Have you done some study at one uni, and now you’d like to change?
Here’s the process for changing universities from one bachelor degree to another.
Step 1: Decide which degree and university you want to change to
Knowing your ideal degree and university helps you to research the process of changing universities.
You can search for degrees using:
- Individual university websites
- Course Search on each Tertiary Admissions Centre’s (TAC) website
- Course Seeker (just keep in mind that minimum rank info might not be accurate)
You might also find it helpful to talk through your options with a careers counsellor.
Step 2: Check that you have a good chance of getting in
What was the rank cutoff last year?
If you jump on the course page for the course you’re interested in, you should be able to see the minimum rank that was needed to get in to the degree last year.
The rank needed to get in to a degree can change each year, but last year’s minimum rank is a good guide for what you will need (at a minimum) this year.
Figure out what your selection rank likely to be…
You may have received an ATAR in the past, and you might use this to change universities.
But, as I’ve written about in my Pathways to University post, if you’ve completed a year of full-time study at university, your university marks (GPA) can usually be converted into a selection rank (like an ATAR) when you apply to change universities.
The rank you get depends on the university.
In Queensland, this is usually the conversion:
| GPA | Selection rank |
| 6.99 | 99.90 |
| 6.5 | 99.00 |
| 6 | 98.00 |
| 5.5 | 97.00 |
| 5 | 96.00 |
| 4.5 | 95.00 |
| 4 | 93.00 |
But some universities don’t convert GPA to selection rank is such a favourable way (e.g. the University of Sydney) so it’s really important to research the policy of the university you’d like to move to.
Step 3: Apply to the relevant Tertiary Admissions Centre (TAC) – QTAC, UAC, VTAC, SATAC, TISC or UTas
To change universities, and get a place in a different bachelor degree, you’ll need to apply to the relevant Tertiary Admissions Centre (TAC). You can’t apply directly to the university.
This map shows you which TACs look after which states. As you can see, if you want to study at a Queensland university, you’ll apply to QTAC.
NB: If you want to change degrees but stay at the same university, you might be able to do an “internal transfer” instead of applying to a TAC. It usually depends on how competitive the degree you’d like to go into is. So talk to your university, if you’re in this position.
Step 4: Keep an eye on communications from the TAC(s)
Sometimes TACs can have trouble accessing your university marks, and this can slow down offers.
Keep an eye on your emails so that if there’s any issues, you can jump on to them ASAP!
Step 5: Accept your offer and create your student account
Once you’ve received an offer from the relevant TAC, you can go ahead and accept this.
Then go ahead and set up your student account at your new university – how exciting!
Step 6: Apply for credit BEFORE YOU ENROL
If you’d like to see if some of your previous studies can be recognised at your new university, you need to apply for credit before you enrol in your subjects! This is because you need to know how much and what type of credit you’ve been given in order to figure out which subjects you need to enrol in.
I’ve written quite a lot about the process of applying for credit here and made a video about it as well. So check these out if you’re thinking about applying for credit.
Hopefully this guide has helped you to to better understand how to move between universities.
If you have any more questions about the process, you can get in touch with the university you’d like to move to and/or the Tertiary Admissions Centre you’ll use to apply. You might also find it helpful to talk through your options with a careers counsellor.
You got this!💪
Tom