15 December 2013
This report contains applications and offers data received from Tertiary Admissions Centres (TACs) and universities as of 15 May 2013. It is an update of the data published in the earlier report The Demand Driven System: Undergraduate Applications and Offers, February 2013.
1.1 Highest Preference Applications
- As of 15 May 2013, there were 275 397 applications made through TACs, an increase of 0.8% compared with 2012. Applications increased in NSW/ACT (2.0%), SA/NT (2.4%) and Tasmania (6.3%) but decreased in WA (-1.9%), Qld (-0.5%) and Vic (-0.3%).
Applications by state and territory, 2009-2013
| State |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change 2012-2013 |
% Change 2009-2013 |
| NSW/ACT |
81,101 |
83,108 |
84,415 |
86,999 |
88,697 |
2.0% |
9.4% |
| Vic. |
67,457 |
71,984 |
71,202 |
72,275 |
72,078 |
-0.3% |
6.9% |
| Qld |
50,055 |
57,205 |
55,852 |
56,512 |
56,233 |
-0.5% |
12.3% |
| WA |
18,650 |
20,834 |
20,532 |
19,304 |
18,941 |
-1.9% |
1.6% |
| SA/NT |
23,279 |
24,235 |
24,766 |
26,425 |
27,065 |
2.4% |
16.3% |
| Tas. |
9,201 |
9,630 |
10,443 |
11,652 |
12,383 |
6.3% |
34.6% |
| Australia |
249,743 |
266,996 |
267,210 |
273,167 |
275,397 |
0.8% |
10.3% |
* Unpaid Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre (VTAC) applicants are included in the 2009 and 2010 applications data but excluded in the subsequent years.
- Nationally, current Year 12 applications increased by 2.3% while non-Year 12 applications decreased by 0.9% in 2013.
Applications by Current Year 12 status by state and territory, 2012 and 2013
| State |
Current Year 12 |
Non-Year 12 |
||||
|
2012 |
2013 |
% Change |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change |
|
| NSW/ACT |
48,671 |
49,371 |
1.4% |
38,328 |
39,326 |
2.6% |
| Vic. |
43,398 |
44,346 |
2.2% |
28,877 |
27,732 |
-4.0% |
| Qld |
27,489 |
28,094 |
2.2% |
29,023 |
28,139 |
-3.0% |
| WA |
12,312 |
12,399 |
0.7% |
6,992 |
6,542 |
-6.4% |
| SA/NT |
12,286 |
12,963 |
5.5% |
14,139 |
14,102 |
-0.3% |
| Tas. |
3,448 |
3,813 |
10.6% |
8,204 |
8,570 |
4.5% |
| Australia |
147,604 |
150,986 |
2.3% |
125,563 |
124,411 |
-0.9% |
- The most popular broad field of education (in terms of number of applications) in 2013 was Health (71 034). This was followed by Society and Culture (55 815) and Management and Commerce (34 613).
- Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies recorded the largest increase in applications (7.1%). This was followed by Natural and Physical Sciences (4.2%) and Health and Information Technology (3.2%). The largest decrease in applications was recorded in Architecture and Building (-9.1%) followed by Creative Arts (-2.5%).
Applications by field of education, 2012 and 2013
| Field of education |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change |
| Natural and Physical Sciences |
23,199 |
24,183 |
4.2% |
| Information Technology |
6,891 |
7,112 |
3.2% |
| Engineering and Related Technologies |
18,224 |
18,570 |
1.9% |
| Architecture and Building |
9,137 |
8,305 |
-9.1% |
| Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies |
4,203 |
4,500 |
7.1% |
| Agriculture |
1,924 |
2,079 |
8.1% |
| Environmental Studies |
1,474 |
1,523 |
3.3% |
| Other | 805 | 898 | 11.6% |
| Health |
68,861 |
71,034 |
3.2% |
| Medical studies |
11,814 |
12,433 |
5.2% |
| Dental Studies |
3,964 |
3,883 |
-2.0% |
| Veterinary Studies |
2,302 |
2,243 |
-2.6% |
| Nursing |
22,176 |
21,964 |
-1.0% |
| Health Other |
28,605 |
30,511 |
6.7% |
| Education |
23,542 |
23,589 |
0.2% |
| Teacher Education |
22,661 |
22,566 |
-0.4% |
| Education Other |
881 |
1,023 |
16.1% |
| Management and Commerce |
35,182 |
34,613 |
-1.6% |
| Society and Culture* |
55,231 |
55,815 |
1.1% |
| Law |
10,721 |
10,848 |
1.2% |
| Creative Arts |
26,417 |
25,763 |
-2.5% |
| Mixed field programs |
2,264 |
1,895 |
-16.3% |
| Total |
273,167 |
275,397 |
0.8% |
Note: Hospitality is not shown due to the small number of applications, hence the total number of applications does not equal the sum of applications/offers by broad field of education in the above table.
