How to Apply to Engineering at Flinders University: Eight Honours Engineering Degrees, Flexible Entry and General Entry Common First Years and a 20-Week Placement, with Entry Routes for Australian Applicants, International Students (Including Chinese Applicants) and Transfer Students

Flinders University is based in Adelaide, South Australia. Its engineering degrees are taught by the College of Science and Engineering at the Tonsley and City campuses. Here is what you need to know for 2027 entry, based on Flinders’ official information, in four parts: Australian applicants, international students, students at high schools in China and transfer students. Software is one of the engineering degrees; computer science (in information technology) has its own guide on this site and is not covered here.

1. The degrees and how you enter

• Honours engineering degrees: Biomedical, Civil, Electrical and Electronic, Environmental, Maritime, Mechanical, Robotics and Software, each a four-year full-time honours bachelor’s degree with its own CRICOS code (for example Mechanical 083446E and Software 083450J). There is also a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Advanced Manufacturing and Digital Design) and combined Bachelor (Honours) / Master degrees (for example Civil with a Master of Engineering Management, and Environmental with a Master of Engineering (Civil)); the conditions for the combined degrees were not read for this guide, so see each degree page.
• Three ways in: (1) apply directly to a named engineering degree and choose your discipline at application; (2) Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Flexible Entry, a common first year (programming, physics, mathematics, electronics, materials and systems, professional skills) before you choose a discipline, and Flinders says any Engineering (Honours) degree you move into afterwards is accredited; (3) Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - General Entry, for students who did not take Physics or Mathematical Methods in Year 12, with a first year that builds the maths and physics base before you move to mechanical, civil, electrical, software, biomedical, environmental or robotics engineering.
• Conditions for moving into a discipline: the Flexible Entry page says you choose your specialisation after the common year, and the General Entry page says you decide after successfully completing the foundation year; neither gives a GPA threshold, a cap on places or a guarantee, so this is not published. The Flexible Entry page also advises students heading for Biomedical, Environmental or Software to seek advice about topic prerequisites.
• Duration: the fact boxes show 1 year full-time for Flexible Entry and 1.5 years for General Entry, while the page text goes on to years 2 to 4 after transfer; the box therefore seems to describe the stage before transfer, and total length is best confirmed on each degree page and in your offer. For General Entry, year 1 is at the City campus and years 2 to 4 at Tonsley; for degrees such as Mechanical, Civil and Electrical, students admitted to the City campus offering do years 1 and 2 in the city and years 3 and 4 at Tonsley.
• Accreditation: all core undergraduate and postgraduate engineering degrees are accredited by Engineers Australia and recognised under the Washington Accord, and graduates meet the academic requirements for chartered professional engineer status. The General Entry page notes that the course is accredited once you have transferred into an Engineering (Honours) stream.

2. Placement and course structure

• 20-week placement: undergraduate degrees include a 20-week industry placement, which Flinders describes as one of the longest in Australia. In Mechanical Engineering, for example, third year covers engineering management and workplace skills and starts the 20-week placement, and fourth year covers mechanical design, systems engineering and the honours research project. Postgraduate degrees include a 12-week placement.
• First two years: Mechanical Engineering’s first year covers engineering design, materials and systems, programming, mathematics, physics and electronics; second year covers mechanics and structures, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and energy systems, and dynamics, completes the Mechanical Practice Certificate, and starts your major. Exact topics are in the handbook.
• Degree apprenticeship: the Mechanical page describes a five-year degree apprenticeship with partners such as ASC and BAE Systems, where students are paid and the employer covers tuition; places are limited and selected on academic eligibility and assessment-centre performance. The page does not say whether international students can join; not published.
• Study abroad is listed as available.

