![\"Jackson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4024faa7e42c773f745045be8e18d252909a649a.png\")
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August 2, 2026 \u2014 1:32pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Denzel James is less likely to be at university than most of his peers.<\/p>\n The Yankunytjatjara man, from a remote area of South Australia, received an ATAR of 27 and is from a low-income family.<\/p>\n But he is the first of his eight siblings to pursue a degree and hopes it will pave the way for them to see university as an achievable pathway as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to be the first to study at uni, because I could push my two younger siblings to eventually start preparing to see whether they want to go to university too,\u201d the first-year law student at Victoria University said.<\/p>\n The decline in the proportion of students like James across Victorian universities has been sharp.<\/p>\n Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds made up 12.2 per cent of all undergraduate places in 2024, a drop from 15.3 per cent in 2018, the most recent federal data compiled by the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) shows.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n While some of that is due to a 2021 change in how the data is collected, experts say the rising cost of living, greater availability of jobs and increased course fees have disproportionately affected students from disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cLow-socioeconomic students are, broadly speaking, going to be last on and first off across the sectors,\u201d ACSES trials and evaluation program director Tim Pitman said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs places expand, they are taken up by the [high-socioeconomic-status] students before the low-SES students come on. And as the sector declines, the low SES students tend to go backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n Victoria\u2019s big four universities \u2013 the University of Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and Deakin \u2013 had the lowest share of undergraduates from low socioeconomic backgrounds in 2024.<\/p>\n The University of Melbourne, which fared worst, said that since 2023 it had prioritised programs that supported equity students, and it had seen yearly lifts in students gaining access.<\/p>\n A Deakin University spokesperson said it was aware of a modest decline in students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds due to cost-of-living pressures, declining ATAR completion indicating different career choices, and changing patterns of demand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe watch these numbers closely and measure ourselves against them,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n RMIT University has been simplifying admissions processes, and improving pathways from vocational education into university and through equity scholarships to remove barriers to entry, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n This year, enrolments of low-socioeconomic-background students have increased at RMIT by 3 per cent for higher education and by 6 per cent for vocational education compared with the year prior.<\/p>\n Victoria University introduced a new block model in 2017 to allow students to do a single subject at a time over four weeks \u2013 freeing up time for them to work or care for family members while studying.<\/p>\n It has correlated with completion rates among equity students increasing to 90.82 per cent in 2024, up from 82.75 per cent in 2018, the ACSES data shows.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople weren\u2019t succeeding fast enough, well enough, strongly enough from various backgrounds,\u201d Victoria University vice chancellor Adam Shoemaker said of why the university changed its model.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beauty about the block model is you can work full-time if you\u2019re lucky enough to have a paid job and study full-time. It\u2019s just one subject at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the introduction of the model, fail grades for low-socioeconomic students in STEM subjects have dropped by 46.4 per cent. High distinctions have increased by 82.3 per cent for equity students, and distinctions by 52.5 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quality has been exactly the same. The dimensions of the assessment haven\u2019t been weakened, it\u2019s just the performance has gotten better from students,\u201d Shoemaker said.<\/p>\n Denzel James said the block program had helped him divide his time and achieve better outcomes.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cI can give my full attention to it, not trying to balance different classes and assessments and assignments. I get that opportunity to understand the content more deeply and produce better quality work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Recent psychology graduate Athraa Yousif was also the first in her family to go to university, after moving to Australia as a refugee from Iraq.<\/p>\n She had studied education at another university but found the large cohort overwhelming while also having caring responsibilities for her family.<\/p>\n When she started university, she was initially still developing her English and the model\u2019s small class sizes suited her.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of educational gaps as well throughout that refugee journey. It\u2019s taken me some time, but I\u2019m here and slowly building a career as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Victoria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4966ed52e0efe94d44bf710326bd7932b3e822f6.jpeg\")
Victoria University students Athraa Yousif (left), Denzel James and Brooke Theodoridis have studied under the university\u2019s block model, which allows students to do a single subject at a time.Jason South<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ceeb83ef6d9c6c9a641c23d7c8dd30f94f7789e9.jpeg\")
The University of Melbourne had the lowest share of undergraduates from low socioeconomic backgrounds.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n![\"Victoria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e0f4e9907e5fe328f9cfe4a51d87d06e9d570624.jpeg\")
Victoria University vice chancellor Adam Shoemaker with Brooke Theodoridis, Denzel James and Athraa Yousif.Jason South<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/eb27b4eb3579b8307c683eba2dcbc6c49da5e262.jpeg\")
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Jackson Graham<\/a> is an education reporter at The Age. He was previously an explainer reporter.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 2, 2026 \u2014 1:32pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-839220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}