MSPS Entry Score Adjustments

Frequently Asked Questions

• I completed my studies before Semester 1 2020 - How do these changes impact my entry score?

  The application of the Psychology Benchmark rule only applies to UOM students who have completed relevant subjects in either Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020. If all relevant subjects were completed outside of these noted semesters, no Psychology Benchmark will be applied. All of relevant subjects will be included in the formula.

• I am completing/have completed my qualification at another university - what changes apply to me?

  The Psychology Benchmark only applies to University of Melbourne students who have undertaken studies in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020. If you have done your studies elsewhere, it is assumed that appropriate adjustments have been made by your institution to support your studies and mitigate impacts due to COVID-19.

• I have pass/fail grades (i.e. non-numerical marks) on my transcript for relevant subjects – will these be included in my entry score?

  Honours, Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Advanced), Master of Applied Psychology and Master of Professional Psychology

  The usual entry score formula will still apply to applicants external to the university and we will only use numerical scores for all available level 2 and level 3 psychology subjects in the selection formula i.e. the average of the third year (Level 3) Psychology subjects is assigned twice the weight of the average of the second year (Level 2) Psychology subjects. Subjects that have been graded as pass/fail will not be included in the selection formula (i.e. non-numerical marks).

  Master of Psychology

  The usual entry score formula will still apply to applicants external to the university and we will only use numerical scores for all available level 3 and level 4 psychology subjects in the selection formula i.e. the average of the fourth year (Level 4) psychology subjects is assigned twice the weight of the average of the third year (Level 3) psychology subjects. Subjects that have been graded as pass/fail will not be included in the selection formula (i.e. non-numerical marks).

  Psychology subjects at the University of Melbourne do not award pass/fail grades (i.e. non-numerical marks).

• All of my Level 2 or Level 3 subjects have been given pass/fail grades – how will this impact my entry score?

  Honours, Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Advanced), Master of Applied Psychology and Master of Professional Psychology

  Pass/fail grades are excluded from the selection formula (i.e. non-numerical marks). However in the case that excluding pass/fail subjects from the selection formula leaves either the Level 2 or Level 3 terms in the formula empty, the entry score will be the non-empty term (i.e., average of eligible Level 2 subjects if no Level 3 marks are eligible for inclusion; average of eligible Level 3 subjects if no Level 2 marks are eligible for inclusion)

  Worked Example

  Average Level 2 subjects = 80, Average Level 3 subjects = None, all subjects Pass/fail only

  Entry score = 80

  Master of Psychology

  Pass/fail grades are excluded from the selection formula. However in the case that excluding pass/fail subjects from the selection formula leaves either the Level 3 or Level 4 terms in the formula empty, the entry score will be the non-empty term (i.e., average of eligible Level 3 subjects if no Level 4 marks are eligible for inclusion; average of eligible Level 4 subjects if no Level 3 marks are eligible for inclusion)

  Worked Example

  Average Level 3 subjects = 80, Average Level 4 subjects = None, all subjects Pass/fail only

  Entry score = 80

  Psychology subjects at the University of Melbourne do not award pass/fail grades (i.e. non-numerical marks).

• I am completing/have completed a degree at the University of Melbourne - How do these changes impact my entry score?

  For applicants with results from the University of Melbourne for subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, the following will apply:

  • A Psychology Benchmark will be established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020.
  • Subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are lower than the Psychology Benchmark, will be excluded from the entry score calculation.

  Worked Example

  Student Jane is applying for Honours has received the following results:
  ^{If you're unable to view the following table, please view the website on a computer.}

  Year	Subjects
  Year 1 results (2018)	75	NA	NA	NA	77	NA	NA	NA
  Year 2 results (2019)	79	80	NA	NA	78	81	NA	NA
  Year 3 results (2020)	74	70	NA	NA	81	79	NA	NA

  NA – Not a psychology subject, so not included in Psychology Benchmark or in the entry formula

  First, the Psychology Benchmark is established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020 (black numbers in the table):

  Psychology Benchmark: (75 +77 + 79 + 80 + 78 + 81) / 6 = 78

  Next, relevant subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are lower than the Psychology Benchmark, are excluded from the entry score calculation.

  For Jane, this means retaining the green marks in the table (as they are equal to or above her Psychology Benchmark of 78) and excluding the red marks from the selection formula (as they are below her Psychology Benchmark).

  Thus, in calculating the entry score, we take the average of Level 2 subjects (because they were done in 2019 and are thus eligible for inclusion) and those Level 3 subjects from 2020 retained on comparison with the Psychology Benchmark.

  Average of Level 2 subjects = (79 + 80 + 78 + 81) / 4 = 79.5

  Average of eligible Level 3 subjects = (81 + 79) / 2 = 80

  Entry score =  ((80 x 2) + 79.5) / 3 = 79.8

• What if application of the Psychology Benchmark means that none of my Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020 subjects are included in the entry score formula?

  In such a case, you may have an ‘empty term’ in the formula. That is, you may not have eligible subjects for Level 2 or Level 3. In this case, the non-empty term will be used as your entry score.

