Education non-academic requirements

Non-academic requirements video

From 2018, applicants for initial teacher education (ITE) courses must meet academic and non-academic entry requirements.

Academic entry requirements apply to all our initial teacher education courses. You can find academic entry requirements for each course in the course links below.

You can meet academic entry requirements through:

senior secondary (Year 12) results
successful prior study at university or VET level
successful completion of relevant professional qualifications
approved admissions tests.

Initial teaching courses at Southern Cross University:

Personal Statement

To meet the non-academic entry requirements, you must write a 1000-word personal statement that demonstrates Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) competencies.

Applicants must address the following two categories to demonstrate their understanding of teaching and motivation for undertaking a teaching course. Applicants are encouraged to use work and life experiences and interests to illustrate their suitability.

Category 1: Interest in teaching and children/young people

Write approximately 500 words/one A4 page about your motivation and suitability for teaching.

You may consider the following prompts to frame your response:

Who or what has inspired you to become a teacher?
Why is teaching a good career choice?
Why are you interested in teaching children/young people?
What subjects are you interested in teaching and why?
What does being a good teacher mean?
What skills and abilities do you have that will make you a good teacher?

Category 2: Involvement in personal learning and leadership activities

Write approximately 500 words/one A4 page about your involvement in learning and/or leadership activities that demonstrate capabilities such as:

Willingness to learn
Conscientiousness
Resilience
Interpersonal and communication skills
Organisation and planning skills.

You could use examples from:

School experience

Co-curricular participation (e.g. arts, sports, debating, social justice)
Projects (e.g. curriculum projects, science fairs)
Leadership experiences (e.g. student leadership positions, arts, sports)
Support of other learners (e.g. peer mentoring, coaching, buddy programs)

Work experience

Employment history and roles
Employment involving children or young people
Work-based training undertaken
Work-based training provided

Volunteer and community experience

Volunteer or community participation (e.g. community groups, parish/church groups, cadets, lifesaving, fundraising, clubs)
Community learning and training experiences (e.g. guides, scouts, Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, St John Ambulance)

Personal talents, interests and abilities
Elite performance (e.g. athletic, creative arts, other areas)
Disadvantage that you have overcome

Social, cultural or economic
Geographical – remote and rural
Personal and health.

You may consider the following prompts to frame your response:

What learning activities have I engaged in?
What leadership activities have I undertaken?
What personal interest activities am I involved in? How long have I participated? How am I involved?
What tasks or events have I planned and/or organised?
How have I shown that I can work with others?
What do I do to overcome obstacles, challenges or problems?

Example statements

Example statement 1

Example statement 2

Submitting your statements

Direct applicants - submit to teachstatement@scu.edu.au

QTAC applicants - upload your personal statement to your QTAC application by logging in to Application Services.

UAC applicants – Personal statements for teaching courses

If you are applying to more than one teaching course, only one personal statement needs to be submitted.

Further enquiries

Contact the Future Students team online or phone: 1800 626 481