Testing the water for uni

qualify in their industry at a higher level – for example, an electrician who wants to progress to an electrical engineer.

“If someone has completed a trade, there are a number of options available to enter a university course,’’ Hands says.

He says while students at AITC do not study subjects that provide them with an OP for university entrance, they can choose to enrol at university as a mature-age student or undertake bridging courses to help meet the entry requirements for a degree.

Victoria Filsell, 21, did Year 11 and 12 at a trade school and, by the time she had finished, had obtained a Certificate II in Engineering, secured a place in a forensic sciences degree at university and was also offered an apprenticeship in her trade.

She ultimately took a gap year and undertook the Special Tertiary Admissions Test to gain entry to a behavioural sciences degree, in which she is now majoring in psychology and disability.

Filsell believes her “abundance of choice’’ was the direct result of her enrolment at trade school. She still holds an interest in forensic sciences and so will soon add a third major in criminology to her studies.

“I came [to St Patrick’s Technical College] and felt I was able to spread my wings and do things that interested me,’’ Filsell says. “I became a lot stronger and a lot more mature as well. It really gave us the opportunity to focus on ourselves.’’