3. Australian applicants

• How to apply: through the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC), with most degrees having one SATAC code for Tonsley and one for the City campus.
• Guaranteed Entry ATAR: 80 for Mechanical, Civil, Electrical and Electronic, Software, Biomedical, Maritime, Flexible Entry and General Entry, and 75 for Environmental and Robotics. The same box lists other measures such as STAT and GPA (for example Mechanical: STAT 170, GPA 5.0; Software: STAT 155) without explaining each.
• Offer profile: for Mechanical Engineering in Semester 1, 2026, ATAR-based offers ranged from a highest ATAR of 99.00 to a median of 80.05 and a lowest of 55.40, with a lowest selection rank (ATAR plus adjustment factors) of 61.85. For General Entry the lowest ATAR was 54.40 and the lowest selection rank 65.25.
• Prerequisites: most degrees require SACE Stage 2 Specialist Mathematics or Mathematical Methods or equivalent and assume SACE Stage 2 Physics; Robotics adds that equivalent International Baccalaureate subjects are normally required; Software needs only SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics or equivalent; General Entry needs SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics or Stage 1 mathematics, with no assumed knowledge. Students who miss the prerequisite are advised to start in a degree with no prerequisites, such as the Bachelor of Engineering Science, complete MATH1701, then apply for an internal transfer and for credit.
• Other routes: Flinders Foundation Studies (described as free and guaranteeing entry to a range of degrees), the STAT test, Year 12 Grades Entry using your three best grades, UniTEST and the School Recommendation Program; if you have no ATAR you can speak to Flinders about options.
• 2027 fees: the Commonwealth Supported Place fee is AUD 9,880 a year on the Mechanical Engineering page (the other degree pages were not checked one by one) and AUD 8,637 a year for Flexible Entry and General Entry. Flinders’ domestic scholarships were not read for this guide.
• Deadlines: Flinders warns that some courses have limited places and applications may close without notice; 2027 SATAC closing dates are not on the course pages and are not published there, so check SATAC and Flinders’ key dates.

4. International students

• Minimum entry: Flinders recognises international secondary schooling for direct entry. The minimum is comparable to an ATAR of 60, and some programs require more; see the course page. The entry requirements page gives a conversion table between ATAR and national qualifications (next section).
• English: for most undergraduate courses, including engineering, IELTS Academic 6.0 overall with 6.0 in speaking and writing. Other accepted tests include TOEFL iBT 72 (18 in speaking and writing), PTE Academic 50 (50 in speaking and writing), Cambridge C1 Advanced (B2 overall, 300 in speaking and writing), Duolingo 105 and LanguageCert Academic 61. If you fall short, you can study English through Flinders University Academy or an approved ELICOS provider.
• Prerequisites: see above; SACE mathematics and physics are South Australian subjects. For other national qualifications the course pages say only “or equivalent”, and the conversion is not published; ask Flinders.
• How to apply: apply online directly or through a registered agent. Citizens of the countries on Flinders’ list (parts of Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, South America and South Asia) who apply from outside Australia must use a registered agent; China is not on the list. All academic documents submitted electronically must be certified, and passports must be certified for some countries; accepted file types are PDF, JPEG, TIF and GIF. The pages mention no extra essay, reference letter or interview for engineering, and the application fee is not published.
• Fees: Flinders publishes a 2026 figure of AUD 47,300 a year (full fee) for the engineering degrees; the 2027 international fee is not yet shown on the course pages, so confirm it in your offer. Part-time and online study are not available to international students.
• Timeline: intakes are March and July (Software also has October). Exact start dates and 2027 international closing dates are not shown on the course pages; Flinders warns that courses with limited places may close early, so apply early. Apply for your student visa as soon as you have received your Confirmation of Enrolment, which follows accepting your offer and paying the semester fee.
• Scholarships (the page is labelled 2026 intake, and the Semester 1 2027 deadline is “to be confirmed”; the last three awards are decided automatically when your course application is assessed and appear in your offer letter, while the Vice-Chancellor Excellence Scholarship needs a separate application form as advised in your offer letter): the Vice-Chancellor Excellence Scholarship gives 50% off tuition for the full course for undergraduates with the equivalent of ATAR 95 or above, by competitive selection with a video submission and participation in the International Ambassador Program; the Global Excellence Scholarship gives 30% (ATAR or equivalent of 80 or above, or 80 or above in the Flinders University Academy foundation program); the Global Scholarship gives 25% (ATAR or equivalent between 70.00 and 79.95 and 5 points above the minimum course entry score, or a foundation-program result of 70 to 79 and 5 points above the minimum); and the Kickstart Scholarship gives 20% to new full-fee-paying international students, but not to applicants transferring in more than one third of the course total in credit.

