UNSW Portfolio Entry

At the UNSW School of Art & Design, we're always looking for creative talent. Demonstrate your creative potential by preparing and submitting a portfolio of art, design, media, or written work. 

Your submission will need to include: 

• A cover letter that explains your interest in studying at the UNSW School of Art & Design, including specifics on which degree/s and your achievements (max: 400 words)
• Written or visual material consisting of one of the following: 
  • No more than six images with captions or short statements (256 character maximum)
  • A video or animation or website
  • A 500-word critical review

The following degrees are included in this scheme:  

• Bachelor of Design
• Bachelor of Fine Arts
• Bachelor of Media Arts 

At the UNSW School of Built Environment, we recognise your creative potential. Submit a portfolio of your best creative work to showcase your talent and boost your chances of admission to a design bachelor’s degree.  

Your submission will need to include: 

• A portfolio of work that demonstrates your ability and interest in studying your chosen degree. It should also describe your creative process and provide evidence of your creative skills and imagination. This should be compiled in five A4 pages in PDF format.
• A personal statement outlining why you are suitable for a career in the built environment. Your statement should be no more than 150 words. 

The following degrees are included in this scheme:  

• Bachelor of Architectural Studies 
• Bachelor of Computational Design  
• Bachelor of Industrial Design  
• Bachelor of Interior Architecture 
• Bachelor of Landscape Architecture  

The Bachelor of Information Systems will equip you with the skills and knowledge to shape the technology that fuels the economy. Complete a BISAS submission to demonstrate your passion for information systems and performance in relevant subjects. 

Your submission will need to include:  

• A personal statement - this involves answering four questions that discuss your interest in studying information systems at UNSW
• Your year 12 school report
• A short video demonstrating how and why you are suited to studying information systems at UNSW (max length: 5 minutes)

At UNSW Engineering we strive for a better world, driven by our graduates who are passionate in creating solutions for humanity through their diverse perspectives. Complete a FEAS submission to demonstrate your passion for engineering and performance in relevant subjects. 

Your submission will need to include: 

• A personal statement - this involves answering four questions which discuss your interest in studying engineering at UNSW
• Your year 12 school report 
• A short video demonstrating how and why you’re suited to studying engineering at UNSW

The following degrees are included in this scheme:  

• Bachelor of Computer Science   
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Bioinformatics) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Product Engineering) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil (Honours)/Surveying  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Computer) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronic) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Petroleum) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Photovoltaics and Solar Energy) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Quantum Engineering) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Renewable Energy) (Honours)  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Software) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Surveying) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunications) (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Engineering Science 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Biomedical Engineering 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Science 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) 
• Bachelor of Food Science (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) 
• Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)/Bachelor of Media Arts 
• Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)  
• UNSW Canberra (non-defence undergraduate students only):
  • Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering (Honours)
  • Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours)  
  • Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours)
  • Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Honours) 
  • Bachelor of Naval Architecture (Honours)

UNSW Portfolio Entry includes Art & Design Portfolio Entry, Built Environment Portfolio Entry, Bachelor of Information Systems Admissions Scheme (BISAS) and the Faculty of Engineering Admissions Scheme (FEAS). Portfolio Entry gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your passion and talent, alongside your ATAR. 

UNSW Portfolio Entry is one, easy online process. You'll select up to three degrees that you're interested in and be guided through what you need to submit.

Art & Design Portfolio Entry  

• Bachelor of Design 
• Bachelor of Fine Arts 
• Bachelor of Media Arts 

Built Environment Portfolio Entry  

• Bachelor of Architectural Studies 
• Bachelor of Computational Design  
• Bachelor of Industrial Design  
• Bachelor of Interior Architecture 
• Bachelor of Landscape Architecture  

BISAS

• Bachelor of Information Systems  

FEAS 

• Bachelor of Computer Science
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Bioinformatics) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Product Engineering) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil (Honours)/Surveying  
• Bachelor of Engineering (Computer) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronic) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Petroleum) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Photovoltaics and Solar Energy) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Quantum Engineering) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Renewable Energy) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Software) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Surveying) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunications) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Engineering Science
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Biomedical Engineering 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Science 
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) 
• Bachelor of Food Science (Honours) 
• Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) 
• Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)/Bachelor of Media Arts  
• Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)  

All domestic student high school leavers who are applying for an eligible degree, and expecting an ATAR within 10 points of the lowest selection rank for your degree.

