At Curtin, we recognise that you’re more than your grades. This experience-based entry pathway lets you combine your skills and experience with your academic study to showcase why you’d make a great Curtin student.
Portfolio entry is a great way to get into Curtin’s courses if you’re taking General subjects at high school or studying a combination of ATAR and General subjects and/or VET qualifications. It is also suitable if you finished school without an ATAR and have work experience instead.
If you’ve completed any study at TAFE or university since graduating high school, you could also be eligible to apply via the TAFE/VET pathway or university switcher pathway – even if you haven’t completed your qualification. Don’t meet the criteria? We offer several bridging and enabling pathways to uni as well.
Portfolio entry enables you to apply for your preferred course with a portfolio of documents that showcase your academic achievements, qualifications, work experience, extra-curricular activities and suitability for university study. This allows you to demonstrate your enthusiasm and creativity and show us why you’re the perfect fit for studying at Curtin.
Portfolio entry gives you access to a wide range of degrees in business, humanities, health and science. It could also be your pathway to more competitive degrees in health, law, science and engineering, through a university pathway course.
This step-by-step guide takes you through the process of assembling your portfolio, including the documents you need to demonstrate your unique strengths and qualifications. It also shows examples of documents that can help you showcase any visual portfolio requirements, such as art or design work and videos.
You can apply for any Curtin course that accepts portfolio entry as a pathway. Some courses may require you to have studied at least one ATAR subject, or Mathematics Applications ATAR or equivalent, while others may ask you to include a visual portfolio or essay with your application. Make sure you check all the application criteria for your course before applying.
To apply using our portfolio entry pathway, you need to create a portfolio that shows off your strengths. Include documents about your school results, qualifications, work experience and activities you do outside of school. A strong portfolio will help us see why you’re ready to study at Curtin.
Our future students expert Madi Stirling guides you through the essential steps to prepare a standout portfolio [1:37].
Your portfolio will need to include:
Read our Portfolio entry toolkit for detailed instructions and examples.
The courses listed here require additional elements to include in your portfolio, such as a visual component or a questionnaire.
Please note that some courses may also require you to have studied at least one ATAR subject, or Mathematics Applications ATAR or equivalent. Make sure you check all the application criteria for your course before applying.
If you’re applying to Curtin directly and you forget to include something in your portfolio, we will send you a request to upload the required documents.
If you’re applying through TISC, please ensure you follow the portfolio entry toolkit to ensure you have everything you need before submitting.
You’re a school leaver if you are a current high school student or if you’ve graduated high school in the past two years.
Semester 2 applications for portfolio entry are now open and close Wednesday 18 June 2025.
Semester 1 2026 applications for portfolio entry will open Tuesday 3 June 2025 and close 4:30pm on Monday 5 January 2026.
For other important dates visit our applications deadlines page or the TISC website.
You’re a non-school leaver if you didn’t graduate high school or if you completed high school more than two years ago.
Semester 2 2025: Applications for portfolio entry are now open and will close Wednesday 18 June 2025.
Semester 1 2026: Applications for portfolio entry are now open and will close 4:30pm AWST on Monday 5 January 2026.
For more information on important dates, visit our applications deadlines page.