Articulation from TAFE to the Higher Education (HE) sector of Victoria University appears to be highly successful for most students. However there is considerable anecdotal evidence of the existence of a particular group of students articulating from mainstream TAFE to HE courses who have significant difficulty in their early HE semesters.

This paper reports on the Smoother Pathways Project at Victoria University of Technology (VU). The project investigated the reasons for the diversity in student experiences of articulation at VU, with a view to providing students with the best possible support for this transition. The project focused upon one particular pathway involving areas where certain students were known to have difficulty. This was the articulation of TAFE Business students into the VU Bachelor of Business degree, in the course of which many gained exemption from the usual HE first-year Law subject, Business Law, and in many cases proceeded to the second Law subject, Corporate Law (CL). Through interviews with students and staff and an examination of the curriculum in both TAFE and HE, the main factors affecting the ease of transition were investigated. The picture that emerged was more complex than anticipated. Areas of difficulty involved in this pathway appear to involve sudden changes in the depth and detail of subject knowledge, pedagogical approach and assessment, and the level, genre and independent nature of academic research and writing. Students with minimal levels of competence in TAFE and those with fewer personal resources may be unable to adjust to these changes sufficiently quickly, particularly in difficult subjects such as CL.