The deadline will be in December - the exact date will be confirmed soon.

Please note, individual faculties may decide to open a second round to accommodate more applications after ATARs are released. The second round will be dependent on the number of places available in the program.  

There are several double degrees included in UNSW Portfolio Entry, which you can preference via UAC.  

Please note, if you're considering a double degree outside of the specified list, you will need to meet the entry requirements independent of UNSW Portfolio Entry and therefore, will not be considered. Just in case, we encourage you to list a stand-alone program included in UNSW Portfolio Entry as one of your preferences, so your application can be considered. 

Things don’t always go to plan and the ATAR is only one measure of your potential to succeed at university. UNSW Portfolio Entry will complement your academic achievements and boost your chances of receiving an offer through UAC for your chosen UNSW degree. 

It will take approximately one hour to complete the application form. 

In addition to the application form, some faculties require a portfolio to showcase a body of work or video submission to express your motivations for studying at UNSW. But, the time it takes to complete this component will be based on the individual. 

While completing the application, you can save as you go and revisit different sections to make edits. Once you are ready to apply, we recommended that you make sure you are 100% happy with it, as submissions are final. Please note, once you submit your application, you will receive an email confirmation email with an outline of your responses. 

The UNSW School of Art & Design is looking for demonstrable potential as an artist, designer or theorist, with a commitment to succeed in creative studies. 

Your submission will need to include:

• A cover letter to explain your interest in studying at the UNSW School of Art & Design and specific degrees. The letter should tell us about your interests and achievements and be no more than 400 words. 
• Written or visual material consisting of one of the following: 
• No more than six images with captions or short statements (256 character maximum)
• A video or animation or website
• A 500-word critical review as outlined below

Critical review topic 

Imagine you are a critic for a newspaper with an educated but non-specialist audience, and you need to write a review of a current temporary exhibition or festival program. You can choose broadly, including art and design exhibitions or new media displays. The purpose is to inform your audience and to provide some context or background for the work. You will need to both describe and comment on the work. The purpose is to foreground your interpretation, so you are not required to do any additional research or provide biographical details for the artists or producers. 

General advice

• Have someone check your work for spelling and grammar, but ultimately the work must be your own and not copied from someone or somewhere else. 
• Submit only your best work if you have lots to choose from.
• If making or assembling is not your best skill, showcase what is. If research or enquiry is your best skill, consider the essay question. 

Crafting your portfolio

Your digital portfolio submission is the main component. You portfolio is a summary of your best creative output and provides evidence of your creativity and skills. You can include written or visual material, such as photography, previous design work, art, sculpture, and digital or online work. It should be a maximum of 5 x A4 pages. Hard copies or physical pieces are not accepted. The file size is limited to 100MB. 

Make sure you craft your portfolio to make it appealing and engaging. We encourage risk and originality of thinking and making. We'll look at the number of items in your portfolio to assess your ability, plus consider both the quality of the content and how you have put it together. Think carefully about the layout, its visual qualities and the story it tells. We aren’t only interested in your final design or products, so please include some process work, technical drawings, patterns or design drafts. We love inquisitive minds, originality, and craftsmanship. 

Writing your statement

When submitting your application, you will also need to prepare a personal statement outlining why you are suitable for a career in the built environment. Your statement should include your reasons for wanting to be a professional in the field. You will need to provide this personal statement for the degree you would like your portfolio considered. Your statement should be no more than 150 words and needs to be submitted on the online portfolio submission form. 

For your chosen degree, you will need to respond to the following prompt: Demonstrate your understanding of your preferenced degree. Tell us about your creative strengths and abilities and why you are interested in studying for the degree. 

The interview

• Will I be selected for an interview? Some potential candidates will receive an invitation for an interview based on their portfolio submission. 
• What takes place in the interview? The interview will be a 30-minute conversation with UNSW School of Built Environment staff from your chosen degree.  
• In the interview, you should demonstrate your understanding of and interest in this field of study. It's your chance to tell us about your strengths and how you are suited to studying this degree. 

