Abstract
Currently in Australia, there is a strong demand for places in higher education. At the same time, a variety of methods of measuring and scaling secondary school achievements are used in the different states for making selection decisions, and these methods come under both professional and public scrutiny. A sequential screening procedure has recently been proposed in Queensland. It is based on what is known in decision theory as a ‘lexicographic ordering’. In this article, the concept of a lexicographic ordering is explained, and some of the associated assumptions, implications and shortcomings are examined. It is concluded that a lexicographic decision rule is unsuitable in its classical formulation as a procedure for selecting higher education entrants.