusiasm and dedication
- involvement and achievement in a range of activities and interests
- demonstrated leadership qualities or potential
- strong academic ability
You do not have to study Economics or Business Studies at school in order to qualify for selection. Mathematics (to Advanced level) is assumed knowledge, however it is not a prerequisite for the course (though students who have not completed Advanced Mathematics may wish to complete a bridging course or similar in order to prepare for the content of the degree.)
There is no fixed ATAR requirement for the Bachelor of Accounting. Like all of our selection criteria, the better your score for academic ability the better your chances of being selected. Each year we take in students with ATARs ranging from 90 to 100, balancing criteria against one another so that if you excel particularly in another area it can compensate for a lower academic score, and vice versa.
Scholarships
In 2023 students in the Bachelor of Accounting program will receive a scholarship valued at:
- $17,500 for the first year of the course;
- $18,000 for the second year of the course; and
- $9,500 for the first half of the third year of the course.
In addition to the scholarship, which runs for 2.5 years of the 3-year course, students can claim a Recruitment Incentive of $9,500 in their third year if recruited by a sponsor organisation (see below).
The scholarship is paid in fortnightly instalments into a nominated bank account, throughout the calendar year, through both university and practical experience semesters. The scholarship is paid to students by the university from pooled sponsorship funds, and is clearly not tied to any particular sponsor organisation. As such it is tax-exempt income. Students are not obliged to join any particular firm upon graduation, nor do they have to repay any of the scholarship if they do not accept a job offer from a sponsor. Receipt of the scholarship is subject to the disciplinary rules of the Bachelor of Accounting program.
In addition to the scholarship payments above, any student who has to move home in order to join the course in Sydney will receive a Relocation Allowance.
Bachelor of Accounting – recruitment Incentive
The Bachelor of Accounting student scholarship terminates on June 30 in the third year of the program. However, by this time most (if not all) Bachelor of Accounting students will have been recruited for full-time employment starting the following year. Those students who receive and accept a job offer from any of our sponsor organisations will be rewarded with a Recruitment Incentive of $9,500 (i.e. equivalent to the value of a scholarship for the remaining 6 months of the course).
To claim their entitlement to the Recruitment Incentive students must lodge with the Office of Co-operative Education an "Acceptance of Offer of Employment" form, signed by the student and a sponsor representative, setting out the terms of the employment agreement. In the event that the student does not commence employment as agreed, the Recruitment Incentive must be repaid.
