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Almost 500 school-leavers across the nation with an ATAR of less than 50 were offered places to study teaching at university in 2025 amid fears the “concerning” trend will damage teaching standards, student learning and the economy.
Last year’s cohort was the highest number of low-achieving students offered a teaching place since 2017, when 443 students with an ATAR under 50 were offered places. While the number of teaching students is growing, so too is the proportion of students with an ATAR of less than 50, which grew to more than 2 per cent of people offered teaching places for the first time since 2017.
University admissions data released by the federal government show that 499 students who achieved between 0 and 50.00 were offered an undergraduate teaching place in 2025. There were also 666 students with ATARs in the 50s who were offered teaching places. At the other end of the spectrum, there were 450 students with an ATAR of more than 90 who were offered a place to study teaching.
“I do find it concerning that the proportion of students with an ATAR below 50 is rising. It’s an awful lot,” said UTS academic Rachel Wilson, author of a seminal 2022 report on teaching called The Profession At Risk: Trends in standards for Admission to Teaching.
A decade ago, there were 562 school-leavers with an ATAR between 0 and 50 offered teaching places. That number has been as low as 226 in 2019.
“There is a clear downward trend in the academic attainment of students [studying teaching]. Australia’s academic standards for entry to teaching are neither stable nor assured. This situation poses a serious threat … negatively impacting on the esteem of the teaching profession, Australian students’ outcomes, and national educational and economic progress,” Wilson said.
The average ATAR for a teaching student across the country was 71, compared to 78 for the average ATAR of a uni student, according to the data.
Research has repeatedly shown the aptitude of a teacher has a significant impact on student performance. In the decades since the 1980s, teacher quality and Australia’s standing in international league tables have both declined. Australian 15 year olds are 2.5 years behind their counterparts in the Baltic states.
“The risks are high if [students with low ATARs] get through their degree and get to teach in schools. We still have major challenges in meeting national benchmarks for NAPLAN and similar challenges in the international benchmark,” said Wilson.
Asked if hundreds of would-be teachers achieving an ATAR of less than 50 was acceptable, federal Education Minister Jason Clare pointed to the literacy and numeracy tests they need to pass.
“All teaching students must pass the [Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education] test. You can’t graduate without it,” he said.
Before the 2019 election, Labor said it wanted to lift the minimum ATAR to about 80. It did not take the policy to the 2022 election, but rather offered $10,000 scholarships to a select number of teaching students with an ATAR of at least 80.
“We’ve introduced scholarships for high-achieving school leaders and we have tripled the number of participants entering the High Achieving Teachers Program,” said Clare, declining to comment on the impact a low-achieving teacher might have on students.
The NSW Education Standards Authority said the state “maintains one of the strongest Initial Teacher Education frameworks in the country, to attract and prepare the best and brightest teachers for our schools”.”
NSW teaching students must achieve a minimum of three HSC Band 5 results, including one in English, as well as at least a Band 4 in HSC mathematics, although there are alternative pathways for students who do not meet those marks.
The data also shows a 23 per cent increase in teaching offers last year in NSW, which NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra attributed to the historic pay rise won by the state’s teachers in late 2023.
“We now have a good pipeline of teachers coming into the system. Over time, this means ATAR entry scores will trend higher,” he said.
The Department of Education said the pay rise and other factors, including lessened workloads, reductions in mandatory training, streamlined accreditation procedures and fewer policy changes meant more school-leavers were attracted to teaching.
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