Submission checklist

1. Select at least one of the eligible UNSW School of Built Environment degrees as a UAC preference. 
2. Make sure you read the information on ‘crafting your portfolio’.
3. Prepare your portfolio for submission. You can only submit your portfolio once, so please ensure you are submitting your final entry.
4. Draft your personal statements for the specific degree you would like your portfolio considered.
5. Submit your portfolio through our portfolio submission portal. 

Personal statement

Submit written responses to four questions in the personal statement section. 

The personal statement section will ask you: 

• Why would you like to be an information systems graduate? 
• What is it that attracts you to information systems at UNSW, and in particular, what courses in the Bachelor of Information Systems degree interest you?
• What relevant experience you have had? For example, use of digital technologies and social media, computer programming, app building, part-time job, work experience. 

Add anything else that you left out in the responses above. 

Year 12 report

Please attach your year 12 school report and your HSC results if you have them. 

 Video submission

Upload a short video demonstrating how and why you are suited to information systems studies. Your video (maximum 5 minutes) is your chance to tell us all about your motivation and passion for information systems. 

Some questions to consider when creating your video: 

• Why are you keen to study information systems? 
• How did you become interested in technology? 
• Why do you think you will be a successful information systems graduate? 
• What have you done recently to explore your interest in technology? 

You can also talk about: 

• Any technology projects you have recently been a part of 
• Types of technology subjects you were passionate about in high school and why
• Types of information systems courses you are interested in and why

Ultimately, we want to understand why you are passionate about studying information systems at UNSW. 

Length

The video can be any length up to a maximum of five minutes. You should not feel like you need to fill the entire five minutes. 

Format

Your video does not need to be high production quality. We are assessing the content, not your video editing skills, so we only require that it be of sufficient quality so that we can adequately view and hear the presentation. Videos will need to be 100MB or less to be submitted. If your video file is too big, you can compress it by saving it as a lower quality file or save it in a more efficient file format, or downsize it using handbrake.fr, open-source software for video conversions, or by compressing your video into a zip file (Windows instructions here, Mac instructions here). 

Personal statement

The application includes a personal statement section, which will ask you:

• Why would you like to be an engineer?
• What is it that attracts you to UNSW Engineering and the engineering field? 
• What relevant experience have you had? For example, computer programming, model building, design projects, a part-time job and work experience. 

Add anything else that you left out in the responses above. 

Note: Submit written responses to four questions in the personal statement section. 

Year 12 school report

Attach your year 12 school report, and we’ll evaluate your ability in mathematics, physics and other sciences, design and problem-solving, as well as attitude and motivation towards engineering studies. 

Video submission

Upload a short video demonstrating how and why you’re suited to engineering studies. 

Some questions to consider when creating your video: 

• Why are you keen to study engineering? 
• How did you become interested in engineering? 
• Why do you think you’ll be a good engineer? 
• What have you done recently to explore your interest in engineering? 

You can also talk about: 

• Any engineering projects you’ve recently been a part of 
• Types of engineering subjects you were passionate about in high school and why. 
• Types of engineering subjects you’re interested in and why. 

Mandatory format and inclusions

• A maximum length of 5 minutes 

Identify yourself stating: 

• Your full name 
• UAC application number 
• Photo identification (Show on-screen) 
• 100MB or less, if your video file is larger than this, you can compress it using open-source software for video conversions such as  handbrake.fr. Or you can compress your video into a zip file via Windows or Mac. 

You must have your chosen UNSW degree as a UAC preference. After you have lodged a UAC application and wish to apply, submit your application via the submission portal. 

If you would like to speak with one of our advisors to guide you through submitting your application, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you have applied for UNSW Portfolio Entry and are within the 10 points of the ATAR cut-off, you will be re-ranked based on a combination of an application score and ATAR (or equivalent). 

The number of places available in each faculty scheme depends on the number of offers made through UAC. The highest-ranked students receive offers, and we work down the list until the expected ATAR cut-off. Once this process is complete, the UNSW Portfolio Entry applications may receive an offer based on the number of remaining places.  

You will receive a notification of your application success via email, but please note, official offers to UNSW programs will still come through UAC.