Student skills and the Bradley Agenda in Australia

This paper investigates the study strategies that first-year Australian university students bring with them to university. The research has currency due to the implementation of the Review of Australian higher education [Bradley, D., Noonan, P., Nugent, H., & Scales, B. (2008). Review of Australian higher education: Final report. Canberra: Australian Government.], which recommended that universities increase the number of students in undergraduate courses. In response to government incentives to increase enrolments, many universities have lowered their entrance scores and, as a result, have attracted students who would not traditionally have been eligible for university entrance. The study employed the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) to investigate the differences in study strategies used by a cohort comprising students from the expanded intake facilitated by the Bradley Review according to their gender, age, socio-economic status and entrance score. While these research results demonstrate a lower than average score on the LASSI instrument for this particular cohort, there were almost no dissimilarities in any of the categories assessed. This paper will argue that the differential distribution of such students across institutions in Australia has potential implications for the institutions themselves and the sector as a whole.