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TAFE SA Entry Requirements

Name: South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre
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Some TAFE courses require you to hold a specific qualification, a qualification in a particular field, or a qualification at a certain level. These are known as course admission requirements (CAR). CAR are specific to each course, which means you may be eligible for some courses but not others, depending on your qualifications.

For competitive courses (courses where there are more applicants than places available) meeting the admission requirements does not guarantee an offer. All applicants who meet the requirements are ranked for selection, and offers are made in merit order. The rules for ranking applicants are set by TAFE SA.

Course Admission Requirements Frequently Asked Questions

Important note for TAFE SA applicants

To enrol in a TAFE SA course, you must be 16 years old and not enrolled in school.

If you are under 16, you can still apply through SATAC, but you will need parental or guardian consent. Please contact SATAC before starting your online application.

In South Australia:

young people aged 6 to 16 are of compulsory school age and must be enrolled in full-time school
young people aged 16 and 17 must be in full-time education or training, or employed full-time

Examples of Qualifications that may meet Course Admission Requirements

As course admission requirements are specific to each course, we encourage you to check the course entry details carefully when adding to your SATAC application. You can also find course information on the TAFE SA website.

Language, Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Skills (LLND)

The LLND Assessment indicates your reading, numeracy and digital skills to make sure that any learning and support needs can be planned for. The LLND is a course admission requirement for a range of TAFE SA courses, and may also be used to assess to access subsidised training.

Find out more about the LLND on the TAFE SA website.

Completion of SACE or equivalent

Students who are awarded the South Australian Certificate of Education () have successfully completed Year 12 (final year of secondary school) in South Australia.

When a course lists “Satisfactory completion of Stage 2 (or equivalent)” as an admission requirement, applicants must have completed the SACE, an (), or an interstate Year 12 qualification. Some courses also have a minimum requirement. Satisfying the qualification requirement alone does not guarantee selection.

Overseas school qualifications are assessed individually on a country-by-country basis.

TAFE, VET and Higher Education level study

When a course requires a completed Certificate-level course (for example, any Certificate III), this requirement is met by applicants who have completed a Level 3 qualification or higher, as defined by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Applicants who have successfully completed at least one year of full-time study at university at AQF Level 6 or above (for example, an Associate Degree or ) also meet this requirement.

For more information, visit the Australian Qualifications Framework website.

Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) results

results can be used to meet course admission requirements and contribute to your selection score for entry into courses only.

University bridging and foundation courses

Successful completion of a recognised university bridging or foundation course may be used to meet course admission requirements.

A successfully completed bridging or foundation course of 12 months duration may be considered equivalent to completion of SACE Stage 2 or a Certificate III.

Competitive and non-competitive courses

Courses may be competitive if there are limited places available. They are non-competitive if TAFE SA expects that all qualified applicants will be accepted.

Competitive courses

Your chances of being selected for a place in a competitive TAFE SA course depend on:

The number of places available in the course
Whether you have met the course admission requirements (i.e. whether you are )
How many other applicants are applying
How competitive your qualifications are compared to other eligible applicants (i.e. your rank).

When applying for a competitive course, you need to demonstrate in your application that your qualifications meet the course admission requirements. SATAC will assess your qualifications to determine your and rank before an can be made to you.

Many have no course admission requirements. In these instances, there is usually no or other selection criteria applied. However, if demand is higher than expected, TAFE SA may make offers based on the order in which applications were received – so SATAC encourages students to submit their TAFE SA applications as early as possible once the cycle opens.

Note for Existing Worker courses

Most Existing Worker courses do not have formal course admission requirements, but you will be required to provide evidence to TAFE SA when you enrol that you are currently employed in a relevant position.

How TAFE SA allocates places in a course

Each course will have a total number of places it can allocate. This is called the

If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the applicants will be ranked for selection using predetermined criteria – often the date your application was received – which is why SATAC encourages students to submit their TAFE SA applications as soon as possible.

You can find more information about selection criteria in the individual course entries on the TAFE SA website or in the course descriptions in the online application.

Ranking applicants

For with limited places, eligible applicants are ranked in order of merit. TAFE SA has specific rules that determine this order.

and decisions are made by TAFE SA, and SATAC applies these rules and decisions on TAFE SA’s behalf.

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