Getting into Varsity: Comparability, Convergence and Congruence ...

particularly in the case of competitive-entry programmes. In some systems, a student may be able to enrol in selective faculties directly upon making the transition from school; in others, there may be a significant lapse of time separating general university admission and enrolment in a desired field via ‘pre’ courses or even first degrees in related fields. Universities and constituent departments and faculties of universities have long conducted their own entrance testing regimes, often involving factors other than the applicants’ purely academic ability.

Given the importance of securing the ‘right’ tertiary education, students are becoming more choosy about which university they attend. This can present problems in federal entities with a multiplicity of education systems within their borders, especially when divergence in end-of-school assessment procedures has occurred to the point where the establishment of comparability among the constituent entities is less than straightforward. The cross-border portability of university admission credentials is addressed through the inclusion of several such national systems.

In broad terms, there are two kinds of university admission systems: those in which upper secondary school qualifications explicitly confer the right to enrol at university and those in which they do not. The United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary and Malaysia exemplify examination systems culminating in school-leaving qualifications which mediate the transition to tertiary education. Australia and Canada represent federal entities in this category which include within their national borders a diversity of state- or provincial-level education systems which raise issues of comparability and equivalence. In Pakistan, an additional test, partly based on ‘general ability’, is becoming increasingly important for admission to university programmes—particularly for those with competitive entry requirements. In New Zealand, university admission is attained through secondary school assessments which simultaneously count for school exit certification. Argentina and Sweden do not use standardised terminating assessments at upper secondary level, but their exit certificates nevertheless confer university entrance status; in the case of the latter, this may be supplemented by the Swedish SAT.