Pathways to VU

At VU, we believe there’s more than one way to reach your dream qualification. If you don’t meet the entry requirements for your preferred course, or you’re not ready to commit to a full degree program, we’ll work with you to find an alternative pathway to achieve your study goals.

By successfully completing a pathway course, you’ll gain entry into the next level of study. Many pathway courses even allow you to earn credit towards a qualification, helping you fast-track your degree and complete your studies sooner.

How pathways work at VU

'Pathways' allow you to build on your learning and progress between study levels, creating opportunities in every discipline.

They can link courses with similar learning, for example a nursing diploma to a nursing degree. Or they may help you to access tertiary education by teaching you foundational study skills. Pathways are offered between VU courses and also via external institutes who have partnered with us to create links from their courses to ours.

There are two types of pathway options at VU. Choosing the right one depends on whether you want a guaranteed, direct route from one course to the next, or more flexibility.

Best for: Students who want a direct, all-in-one route and want to apply for both their initial course and final (destination) course at the same time.
1. Explore pathways
Browse our website to find your dream course. You’ll find any available pathways listed on the course page (e.g. Diploma of Legal Studies leading into the Bachelor of Legal Studies).
If you’d like to explore all pathway options, you can browse by discipline at the top of this page.
2. Apply
You can apply for a packaged pathway either via the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) website or directly to VU.
- Year 12 / VTAC applicants: Search the VTAC website for course options that explicitly include a pathway eg ‘Art (Foundation/Degree Pathway)’. Add this to your preference list and submit when you’re ready.
- Direct applicants: Apply directly to VU from the destination (final) course page. Follow the steps in our application portal to select a packaged-pathway option.
3. Accept your offer
Your study offer will include both the first pathway course and the destination course.
Complete any application tasks listed in your offer email. Once all the tasks are complete, you'll get an email to accept your offer and enrol into your first course.
4. Progress your study
Once you’ve completed your first course with the required results, you will automatically progress into the destination course.
You will receive a new offer email to accept and enrol into your next course. If there are additional entry requirements, they will be listed in the offer email.
Best for: Students who want to take it one step at a time, complete an initial qualification, and keep their final options open.
1. Explore pathways
Browse our website to find your dream course. You’ll find any available pathways listed on the course page (e.g. Diploma of Legal Studies leading into the Bachelor of Legal Studies).
If you’d like to explore all pathway options, you can browse by discipline at the top of this page.
2. Apply
You can apply for the first course in your standard pathway via the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) website or directly to VU.
- Year 12 / VTAC applicants: Search the VTAC website for the first course in the pathway and add it to your preference list.
- Direct applicants: Apply directly for the first course in the pathway from the VU website. Follow the steps in the portal to complete your application.
3. Accept your offer
Your study offer will be only for the initial pathway course you applied for.
Complete any application tasks listed in your offer email. Once all tasks are complete, you'll receive an email to accept your offer and access our enrolment portal.
4. Progress your study
After successfully completing your first course, you can choose and apply for your next course. VU will email you options you are eligible for. When you apply directly to VU for your next course, any credit you've earned will be automatically applied.

Best for: Students who want a direct, all-in-one route and want to apply for both their initial course and final (destination) course at the same time.

1. Explore pathways

Browse our website to find your dream course. You’ll find any available pathways listed on the course page (e.g. Diploma of Legal Studies leading into the Bachelor of Legal Studies).

If you’d like to explore all pathway options, you can browse by discipline at the top of this page.

2. Apply

You can apply for a packaged pathway either via the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) website or directly to VU.

Year 12 / VTAC applicants: Search the VTAC website for course options that explicitly include a pathway eg ‘Art (Foundation/Degree Pathway)’. Add this to your preference list and submit when you’re ready.
Direct applicants: Apply directly to VU from the destination (final) course page. Follow the steps in our application portal to select a packaged-pathway option.

3. Accept your offer

Your study offer will include both the first pathway course and the destination course.

Complete any application tasks listed in your offer email. Once all the tasks are complete, you'll get an email to accept your offer and enrol into your first course.

4. Progress your study

Once you’ve completed your first course with the required results, you will automatically progress into the destination course.

You will receive a new offer email to accept and enrol into your next course. If there are additional entry requirements, they will be listed in the offer email.

Best for: Students who want to take it one step at a time, complete an initial qualification, and keep their final options open.

1. Explore pathways

Browse our website to find your dream course. You’ll find any available pathways listed on the course page (e.g. Diploma of Legal Studies leading into the Bachelor of Legal Studies).

If you’d like to explore all pathway options, you can browse by discipline at the top of this page.

2. Apply

You can apply for the first course in your standard pathway via the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) website or directly to VU.

Year 12 / VTAC applicants: Search the VTAC website for the first course in the pathway and add it to your preference list.
Direct applicants: Apply directly for the first course in the pathway from the VU website. Follow the steps in the portal to complete your application.

