Goal #4

Educating for a better world

Many of the injustices that the SDGs target result from lack of access to education. Worldwide, 262 million children were not attending school in 2017 and that is believed to have risen as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

In Australia, 60% of young people from low-SES backgrounds do not complete high school and while rural and remote Australians make up 36% of the population, they only account for 17% of tertiary students. The underrepresentation of rural Australians in tertiary education is due to differences in location and the costs and other barriers to relocate for their studies compared to their urban counterparts.

In this video, Professor Rorden Wilkinson, former Pro Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience at UNSW, breaks down some of the key challenges behind SDG #4.

UNSW Gonski Institute for Education

The Institute brings together scholars, policy-makers and practitioners to conduct research that will help improve academic and wellbeing outcomes particularly for students from low-SES backgrounds and those who live in regional and remote areas.

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UNSW Strategy in Action 2025

Universities are at the heart of the sophisticated global knowledge system shaping our future and UNSW has a key role to play. We aspire to improve lives globally, through partnerships, innovative research, transformative education and commitment to a just society.

The 2025 Strategy commits UNSW to:

Excellence

Deliver excellence in education and research that attracts the world’s best students and staff and creates globally minded, in-demand graduates.

Access

Increase access for underrepresented students to higher education through educational outreach.

Partnerships

Ensuring top-tier partnerships to aid marginalised and disadvantaged communities across the globe.

UNSW 2025 Strategy Update

This document celebrates the key achievements of the first phase of the 2025 Strategy, highlighting where we have come from and where we are now. It also updates the framework against which we will assess, track and measure existing and new strategic initiatives over the next five years.

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Access & Equity (Student) Strategy 2020 -2025

The strategy includes building on the recognition and achievements of the well-established Aspire program, aligning it with the broader UNSW Strategy which focuses on creating a ‘just society’, while meeting our key target of increasing UNSW’s low-SES access rate.

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Expert profiles

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Degree courses

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Publications & Reports

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Literature Review on Evidence-Based Practice in Inclusive Education

The NSW Department of Education engaged members of the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute to review literature on evidence-based practices proven by high-quality research to improve outcomes for students with disability.

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67.6% of UNSW courses correlate with at least one SDG

Graph showing number of courses related to each SDG

NSW Equity Consortium

A male and female UNSW student sitting on the lawn at UNSW

A collaborative partnership between UNSW, UTS and Macquarie University to engage in outreach work which seeks to build student and school capacity for accessing tertiary education and improving post-school learning outcomes.

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Gateway Admission Pathway and Program (GAPP)

The Gateway Admission Pathway and Program is UNSW's primary initiative to ensure equitable access for under-represented students. It combines a set of curriculum-linked learning experiences with an admission pathway that lifts students’ HSC attainment and ensures equitable access to UNSW.

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SHARP

UNSW’s new SHARP (Strategic Hire and Retention Pathways) program is investing almost $900 million over 10 years to attract researchers within the top 5% of their field internationally.

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UNSW Making

UNSW is creating the largest network of connected Makerspaces and workshops in Australia. A network of genuine collaboration and shared values. These values are centered on the principle of barrier-free access to tools and tech for all students, staff and external partners.

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SDG modules

Presented in a simple, easy way these modules help academics become familiar with the SDGs, and consider ways that sustainability thinking can be included in their own teaching.

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Lifelong learning

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UNSW believes in lifelong learning to help reach your professional development goals and offers opportunities, course discounts, coaching and study leave.

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UNSW TV

A big purple Jacaranda Tree outside Morven Brown Building with UNSW written on the top of the building

On the official YouTube channel for UNSW Sydney, Australia’s global university, you’ll find short-form factual content exploring how the world works and how you can make it better.

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