5. Students at high schools in China

• How the Gaokao is used: Flinders’ conversion table maps the Gaokao percentage to an ATAR: ATAR 60 is a Gaokao of 55%, 65 is 59%, 70 is 60%, 75 is 63%, 80 is 65%, 85 is 70%, 90 is 75% and 95 is 80%, shown alongside A-levels, IB, SAT and other qualifications. The minimum is comparable to ATAR 60. The page does not explain how the Gaokao percentage is calculated (raw total or converted, or how provincial differences are handled); not published.
• What engineering needs: the domestic pages show a Guaranteed Entry ATAR of 75 or 80, but the international course pages do not say which ATAR equivalent applies to engineering, so do not assume the domestic figure carries over; ask Flinders.
• Other qualifications in the same table: at ATAR 80, A-level 9, IB 28 and SAT 1260; at ATAR 70, A-level 7, IB 25 and SAT 1100.
• Prerequisites: Specialist Mathematics or Mathematical Methods and Physics are South Australian subjects; which Chinese high school subjects count is not published.
• Agents: China is not on the list of countries that must apply through a registered agent, so you can apply directly. Flinders also runs a China website (china.flinders.edu.au), which was not read for this guide; check it for China-specific notes. Interviews and credential-verification bodies are not mentioned; not published.
• If you do not meet direct entry: Flinders University Academy offers diplomas, foundation and English courses that lead into the degree.

6. Transfer and credit

• Credit: previous qualifications may earn advanced standing; you can search Flinders’ credit transfer database, and you must say in your application that you want credit assessed and supply detailed subject outlines. Credit is decided by the faculty that administers the course. Credit limits and how credit applies to required mathematics, physics and chemistry sequences are not published.
• Australian applicants moving from another university: you can transfer on Year 12 results, current GPA or other factors; the reference measure on the Mechanical page is GPA 5.0 and on the Maritime page 4.5. A TAFE/VET Diploma or above is also listed.
• Scholarship effect: the Kickstart Scholarship is not available if you transfer in with more than one third of the course total in credit.
• Internal transfer: start in a degree with no prerequisites such as the Bachelor of Engineering Science, complete MATH1701, then apply for an internal transfer.

Checklist

Australian applicants:

• Guaranteed Entry ATAR 75 to 80 depending on the degree; SACE Specialist Mathematics or Mathematical Methods and Physics (General Mathematics for Software); apply through SATAC
• 2027 CSP fee AUD 9,880 a year (AUD 8,637 for Flexible and General Entry)

International students:

• Comparable to ATAR 60 or above, higher for some degrees; IELTS Academic 6.0 with 6.0 in speaking and writing
• 2026 fee guide AUD 47,300 a year; automatically assessed for a 20% to 50% scholarship
• Missed Physics or Mathematical Methods: look at General Entry; unsure of your discipline: Flexible Entry

Students at high schools in China:

• Gaokao 65% is the table’s equivalent of ATAR 80 and 55% of ATAR 60; ask Flinders what engineering needs
• You may apply directly or through an agent

Transfer students:

• Request a credit assessment in your application with subject outlines; more than one third of the course in credit rules out the Kickstart Scholarship

Sources: Flinders University, Engineering for international students; Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Honours); Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Flexible Entry; Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - General Entry; Bachelor of Engineering (Software) (Honours); Undergraduate entry requirements; English language requirements; How to apply; Countries requiring a registered agent; International academic scholarships. International fees are the 2026 figures Flinders publishes, domestic fees are for 2027, and the scholarships page is labelled 2026 intake. Check Flinders for the latest details.