* Society and Culture includes a broad range of subject areas including Behavioural Science, Law, Language & Literature, Economics & Econometrics.
- The Group of Eight (Go8) recorded the largest increase in applications (2.8%), followed by the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) (0.1%).
Applications by type of university, 2012 and 2013
| Type of university |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change in number of applications |
||
|
Number |
Share (%) |
Number |
Share (%) |
||
| Group of Eight |
82,616 |
30.2% |
84,959 |
30.8% |
2.8% |
| Australian Technology Network |
54,379 |
19.9% |
53,329 |
19.4% |
-1.9% |
| Innovative Research Universities |
47,877 |
17.5% |
47,918 |
17.4% |
0.1% |
| Regional Universities Network |
15,450 |
5.7% |
14,561 |
5.3% |
-5.8% |
| Total* |
273,167 |
100.0% |
275,397 |
100.0% |
0.8% |
*Total includes applications to universities that are not aligned with a university group.
1.2 Offers
- In 2013, there were 224 782 offers made, an increase of 1.0% compared with 2012.
- Nationally, offers to Year 12 applicants increased by 3.6% in 2013 while offers to non-Year 12 applicants fell by 2.1%.
Table 7: Offers by state and territory, 2009-2013
| State |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change 2012-2013 |
% Change 2009-2013 |
| NSW/ACT |
64,402 |
67,232 |
69,149 |
72,004 |
73,501 |
2.1% |
14.1% |
| Vic. |
46,428 |
51,258 |
54,714 |
59,371 |
59,725 |
0.6% |
28.6% |
| Qld |
39,333 |
42,738 |
43,391 |
45,637 |
46,752 |
2.4% |
18.9% |
| WA |
15,322 |
17,045 |
16,795 |
16,399 |
15,974 |
-2.6% |
4.3% |
| SA/NT |
18,527 |
19,323 |
19,652 |
20,580 |
20,573 |
0.0% |
11.0% |
| Tas. |
7,056 |
7,198 |
7,784 |
8,485 |
8,257 |
-2.7% |
17.0% |
| Australia |
191,068 |
204,794 |
211,485 |
222,476 |
224,782 |
1.0% |
17.6% |
- On top of strong growth in the number of offers, the national offer rate (number of offers as a percentage of highest preference applications) increased from 81.4% in 2012 to 81.6% in 2013. The offer rate provides an indicator of the way which universities choose to respond to student demand. This represents a key indicator following the introduction of the demand driven system from 2012.
Offer Rates by state and territory, 2009-2013
| State |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
Change (p.p) 2012-2013 |
Change (p.p) 2009-2013 |
| NSW/ACT |
79.4% |
80.9% |
81.9% |
82.8% |
82.9% |
0.1 |
3.5 |
| Vic. |
68.8% |
71.2% |
76.8% |
82.1% |
82.9% |
0.7 |
14.0 |
| Qld |
78.6% |
74.7% |
77.7% |
80.8% |
83.1% |
2.4 |
4.5 |
| WA |
82.2% |
81.8% |
81.8% |
85.0% |
84.3% |
-0.6 |
2.2 |
| SA/NT |
79.6% |
79.7% |
79.4% |
77.9% |
76.0% |
-1.9 |
-3.6 |
| Tas. |
76.7% |
74.7% |
74.5% |
72.8% |
66.7% |
-6.1 |
-10.0 |
| Australia |
76.5% |
76.7% |
79.1% |
81.4% |
81.6% |
0.2 |
5.1 |
- Offers increased for all broad fields of education, except for Information Technology, Architecture and Building and Society and Culture. Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies recorded the largest increase in offers (7.2%). This was followed by Natural and Physical Sciences (5.4%) and Engineering and Related Technologies (1.7%).
