Guaranteed pathways into Deakin degrees
Join almost 7000 other students who take a non-traditional path to pursuing their dream career each year. The Associate Degree of Arts and Associate Degree of Education help set you up for success at university, with smaller class sizes for supportive learning and guaranteed entry into select Deakin undergraduate courses.
Who's it for?
- recent Year 12 students with an ATAR below 50
- recent Year 12 students with no ATAR (also known as unscored VCE)
- recent Year 12 students who have not met the minimum English requirement
- recent Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students with no ATAR and/or have not met the minimum English requirement
- applicants re-entering education after a break from school.
Associate Degree of Education
Take your next step towards becoming a teacher and gain the foundation skills you'll need in a supportive learning environment. You’ll also complete core units from the Bachelor of Education (Primary).
Associate Degree of Arts
Develop your learning skills for success at university and prepare for your ultimate course. You’ll complete units from the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Criminology, depending on your chosen specialisation.
I have absolutely loved starting with the Associate Degree of Education to bridge into primary education. It's given me the best start to university... I have been given the right tools and advice from amazing and inspiring teaching staff, to help me succeed.
Donna Jervies
Associate Degree of Education student
Plan your future with confidence
We believe your hard work should be rewarded with opportunities. Once you complete your associate degree, you'll have several options, including guaranteed entry with up to 16 credit points (two years) course credit into:
- Bachelor of Arts (Associate Degree of Arts general stream students)
- Bachelor of Criminology (Associate Degree of Arts criminology stream students)
- Bachelor of Education (Primary) (Associate Degree of Education students).*
If you complete the Associate Degree of Arts, you can also apply to transition, with some credit, into bachelor degrees in a range of study areas, including communication, psychology, health science, nursing, commerce, management or science (including marine biology).
#1 university for student support
As Victoria’s #1 university for student support, we care about your study journey. At Deakin, you’ll feel supported to achieve your best and graduate with the skills and knowledge to take on tomorrow with confidence.
Benefits of choosing an associate degree
Studying an associate degree at Deakin prepares you to take on tomorrow with confidence. You'll benefit from:
- becoming part of the Deakin community and campus atmosphere from day one
- smaller class sizes, giving you better access to teachers in your first year
- developing transferable knowledge that's relevant to any industry and building key learning skills that will set you up for success at university
- flexible study options that fit into your busy life
- support services available to you whenever and however you need it
- guaranteed pathways into select Deakin degrees.
How to apply
Find all you need to know about applying for an associate degree. We’ll step you through the application process with our easy-to-follow guidelines.
Rankings and footnotes
Deakin references data from a range of government, higher education and reputable media sources. For more information, visit our University rankings page.
*Before entering the Bachelor of Education (Primary), you will need to successfully complete an additional selection tool for non-academic attributes. Casper is an online, video-scenario based situational judgement test, designed to measure non-academic suitability for teaching.
Contact us
The easiest way to find your ideal pathway into Deakin is by getting in touch with our friendly staff. We can help assess your situation and tailor advice that is specific to your needs so you can start studying at Deakin sooner.
1800 693 888
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