ACER's latest report suggests the main reason that university applicants miss out on a place is simply because of significantly lower academic performance. The study found that 10% of all applicants were knocked back, and that these applicants had an average ENTER score of 54 in comparison to an average of 80 for successful applicants. The AVCC has protested that the study does not take into account mature age applicants. [Opin: The label 'unmet demand' is inappropriate, given that 'demand' is measured by the number of applicants, and not by those who want (or would want) to attend university.]  (Press release; Executive Summary; Unmet Demand? Characteristics and Activities of University Applicants Not Offered a Place; Demand for undergraduate places exists; Unmet demand survey; The real story behind unmet demand for uni places.)

Seth Grant has suggested that Australia's wealthiest should establish a research fund that is similar to the Wellcome Trust in England and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US. He suggests that the founder of such a trust would gain lasting recognition. (Mega-rich urged to back learning schemes.)

John Munro has suggested that many school-starters will not be served well by learning phonics straight away. Instead, he recommends first teaching the more fundamental skills needed to deal with phonics. In particular, he suggests teaching skills  that include "being able to handle sound patterns in spoken words, storing the letter symbols in memory, naming the symbols rapidly, and building vocabulary and grammar." (Over-emphasis on phonics in national reading tests won’t solve reading problems.)

And lastly, this is the final installment of Eye Update for 2005, but I will be back with more updates beginning January 19th. Happy holidays!

More stories:

• Indigenous education
• In a word, disgraceful
• International students
• How overseas students spend
  
• (Brendan) Nelson
  
• Mixed messages
• Reformer who's in a class of his own
• Public and Private
• Our shrinking schools
• Reform
• Education Vision for 2015 - Opinion
  
• Research
• Transparency for the Australian Research Council - Opinion
  
• Student rankings
• Nelson's plan for education standard
• Top pupils warned of downgrade
• Kevin Donnelly: The literacy and numeracy crisis in our classrooms - Opinion
• National reading tests for 5-year-olds
  
• Teaching
• Smaller unis among best performing
• Two-tiered universities
• University unveils bold new strategy
• Confusing twists in the maze
• Graduate model not the panacea
• Plain wrong on generalist principles
• Regional doubts cast on higher education plan
• University
• Private US uni's Aussie campus a 'step to Asia'
• Graduates braced for debt
• India not quite an Open slather
• Graduate job hopes exposed in survey
• First past the post
• VET
• Doyle plan to ease emphasis on VCE
• World and environment
• Victorian students invited to help change the world