Lucky I still keep it. Here is one of the articles (27 July 2009, the Age): "All about the selection process - An Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is not the only factor that determines who makes the cut'

Quote from the Age
"Vtac neither selects applicants nor has the power to influence decisions made by selection authorities at institutions.
Selection is the responsibility of each institution’s course selection authorities. When considering your application, course authorities take into account published institutional and course entrance requirements, prerequisite studies and methods such as interviews, folios and supplementary forms.
For a list of the methods used for selection to a course, see Selection mode in the course entries of the VTAC Guide 2010 or 2011 and on the VTAC website.

Two models of selection
About 50 per cent of all courses use a range of criteria that may include the ATAR as well as other factors such as interview, folio presentations, pre-selection tests, additional forms and so on. Within this mix of criteria there may be different requirements for year 12 students and non-year 12 students.

ATAR Two models process with a middle band of 20 per cent
For courses using this selection method, about 80 per cent of places are determined by the ATAR along. For the remainder of places in these courses, additional information is considered for the applicants who do not have an ATAR high enough to guarantee automatic selection but have an ATAR above that which leads to automatic rejection. These applicants are n the middle band and are evaluated in accord with the middle-band criteria published in each year’s VTAC Guide.
Information about factors other than the ATAR are published in the middle-band statement within each course entry in each year’s VTAC Guide. These factors are used in addition to the prerequisites and extra requirements in course entries, to rank applicants in the middle band and fill the balance of the course quota.
Courses using the ATAR and the two-stage process select a proportion of applicants from the middle band. This amounts to about 20 per cent of the total intake. Selection authorities at institutions may give guidance on this matter.

COMING TO TERMS

Aggregate
The aggregate is the total produced by adding the primary four to a maximum of two available (and permissible) increments when calculating the ATAR.

Course requirements
These requirements must be met in order for you to be considered by course selection authorities for their courses.

English (any)
Any one of the four VCE studies – English, English (ESL), Literature or English Language – is often referred to as “English (any) or any other English in course middle-band and prerequisite statements in VICTER and the VTAC Guide.

ATAR (previously known as ENTER)
The ATAR is a percentile ranking reflecting your overall comparative performance among the relevant age group in a given year. Your ATAR is developed from an aggregate produced by adding the scores of the primary four studies to a maximum of two available (and permissible) increments.

ATAR subject score
All VCAA study scores are scaled (adjusted – see “Scaling”) by VTAC. THIS SCALED SCORE IS REFERRED TO AS THE “atar SUBJECT SCORE” AND CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS THE CALCULATION OF THE atar.

Extra requirements
Extra requirements are additional to tertiary entrance requirements, institutional requirements and submitting a VTAC application. They are requirements and submitting a VTAC application. They are requirements specific to the course and may include interviews, folios and auditions. At this stage, extra requirements for art and design courses are published at the beginning of each institutional section of VICTER. For a hint of what’s to come, check out the extra requirements under each course entry in the current VTAC Guide. Please note: Information contained in VICTER may change.

Forbidden combinations
Studies that (because of similar emphasis or content) may not be used in combination in the calculation of the ATAR. For a list of forbidden combinations, refer to VICTER 2012.

Increments
An increment is 10 per cent of any fifth and/or sith permissible ATAR subject score that is available. Increments are added to the primary four during the calculation of the ATAR.

Middle band
Factors used in addition to the ATAR when an applicant’s ATAR do not guarantee automatic selection of rejection for a course.

Minimum Tertiary Entrance Requirements
You must meet minimum tertiary entrance requirements for Victoria to be eligible for entry into any of the courses through VTAC. See the VTAC Guide for more information.

Prerequisites
Prerequisite studies are those VCE studies that you must have completed successfully in order to qualify for a course – i.e. Achieved a satisfactory result in the required two units. A minimum study score of 10 is generally required to be considered for a course. However, some courses set their own minimum study score. Courses must give two years’ notice of any changes to prerequisite studies. To stay up to date on any changes or additions to course information, ask your careers teacher for a list of amendments to published information (VTAC Bulletin) or register for the free Vnews email service at www.vtac.edu.au.

Primary Four
The four studies are counted first in the calculation of the ATAR. The primary four aggregate is made up of the ATAR subject score in one of English, English (ESL), Literature or English Language added to the next best three permissible ATAR subject scores.

Scaling
A study score provides an indication of your relative performance in a particular study. It does not provide an indication of your overall performance compared with all students across all studies. To provide an overall measure of the performance of all students across all studies, VTAC adjusts the study score to take account of the overall VCE performance of all the students taking that study. This process is called scling. All VCAA study scores are scaled (see “ABC of Scaling”) by VTAC.

Study score
A score from zero to 50, determined by the VCAA, which shows how you performed in a study relative to all other students doing that same study. It is based on your results in school assessments and exams.

VCAA
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority is a government organisation. The VCAA is responsible for the development and management of the VCE through Victorian secondary schools. The VCAA administers the two senior secondary certificates. The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL).

VCAL
A practical work-related certificate that provides pathways into training, apprenticeships and work.

VTAC
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre administers the application and offer process for tertiary institutions in Victoria – universities, Technical and further Education (TAFE) providers and independent tertiary colleges. VTAC provides a central point of contact for applicants, administering the application and selection process by ensuring that relevant information is collated into one place and distributed to the institutions. This ensures that course selection officers have all the necessary information to select applicants. VTAC does not select applicants – selection is the responsibility of institutions.

VICTER
Each year, VTAC publishes the course prerequisites that year 10 students require in order to plan their VCE program. This publication is entitled VICTER (an acronym for Victorian Tertiary Entrance Requirements). To protect student choices, institutions must give two years’ notice before changing prerequisite information published in VICTER.

VTAC CourseLink
An interactive web-based program on the VTAC website that allows students to plan VCE programs and as a result see which courses (starting in 2012) they meet the prerequisites for.

VTAC Guide
The VTAC publication that lists the courses available for application that begin the following year.”

Great thread! Very useful information.