How to Make Sure Your Uni Portfolio Stands Out to Assessors

We asked an expert for some tips.

If you’re planning on applying for a university course via portfolio entry, you’ll already know that putting together your portfolio isn’t exactly the easiest task. You have to carefully choose what work to display, obtain a couple of written references and make sure your resume is up-to-date.

Plus, once you’ve got all that together, you have to make sure your portfolio is solid enough to impress assessors and get you into uni.

Except, how do you do that?

It’s an excellent question, especially considering universities receive hundreds of portfolio entries each semester.

That’s why we reached out to Curtin University Adjunct Professor and Project Researcher Norma Jeffery to find out exactly what you can do to ensure assessors are blown away by your portfolio.

As Norma tells Student Edge, the first step is to start creating your portfolio and arranging written references as early as possible.

"You need to start collecting your portfolio information before the ATAR exams start," she says.

"So, if you proceed with your portfolio application, you’re not trying to get information from teachers over the holidays."

Norma explains having detailed written references from teachers can go a long way, whether it’s from your school principal, high school teacher or an extra-curricular coach.

"Look at what skills you need for the course and find someone who knows your skills in that area," she says.

"You don’t want your uncle or your cousin to say you’re a good guy. You need someone to talk about what you can actually do.

"A lovely example I saw a few years ago was a girl who had been learning ballet, and she had started teaching ballet. She wanted someone to testify she’d be a good teacher, so her ballet teacher wrote her a wonderful reference that was relevant to the course she was applying for."

Another way to impress assessors is by ensuring your personal statement details why you’re suitable for the course, and what your career aspirations are.

"You need to make sure that your personal statement is very focused on what you want to do," Norma says.

"It really needs to be about your goals in the course, and what your qualities are."

Norma also points out that one common error is applicants sending the same personal statement to different universities.

"We see sometimes when they send the same letter to three different universities and they don’t customise it," she says.

"People sometimes forget to update which university they’re addressing it to. It creates a bad impression, so you need to look at it very carefully.

"You’re trying to sell yourself to the assessor as being ready to go to university. If you do that well, it’ll go more smoothly."

For most universities, you will also need to include your resume as part of your portfolio. According to Norma, it doesn’t matter whether your resume is on the shorter side, as long as you emphasise your skills.

"Your resume doesn’t have to be long, but if you’ve had a job at Woolworths for years, you might want to pick out skills you used there," she says.

"You should make the focus of your resume more about specific skills you’ve acquired throughout the years."

Additionally, Norma stresses the importance of making sure you’ve scanned and uploaded all the necessary documents when you submit your portfolio. While it might seem like the simplest step, it’s all too easy to forget a cover sheet or one of your favourite pieces of work.

"You need to make sure you provide exactly what’s being asked," she says.

"Make sure you put the documents in the right order. It’s all about making sure the portfolio is submitted in such a way that it’s easy for admissions to deal with."

Of course, every university has different requirements when it comes to portfolio entry. It’s a smart idea to check your institution’s website, so you know exactly what needs to be included, and how your portfolio should be submitted.

Now, go forth and impress those assessors!