Scholarship WAM & GPA Requirements
From undergraduate merit awards to fully-funded PhD stipends, learn exactly what grades you need to secure scholarship funding in Australia.
Academic Merit Scholarships (Undergraduate)
Merit scholarships are awarded purely based on academic excellence. They are highly competitive and are usually awarded automatically based on your ATAR (for incoming students) or your current university WAM (for continuing students).
The Standard Requirement
For continuing students, you almost always need to maintain a High Distinction average to be considered for Dean's List honors or faculty merit scholarships.
Maintenance: If you secure a merit scholarship entering your first year (e.g. via a 95+ ATAR), you must usually maintain a WAM of at least 70 or 75 to keep the funding for the duration of your degree. If you drop below this, your scholarship may be revoked.
Equity & Access Scholarships
Equity scholarships support students who face financial hardship, live in regional/remote areas, or have a disability. Because the primary criteria is need, the academic requirements are much lower than merit scholarships.
The Standard Requirement
For most equity scholarships, you simply need to demonstrate "satisfactory academic progress," which means maintaining a passing average and not failing more than 50% of your subjects.
PhD Stipends (RTP Scholarships)
The Research Training Program (RTP) is a government-funded scheme that pays a tax-free living stipend (approx $32,000 to $37,000 per year) to domestic and international students undertaking a Masters by Research or PhD.
Because an RTP stipend is essentially a salary to do research, the academic competition is fierce. The primary ranking metric used by universities to award these is your Honours WAM.
The Golden Ticket
While a standard First Class Honours (H1) starts at 80, RTP scholarships are strictly ranked. To be confident in securing a stipend at a top-tier university, you generally need an Honours WAM of 85 or above, or publications.
If your Honours WAM is between 80-84, you can still get an RTP, but it may depend on the university, your supervisor's funding, and whether you have prior peer-reviewed publications to boost your ranking.
Calculate Your Eligibility
Use our calculators to find out if you are on track to meet these strict scholarship cutoffs.