Offers by field of education, 2012-2013
| Field of education |
Offers |
Offer rates |
||||
|
2012 |
2013 |
% Change |
2012 |
2013 |
Change (p.p) |
|
| Natural and Physical Sciences |
23,148 |
24,399 |
5.4% |
99.8% |
100.9% |
1.1 |
| Information Technology |
6,081 |
6,008 |
-1.2% |
88.2% |
84.5% |
-3.8 |
| Engineering and Related Technologies |
15,586 |
15,851 |
1.7% |
85.5% |
85.4% |
-0.2 |
| Architecture and Building |
6,432 |
6,004 |
-6.7% |
70.4% |
72.3% |
1.9 |
| Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies |
4,164 |
4,462 |
7.2% |
99.1% |
99.2% |
0.1 |
| Agriculture |
1,913 |
2,126 |
11.1% |
99.4% |
102.3% |
2.8 |
| Environmental Studies |
1,487 |
1,498 |
0.7% |
100.9% |
98.4% |
-2.5 |
| Other |
764 |
838 |
9.7% |
94.9% |
93.3% |
-1.6 |
| Health |
44,227 |
44,822 |
1.3% |
64.2% |
63.1% |
-1.1 |
| Medical Studies |
2,480 |
2,417 |
-2.5% |
21.0% |
19.4% |
-1.6 |
| Dental Studies |
1,100 |
977 |
-11.2% |
27.7% |
25.2% |
-2.6 |
| Veterinary |
601 |
683 |
13.6% |
26.1% |
30.5% |
4.3 |
| Nursing |
16,934 |
16,932 |
0.0% |
76.4% |
77.1% |
0.7 |
| Health Other |
23,112 |
23,813 |
3.0% |
80.8% |
78.0% |
-2.7 |
| Education |
19,010 |
19,259 |
1.3% |
80.7% |
81.6% |
0.9 |
| Teacher Education |
18,159 |
18,218 |
0.3% |
80.1% |
80.7% |
0.6 |
| Education Other |
851 |
1,041 |
22.3% |
96.6% |
101.8% |
5.2 |
| Management and Commerce |
30,949 |
31,617 |
2.2% |
88.0% |
91.3% |
3.4 |
| Society and Culture* |
51,491 |
51,356 |
-0.3% |
93.2% |
92.0% |
-1.2 |
| Law |
6,886 |
7,245 |
5.2% |
64.2% |
66.8% |
2.6 |
| Creative Arts |
19,120 |
19,281 |
0.8% |
72.4% |
74.8% |
2.5 |
| Mixed field programs |
2,252 |
1,708 |
-24.2% |
99.5% |
90.1% |
-9.3 |
| Total |
222,476 |
224,782 |
1.0% |
81.4% |
81.6% |
0.2 |
Note: Hospitality is not shown due to the small number of offers, hence the total number of offers does not equal the sum of offers by broad field of education in the above table.
Note: Offer rates are expressed as the number of offers as a percentage of first preference applications. Given that offers may result from lower order preferences, offer rates for certain fields of education may exceed 100%.
* Society and Culture includes a broad range of subject areas including Behavioural Science, Law, Language & Literature, Economics & Econometrics.
- Applications to Regional Universities Network (RUN) universities were most likely to receive an offer (an offer rate of 97.6%). This was followed by the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) (85.2%) and the Australian Technology Network (ATN) (75.4%). The Group of Eight (Go8) recorded the lowest offer rate (68.9%), reflecting its relatively high entry requirements.
Offers and offer rates by type of university, 2012 and 2013
| Type of university |
2012 |
2013 |
||||
|
Number |
Share (%) |
Offer rates (%) |
Number |
Share (%) |
Offer rates (%) |
|
| Group of Eight |
57,562 |
25.9% |
69.7% |
58,569 |
26.1% |
68.9% |
| Australian Technology Network |
40,045 |
18.0% |
73.6% |
40,220 |
17.9% |
75.4% |
| Innovative Research Universities |
40,769 |
18.3% |
85.2% |
40,832 |
18.2% |
85.2% |
| Regional Universities Network |
15,238 |
6.8% |
98.6% |
14,209 |
6.3% |
97.6% |
| Total* |
222,476 |
100.0% |
81.4% |
224,782 |
100.0% |
81.6% |
*Total includes offers from universities that are not aligned with a university group.