  Worked Example

  Student Luke has received the following results:
  ^{If you're unable to view the following table, please view the website on a computer.}

  Year	Subjects
  Year 1 results (2018)	75	NA	NA	NA	77	NA	NA	NA
  Year 2 results (2019)	79	80	NA	NA	78	81	NA	NA
  Year 3 results (2020)	77	76	NA	NA	75	70	NA	NA

  NA – Not a psychology subject so not included in Psychology Benchmark

  First, the Psychology Benchmark is established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020 (black numbers in the table):

  Psychology Benchmark: (75 +77 + 79 + 80 + 78 + 81) / 6 = 78

  Next, subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are lower than the Psychology Benchmark are excluded from the entry score calculation.

  In Luke’s case, this means that all Level 3 subjects are excluded (red numbers). This creates an ‘empty term’ in the formula. Thus, the non-empty term (in this case the average of Level 2 subjects) is taken as the entry score.

  Average of Level 2 subjects = (79 + 80 + 78 + 81) / 4 = 79.5

  Average of eligible Level 3 subjects = NA; no eligible subjects as all fall below benchmark.

  Average Level 2 subjects = 79.5, Average Level 3 subjects = None, all year 3 results below the Psychology Benchmark

  Entry score = 79.5

• I am enrolled in the full-time Graduate Diploma in Psychology in 2020 at University of Melbourne - what changes impact my entry score?

  A Psychology Benchmark will be established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020. If you commenced in the 2020 Summer Intake, this means your benchmark will be established based on your 2020 summer results from PSYC90097 Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 and PSYC90098 Mind, Brain and Behaviour 2.

  Your entry score calculation will then only include subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are greater than or equal to your Psychology Benchmark.

  Worked Example

  Student Molly started the Graduate Diploma in Psychology in Summer 2020 and has received the following results (both Mind, Brain and Behaviour (MBB) subjects were undertaken in Summer):
  ^{If you're unable to view the following table, please view the website on a computer.}

  Grad Dip results (2020)	MBB1 79	MBB2 77	Level 2 81	Level 2 70	Level 2 77	Level 2 82	Level 2 89	Level 3 72	Level 3 78	Level 3 78

  First, the Psychology Benchmark is established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020 (black numbers in the table):

  Psychology Benchmark: (79 + 77) / 2 = 78

  Next, subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are lower than the Psychology Benchmark are excluded from the entry score calculation.

  For Molly, this means retaining the green marks in the table (as they are equal to or above her Psychology benchmark of 78) and excluding the red marks from the selection formula (as they are below her Psychology benchmark).

  Average of eligible Level 2 subjects = (81 + 82) / 2 = 81.5

  Average of eligible Level 3 subjects = (89 + 78 + 78) / 3 = 81.7

  Entry score =  ( (81.7 x 2) + 81.5 ) / 3 ) = 81.6

• I am a University of Melbourne student and have received advanced standing for some psychology subjects - How do these changes impact my entry score?

  Numerical results for subjects on the basis of which you received advanced standing will only be used in your Psychology Benchmark calculation if there are no relevant subjects to compute a benchmark.

  If a Psychology Benchmark cannot be established by these standards, results where advanced standing was granted for relevant studies will be used to compute the benchmark.

  So for example, if you commenced a Graduate Diploma in Psychology in 2020, a Psychology Benchmark will be established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020.

  Worked Example

  Student Tina is applying for Honours and is currently undertaking the Graduate Diploma in Psychology. Tina has also received advanced standing for studies complete elsewhere for Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 & 2.
  ^{If you're unable to view the following table, please view the website on a computer.}

  Year	Summer	Summer	S1	S1	S1	S1	S2	S2	S2	S2
  Grad Dip results (2020)	AS	AS	74	50	71	67	81	79	83	81

  AS - Advanced standing granted for this subject
  S1 - Semester 1
  S2 - Semester 2
  Summer - Summer semester

  Tina also received the following results for the two subjects undertaken externally to the University:

  • Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 equivalent subject: 81
  • Mind, Brain and Behaviour 2 equivalent subject: 77

  First, the Psychology Benchmark is established based on all psychology subjects completed any time other than Semester 1, Winter Term and Semester 2, 2020.

  As Tina commenced in 2020 and does not have relevant psychology results prior to Summer 2020, the benchmark is established based on the two advanced standing subjects equivalent to the for Mind, Brain and Behaviour 1 and 2.

  Psychology Benchmark: (81 + 77) = 79

  Next, relevant subjects undertaken in Semester 1, Winter Term and/or Semester 2, 2020, for which results are lower than the Psychology Benchmark, are excluded from the entry score calculation.

  In Tina's case, this means that all subjects red numbers above are excluded. The green results received in Semester 2 will be used to compute the entry score.

• Are yearlong subjects included or excluded from my entry score?

  The above changes do not apply to yearlong subjects undertaken in 2020; such results will be included in the entry score calculation.