The path to university is paved with success, thanks to new UWSCollege facility at Bankstown

Kerry Hudson, Christopher Pyne, Barney Glover 

Dr Kerry Hudson, the Hon. Christopher Pyne and Professor Barney Glover

The University of Western Sydney is expanding its highly successful pathways program – UWSCollege – with the opening of a new multi-million dollar facility at the University's Bankstown campus.

The new UWSCollege Bankstown building was officially opened today by the Federal Minister for Education, the Hon. Christopher Pyne.
UWSCollege is having a transformative effect on students' lives and the higher education participation rates in Greater Western Sydney, with thousands of students having successfully enrolled in and completed a UWS degree after coming through the pathways program.

UWSCollege students who successfully complete their diploma program are guaranteed entry into the second year of a UWS undergraduate degree.

Mr Pyne says UWSCollege is giving the young people of Western Sydney choice and flexibility in access to higher education.

"I am delighted to see the establishment of the Bankstown campus of the UWSCollege Network as this Government is particularly focussed on helping universities that service regional and outer metropolitan areas," says Mr Pyne.

"There are very exciting results already showing students who come through UWSCollege do better than many students with higher university entry scores," he says.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Barney Glover says the University is extremely proud of its UWSCollege initiative, which he says in terms of its size and scale, is unique in the Australian higher education sector.
"UWS has proven itself to be a national leader for improving access to university study for thousands of students, particularly those from across the Greater Western Sydney and regional areas," says Professor Glover.
"We are giving students who may not have had the same academic preparation the chance to gain a place in a university course and prove to themselves and others that they can succeed at university, if they are given the right level of academic support. 

"By expanding UWSCollege to even more campus locations and significantly increasing its student enrolments to 4000 students within the next few years, UWS is well and truly fulfilling its mission to improve the educational outcomes for the people of Greater Western Sydney and beyond."

Christopher Pyne and Marcus Lathouwer

The Hon. Christopher Pyne and UWSCollege graduate, Marcus Lathouwer
Dr Kerry Hudson, CEO and Dean of UWSCollege, says the more than 3700 students now studying at UWS would not have been admitted without this UWSCollege option.
She says UWSCollege gives students access to the same university-standard teaching and course delivery, but they also benefit from smaller class sizes, more intensive support, closer monitoring, and if necessary, specialist intervention. Their academic year is also extended over more weeks. 
"We know through our own evaluations that students entering their second year at UWS from UWSCollege generally perform better than students who gained direct entry to the degree with a higher entry score," she says.
Dr Hudson says the new building at Bankstown will be open for classes from March this year and will offer Foundation Studies as well as Diploma programs in arts and business.
"UWSCollege also offers English language and IELTS preparation programs, which give students the confidence and communication skills necessary to meet the challenges of university study, and we will be offering English language programs at Bankstown from 2015 onwards," says Dr Hudson.
The development of the new facility was made possible in part by $29.8 million in funding from the Federal Government, as part of its Structural Adjustment Fund. The funding has also seen the development of new UWSCollege facilities for the Blacktown and Penrith campuses, and a new campus opening at Lithgow this year. The University has also invested $15 million of its own funds to support this important initiative.


Key facts about the UWSCollege Bankstown facility

  • The new UWSCollege Bankstown facility will accommodate 1000 students.
  • The proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds at UWSCollege is 27.5 per cent – significantly higher than the sector average of 16.8 per cent. 
  • State-of-the-art in its design and layout, the new Bankstown facility has lecture theatres, flat-floor teaching spaces, network and multi-use computer labs, student administration and staff spaces.
  • It also has the capacity to add specialist chemistry, physics and biology labs in later years.

About UWS

UWS is a vibrant, modern, outer-metropolitan university, located in one of the fastest growing regions in Australia – Greater Western Sydney, home to over 2 million people. It has one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the country.

It has campuses in Penrith, Bankstown, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Parramatta and Blacktown, and a new campus in Lithgow.

UWS currently has over 41,000 students. 

Over 60 per cent of commencing domestic students are the first in their families to attend university.

75 per cent of domestic students are from Greater Western Sydney.

32 per cent are over 25 years of age.

UWS has the largest number of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds of any university in Australia – over 9000 students in 2013, across its campuses – which equates to 24 per cent of its total domestic student enrolments.

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