1.3 Acceptances/Deferrals
- There were 157 294 applicants who accepted an offer in 2013, a decrease of 1.6% compared with 2012.
Acceptances* by state and territory, 2009-2013
| State |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
% Change 2012-2013 |
% Change 2009-2013 |
| NSW/ACT |
46,770 |
48,681 |
50,633 |
51,829 |
52,414 |
1.1% |
12.1% |
| Vic. |
31,777 |
35,300 |
36,216 |
39,479 |
39,786 |
0.8% |
25.2% |
| Qld |
31,064 |
33,572 |
33,599 |
36,244 |
34,340 |
-5.3% |
10.5% |
| WA |
11,143 |
12,738 |
12,311 |
12,333 |
11,862 |
-3.8% |
6.5% |
| SA/NT |
13,170 |
13,810 |
12,589 |
13,609 |
13,108 |
-3.7% |
-0.5% |
| Tas. |
4,773 |
5,129 |
5,618 |
6,343 |
5,784 |
-8.8% |
21.2% |
| Australia |
138,697 |
149,230 |
150,966 |
159,837 |
157,294 |
-1.6% |
13.4% |
*Acceptances exclude deferrals.
- Of all applicants who received offers in 2013, 21 988 or 9.8% deferred their offer through a TAC. The deferral rate was similar in 2012 (10.5%).
- Year 12 applicants were more than twice as likely to defer compared with non-Year 12 applicants (12.9% compared with 5.7% respectively).
- Non-metropolitan applicants were more than twice as likely to defer compared with metropolitan applicants (16.3% compared with 7.6% respectively).
Acceptance rates by state and territory, 2009-2013
| State |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
Change (p.p) 2012-2013 |
Change (p.p) 2009-2013 |
| NSW/ACT |
72.6% |
72.4% |
73.2% |
72.0% |
71.3% |
-0.7 |
-1.3 |
| Vic. |
68.4% |
68.9% |
66.2% |
66.5% |
66.6% |
0.1 |
-1.8 |
| Qld |
79.0% |
78.6% |
77.4% |
79.4% |
73.5% |
-6.0 |
-5.5 |
| WA |
72.7% |
74.7% |
73.3% |
75.2% |
74.3% |
-0.9 |
1.5 |
| SA/NT |
71.1% |
71.5% |
64.1% |
66.1% |
63.7% |
-2.4 |
-7.4 |
| Tas. |
67.6% |
71.3% |
72.2% |
74.8% |
70.0% |
-4.7 |
2.4 |
| Australia |
72.6% |
72.9% |
71.4% |
71.8% |
70.0% |
-1.9 |
-2.6 |
Acceptances* and acceptance rates by type of university, 2012 and 2013
| Type of university |
2012 |
2013 |
||||
|
Number |
Share (%) |
Acceptance rate (%) |
Number |
Share (%) |
Acceptance rate (%) |
|
| Group of Eight |
42,728 |
26.7% |
74.2% |
43,008 |
27.3% |
73.4% |
| Australian Technology Network |
31,097 |
19.5% |
77.7% |
30,187 |
19.2% |
75.1% |
| Innovative Research Universities |
28,837 |
18.0% |
70.7% |
27,882 |
17.7% |
68.3% |
| Regional Universities Network |
11,005 |
6.9% |
72.2% |
9,608 |
6.1% |
67.6% |
| Total** |
159,837 |
100.0% |
71.8% |
157,294 |
100.0% |
70.0% |
*Acceptances exclude deferrals.
**Total includes acceptances for universities that are not aligned with a university group.
1.4 Students from Low Socioeconomic (SES) Backgrounds
- Applications from applicants from low SES backgrounds have shown the largest increase (1.7%) from 2012 to 2013, compared with those from medium SES backgrounds (0.7%) and high SES backgrounds (0.4%).
- Over the same period, offers to low SES applicants increased at a higher rate (2.2%) than offers to medium SES applicants (1.1%). Offers to high SES applicants rose by 0.4%.
- Since 2009, offers to low SES applicants have recorded the largest increase (21.7%) compared with medium SES (18.9%) and high SES applicants (13.8%).
- Applications by applicants from low SES backgrounds were less likely to result in an offer. Their offer rate was 80.0% compared with 81.5% for medium SES applications and 83.5% for high SES applications in 2013.
