Interstate and NZ Year 12 applicants guide
Commencing studies in another state or country is very exciting, but we know the application process can be daunting. We are here to help you to apply for courses in Victoria and support you along the way.
VTAC is a central application point to make applying to multiple institutions much easier for students. VTAC manages course applications and the Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS), and scholarships programs offered by tertiary education providers across Victoria.
If you are applying for courses in other states, you may need to also apply via their respective TAC (aka Tertiary Admissions Centre). The offer processes at each TAC run independently, so receiving an offer for one state will not impact the offer outcomes in another.
Citizenship and residency requirements
You can apply for courses through VTAC if you are:
- an Australian citizen
- an Australian permanent resident
- a New Zealand citizen
- a temporary resident (or someone planning to obtain a student visa) who is currently studying an Australian Year 12 (in Australia or overseas)
If you meet the citizenship or residency requirements above, you can apply for courses through VTAC. You will need to meet specific entrance requirements to be considered for a course offer.
If you don't meet the citizenship/residency requirements above you must apply directly to institutions – not through VTAC.
Most current year 12 students cannot apply for mid-year course entry. Only domestic or international year 12 students studying on the Northern Hemisphere timetable can apply. Applications open 3 August 2026 for courses commencing in 2027.
Subject conversion tool
Are you looking at subject prerequisite requirements and wondering what that means in your state’s high school studies? You can take the guess work out with our subject selection tool.
To use the tool, simply enter the VCE subject you wish to find the conversion for then select your home curriculum and it will show subjects in your home state which meet those prerequisites as well as the scores required.
For New Zealand students, institutions will have different requirements for NCEA subjects and CIE. Check institution pages in order to determine whether your subjects meet prerequisite requirements and contact the institutions’ future student support team if anything is unclear.
ATAR Equivalence
The ATAR is used to compare and rank Year 12 students educated in states across Australia. This means that your ATAR from one state is easily transferrable to your VTAC application. For New Zealand students, NZQA calculates ATAR scores on behalf of Australian tertiary admission centres for every eligible student in January each year.
Equity schemes (SEAS) and scholarships
If there have been circumstances that have affected your study, you should consider putting in an equity schemes (SEAS) and scholarships application. Equity schemes are designed to help institutions get a sense of your full potential. The purpose of the application is to enable institutions to consider the circumstances you have experienced and their impact upon your studies when making selection decisions.
You are eligible to apply for equity schemes if you hold:
- Australian or New Zealand citizenship
- a permanent Australian residency visa, or
- an eligible temporary protection, safe haven, or humanitarian visa holder, or bridging visa holder applying for humanitarian visa - see here for more information.
Additionally, you need to have applied for a course through VTAC and met the course and institutional requirements. The equity schemes (SEAS) and scholarships application only becomes available once you have lodged a course application. To be eligible for equity scholarships, simply complete the scholarship benefit statement and add any community service or leadership experience, if applicable.
Other scholarships
You might be concerned about the costs associated with moving for study, however there are a range of scholarships on offer for a variety of different student groups - some specifically for students moving for study.
Scholarships are offered by many different organisations. The three places we suggest you search for scholarships are:
- Scholarships available through VTAC
- Scholarships available through institutions
- Scholarships offered by government, community and business organisations. For example, those offered by the Victorian and Commonwealth governments. To find other opportunities, search online.
You should spend some time exploring all of these opportunities and apply for any scholarships you think you might be eligible for.
Offers
Your eligibility for VTAC offer rounds may differ by state, as your course application will only be considered once we receive your Year 12 results. You can use the tables below to determine the first offer round you will be eligible for through VTAC. Visit Offer rounds by applicant type for further information.
Change of preference
Once you submit your course application, you can choose to add or reorder your course preferences at any time during the change of preference periods. You can find a full list of dates on our website here.
While you can receive multiple offers from different TACs, you will only be permitted to study one course. If you do accept multiple offers, once you have made a decision on your preferred offer and accepted this offer, remember to unenrol in any other courses you no longer wish to study.