ATAR university entry cut-offs are very often a meaningless piece of information, an Australian university vice-chancellor says, as thousands of students wait to find out if they have been accepted to their chosen university.

The comment from the vice-chancellor of Victoria University, Peter Dawkins, comes as the university sector increasingly looks to alternative entry schemes beyond the four-digit ATAR rank to secure students.

More than 46,000 high school students will find out on Wednesday if they have scored above the cut-off to secure a spot in competitive courses such as law and engineering.

Citing research from the Victorian Institute of Strategic Economic Studies, Professor Dawkins said that students entering suitable degrees with lower ATARs are able to match or even exceed the performance of their more highly ranked peers.