Failing students prompt review of varsity entrance

New Zealand's long tradition of open entry to university is set for a shake-up.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) said yesterday it was reviewing university entrance standards to decide whether "easy access to university is still appropriate in the current competitive environment".

New Zealand Vice-chancellors' Committee chairman Roger Field said vice-chancellors had been concerned for some time about the standard of students entering university and the number that failed in their first year.

Current financial pressures and record enrolments had brought the problem "into sharper focus".

Literacy standards were in particular need of review, along with the range of approved subjects for university entrance, he said.

"The list of approved subjects includes a number of disciplines that, if taken in combination, don't necessarily equip students to be successful at university."

Vice-chancellors wanted more focus on traditional areas such as English, mathematics and science, Field said.

With increasingly high enrolments during the recession, it was important that precious education dollars were directed at those with a high chance of success, he said.

People aged over 20 had higher rates of failure in the first year than other students.

"Over-20s that do not have university entrance should be able to demonstrate quite clearly that they have got a significant chance of success," Field said.

Any changes were unlikely to be in place by next year, he said.

NZQA qualifications deputy chief executive Bali Haque said the authority had been in "informal discussions" with vice-chancellors on updating entrance standards. "The philosophical issue is whether easy access to university is still appropriate in the current competitive environment."

The authority was doing a standards review of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement as well as looking at national numeracy and literacy standards. Any change would probably be signalled in 2011 and in place by 2013.

The ability of anyone over 20 to go to university was in the Education Act and would require an act of Parliament to change, Haque said.

New Zealand Union of Students' Associations co-president Jordan King said any change to the current system would be "very concerning".

"Open entry into tertiary study has always been there. It's part of what it is to be a student in New Zealand," he said.

"We don't want a situation where students fresh out of high school with qualifications on paper are not allowed to access tertiary institutions."

King said academic success at high school was not necessarily a good indicator of success at university.

- © Fairfax NZ News