- Low SES applicants are more likely to apply for courses in Nursing and Education, and less likely to apply for Medical Studies, Management and Commerce, Society and Culture and Creative Arts.
- Just under one quarter of domestic applicants (23.7%) were from non-metropolitan areas (regional and remote areas), less than their population share of 27.4%.
- In 2013, applications from metropolitan residents increased by 1.3% while applications from non-metropolitan residents decreased 0.6%.
- Offers made to metropolitan applicants increased by 1.7% compared with a decrease of 0.7% in offers made to non-metropolitan applicants in 2013.
- While non-metropolitan applicants are under-represented, they are more likely to receive an offer than metropolitan applicants: 84.6% of non-metropolitan applicants received offers, compared with 81.0% of metropolitan applicants.
- However, metropolitan applicants were more likely to accept an offer (74.4%) than non-metropolitan applicants (61.2%).
- Non-metropolitan applicants are more likely to apply for courses in Nursing, Education, Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies courses. Management and Commerce courses were more popular among metropolitan applicants.
1.5 Students from Non-Metropolitan Areas
- Just under one quarter of domestic applicants (23.7%) were from non-metropolitan areas (regional and remote areas), less than their population share of 27.4%.
- In 2013, applications from metropolitan residents increased by 1.3% while applications from non-metropolitan residents decreased 0.6%.
- Offers made to metropolitan applicants increased by 1.7% compared with a decrease of 0.7% in offers made to non-metropolitan applicants in 2013.
- While non-metropolitan applicants are under-represented, they are more likely to receive an offer than metropolitan applicants: 84.6% of non-metropolitan applicants received offers, compared with 81.0% of metropolitan applicants.
- However, metropolitan applicants were more likely to accept an offer (74.4%) than non-metropolitan applicants (61.2%).
- Non-metropolitan applicants are more likely to apply for courses in Nursing, Education, Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies courses. Management and Commerce courses were more popular among metropolitan applicants.
1.6 Indigenous Students
- Indigenous people are under-represented in the pool of TAC applications. Indigenous people represent around 2.3% of the Australian working age population whereas they constitute only 1.3% of all applications to university. Indigenous applicants have a larger representation among direct applications (2.7%) than among TAC applications.
- Nationally there were 3539 applications from applicants who identified as Indigenous (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both), an increase of 198 applications or 5.9%.
- Nationally 2703 offers have resulted from applications from Indigenous applicants, an increase of 183 offers or 7.3%.
- Just over three quarters (76.4%) of applications from Indigenous applicants had attracted an offer, compared with an offer rate of 81.7% for non-Indigenous applicants in 2013.
- Indigenous applicants are more likely to apply for courses in Education, Nursing and Society and Culture. They are less likely to apply for Management and Commerce, Natural and Physical Sciences, Engineering and Medical Sciences courses.
1.7 Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)
- In 2013, 71.4% of all offers made to Year 12 applicants were for those with an ATAR above 70. Offers to Year 12 applicants who achieved an ATAR above 90 accounted for 27.4% of all offers.
- The share of offers for applicants in the ATAR band “50.00 or less” has increased steadily from 1.6% in 2009 to 4.1% in 2013.
- During this time, the likelihood of an applicant with a low ATAR receiving an offer has recorded a greater increase than an applicant with a higher ATAR, which has remained relatively steady. Offer rates for Year 12 applicants in the “50.00 or less” ATAR band have recorded the largest increase from 12.0% in 2009 to 32.6% in 2013.
1.8 Direct Applications
- The total number of applications (per person per university) made directly to universities in 2013 was 82 890, an increase of 12.6% when compared with 2012. Since 2010, the number of direct applications has increased from 61 805 to 82 890, an increase of 34.1%.
- There were 66 969 offers resulting from direct applications, an increase of 8.3% between 2012 and 2013.
- Offer rates in relation to direct applications increased from 79.7% to 80.8% over the same period.
- Compared to TAC applicants, direct applicants were less likely to be Year 12 students and hence were more likely to be older. Female and Indigenous applicants made up a larger share of direct applicants than TAC applicants.
- Taking into account that 13 855 applicants applied through TACs as well as directly to universities, a total of 316 607 applicants submitted 330 462 applications. This represents an increase of 2.3% for total unique applicants between 2012 and 2013.
See
Undergraduate Applications, Offers and Acceptances 2013