3. Accept your offer

Your study offer will be only for the initial pathway course you applied for.

Complete any application tasks listed in your offer email. Once all tasks are complete, you'll receive an email to accept your offer and access our enrolment portal.

4. Progress your study

After successfully completing your first course, you can choose and apply for your next course. VU will email you options you are eligible for. When you apply directly to VU for your next course, any credit you've earned will be automatically applied.

Level up with VU pathways

Pathways often connect our TAFE certificates and diplomas to our bachelor degrees. We are one of Australia's only universities to offer both options. You'll also be able to list two qualifications on your CV, demonstrating practical skills along with academic knowledge to prospective employers.

Example pathway

Diploma of Youth Work

Study duration: 1.5 years full-time

Qualification: Diploma
_{Course code: CHC50421}

Pathway offer

Credit offer: 96 credit points (8 standard units)

This is equivalent to a year's full-time study.

Bachelor of Youth Work

Study duration: 2 years (3 years - 1 year's credit)

Qualification: Bachelor degree

Credit & offer process

Credit (advanced standing) is the way we acknowledge the study you've already completed. It reduces the number of units you need to study for the qualification that you're progressing into. Many pathway courses offer credit towards a related degree or diploma. Check the course page, or browse by discipline at the top of this page, to see if credit is granted into your higher education course from your current course. If credit is granted, you'll see the number of credit points listed on those pages.

What is credit?

: If you are eligible, credit will be processed at the same time as we process your offer.
To find out what credit has been granted, simply accept your offer and enrol into your higher education course, after which you will receive a notification email outlining credit granted.
Specified credit
'Specified credit' aligns to specific units within a course structure. If you are granted specified credit, you are not required to study the units listed in the offer.
Unspecified block credit
Unspecified block credit refers to non-specific study within a course structure, such as electives. If you are granted unspecified block credit, you will receive a credit point value that reduces the total number of credit points you are required to complete in the course.
Choosing a major & minor
If your pathway grants credit allowing you to go straight into second year, and the course has a major or specialisation within second year, you will be asked to select your preference during the pathway conditional offer process. It will be actioned at the same time we process your offer.
: Towards the end of the first pathway course, you will receive a conditional offer to progress to further study.
When you have successfully completed your pathway course with passing grades and have met all admissions criteria, we will send you a full offer to enrol.
Pathway conditional offer
A 'pathway conditional offer' is a guaranteed place (in some cases with credit) into higher education courses if you complete the VU course you are enrolled in.
Twice a year (around May and October), we make conditional offers for pathway students to progress to further study at VU. The offer email will be sent to your student account, and will include your pathway options.
Once we confirm that you've successfully completed your current course, and we have validated you have met any additional admissions criteria, we will send you an email with your full offer into your chosen higher education course for the next available course start date (admissions intake).
If relevant to your course, you may be asked to select a major or specialisation during the conditional offer process.
Additional admissions criteria
Some higher education courses have additional admissions criteria that must be met and validated before we can make you an offer into the course.
You will be advised during the pathway conditional offer process if your chosen higher education course has additional admissions criteria. Alternatively, check your course page for any additional admissions criteria.
Some examples of pathways that have higher education courses with additional admissions criteria:
Diploma of Education Studies (EDES) into the Bachelor of Education (P-12)
Diploma of Nursing HLT54115 into the Bachelor of Nursing.
If you don’t meet the required additional admissions criteria, you will not be made a pathway offer for that course. If you were asked to choose a second course preference during the conditional offer process, you will be made an offer for this course instead, if eligible.
If the pathway does not have any additional higher education course options and you would still like to study this course, you will need to apply direct via the course webpage once you have met the required admissions criteria.
: Once you have received your pathway full offer, you will be able to enrol into your higher education course. If you were eligible for credit, it will be processed at the same time as your offer.
Accept your offer
Competitive pathway courses (courses in high demand or courses with placements) will have enrolment deadlines. To secure your place in the higher education course, you must accept your offer and enrol in units by the deadline specified in your full offer email.
If you do not accept your offer and enrol by the deadline, your offer will lapse. Once lapsed, you will be required to re-apply for the pathway higher education course.
If you want to start your course at a later stage, you can defer course commencement for up to 12 months.
Get support
Please contact your College course and unit administrator if you need advice or assistance relating to your enrolment, including which units to enrol into.

Foundation courses

Foundation courses prepare you for university if you left school early, didn't get the exam results you wanted, or as an international student you need to get ready for Australian study.

A foundation course might also suit you if you made it to university, but your first few weeks have been tougher than you expected; see transferring between courses.

They offer entry into bachelor degrees and diplomas without credit.

Foundations at VU

International Foundations at VU

Other entry points to VU

If no formal pathway courses are available for your course, you may be able to get credit towards your chosen course for informal learning, work and life experience, or study undertaken elsewhere. For Year 11 and 12 students, we offer peace of mind with a conditional offer before you complete your exams.