News broke this week that students with ATARs in the 50s were being accepted to teaching degrees at university.

Now, there’s a bit to unpack here.

Firstly, it’s important to note this is not new.

This is a continuation of a trend we’ve seen over the past decade, in which ATAR scores of students being offered places at uni for teaching degrees have been getting lower and lower.

A secret report that was leaked in NSW before the pandemic found students with ATAR scores between zero and 19 were offered places to study teaching.

Why? Well, even if these students can’t hack it and drop out, the universities are still making money and so probably see it as a victimless crime.

And those that pass become teachers, and we certainly need more of them.

But experts see this as part of a cycle wh

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