Indigenous engagement in education

The Tertiary Entry Program (TEP) is an Academic Board certified enabling course offered by CQUniversity, Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students wishing to develop essential skills for undertaking a University degree. Students come from a range of localities and are all adult learners. Successful completion of TEP facilitates the student’s direct entry into CQUniversity undergraduate programs subject to meeting any other eligibility requirements. At times students may also opt to undertake a more specialised enabling program to meet the needs of their undergraduate program. For example, they may undertake further enabling courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics in order to gain entry into engineering or the sciences. TEP provides a Tertiary Entry Rank (TER) for application via QTAC for admission to other universities and thus increasing the options available to students. This presentation focuses on the outcomes of a review of TEP, the consultation that has since taken place and the plans afoot to re-energise TEP for the future needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.