So, what is the Co-Curricular or Service Requirement?

The CCS shows ANU that you’ve participated in activities outside the classroom that that will make you more uni ready.

With your application, we’ll ask you to demonstrate that you have completed activities in at least two out of the following seven skill groups.

• Community engagement
• Inclusion and awareness of diversity
• Communication
• Leadership
• Personal responsibility
• Teamwork
• Creative and critical thinking

If you’re thinking you’ve got no chance –remember, you only need to meet two, and most activities count for more than one skill group.

Plus, these are flexible guidelines. For example, if you’ve volunteered at an op shop for at least 15 hours over six months, you’ve already got five skills checked.

The only catch is that your involvement has to be between Year 10 and Year 12, so you can’t use your six months in the Cub Scouts when you were 13. Also, you must provide evidence of your participation in a letter signed by your supervisor, coach, etc.

One more thing that it’s important you know: the CCS is an admission requirement only; even if you’ve been involved in some pretty special activities, meeting the skills for the CCS requirement won’t increase your ANU selection rank.

And that’s it, really. As long as you’ve spent some time on hobbies or responsibilities outside of your classes, you’re likely to meet the requirement.

Here’s some examples to show that it’s not too hard to satisfy the requirement. As long as you show two skills, you’ll meet the requirement. Keep in mind, we adjust the CCS schedule each year, so some of these activities may change, but we’re confident the broad strokes probably won’t.

Community and service activities

This is the stuff most people think of when they imagine an extra-curricular activity or co-curricular requirement. It includes being a school captain or on the school council, being part of a community club, and volunteering. But it also includes caring for a sick family member, as long as it’s been for more than six months.

Employment

This category is pretty self-explanatory. If you’ve worked 30 hours over six months, or done work experience for the same time, you’ve demonstrated three out of seven skills.

Creative and performance activities

This one’s for the theatre kids. If you’re in the school musical, have submitted writing to a competition, or can play an instrument, then you’ve got at least two skills checked off.

With this category, any team or group based activity, like a play, usually qualifies after six months of participation. But for solo projects, you’ll probably have to submit to a competition or exhibition to be eligible.

Academic extension activities

This is probably one of the hardest categories to qualify for, but don’t worry; remember, you need two skills and it doesn’t matter if they’re not from this or other categories.

Academic extension activities include things like the Oxbridge Summer Program and ANU Extension program. Basically, any learning programs that supplement or extend high school studies.

Educational and scholastic activities

You can get involved in these at school. For example, taking part in the debating team.

A lot of these activities are competitions that start at the school level but can go national – for example, the Premier’s Debating Challenge and The Plain English Speaking Award.

Sports, games and online gaming activities

Individual or team-based games count, so long as you’ve participated for over six months. These are things like soccer, chess or team e-sports. The one exception is individual online gaming, which requires you to have entered a competition, rather than just taken part.

Tabletop games are included. If you’ve been the Dungeon Master for six months of D&D, for example, then you’ve ticked off six out of seven skills for CCS.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Attaining the Gold or Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award meets seven out of seven skills!

You can do it!

As you’ve learned, the CCS is a tick-the-box application requirement and most people with a job, hobby or involvement in extracurricular activities at school will easily meet it. As it isn’t used to rank applicants, meeting two skills is just as good as meeting seven.

If you’ve met the requirements, the next step is to provide documentation with your ANU application form. This could be a letter from someone who can verify – such as a coach or teacher. But the best way to provide proof is to get them to fill out the ANU CCS form. If you’ve got any questions about providing proof, contact the ANU Future Student Experience team today.