University courses in criminology, health sciences and flexible double degrees have been in high demand as institutions say enrolment numbers are ahead compared to this time in 2022.
The Universities Admissions Centre released the first round of January offers on Thursday but many prospective students already made their decisions through early entry or the December offer rounds.
The Australian National University is taking a growing number of students through its direct entry method, with 5041 students receiving offers in September 2022, up from 4562 in September 2021.
An ANU spokeswoman said the offers were made based on an academic rank as well as a co-curricular or service requirement.
"Under our early round offers, ANU has seen an increase in the number of students from diverse backgrounds and educational experiences enrol at the university," the spokeswoman said.
"This includes our highest ever intake of students who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, as well as non-binary students and students from inner regional areas."
The university's academic rank takes into account adjustments for equity, elite performance and academic performance. The co-curricular or service requirement includes paid and unpaid employment, volunteering and carer responsibilities.
The top ten programs with the highest intake in the early offer system were:
- Flexible Double Degree - Arts, Social Sciences, Business and Science
- Flexible Double Degree - Law (Honours)
- Bachelor of Medical Science
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Commence
- Flexible Double Degree - Engineering & Advanced Computing (Honours)
- Bachelor of Science
- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
- Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
- Bachelor of Health Science
The University of Canberra has seen enrolments tracking higher than last year with applications strong across its five faculties.
The areas of particular demand include:
- Health Sciences including: Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Medical Radiation Sciences
- Arts and Design, Creative Writing and Film Production
- Management Studies, Law, Politics and International Relations
- Business Informatics, IT and Medical Science
- Early Childhood and Primary Education
A growing number of students are entering the University of Canberra via alternate pathways not based on the ATAR rank, with about 300-500 coming through the school recommendation scheme, 200 through the early round offer and 200 per semester via the UC College.
About 700-900 undergraduate students per year enrol using their ATAR scores.
UC deputy vice-chancellor academic Geoff Crisp said universities were moving away from relying solely on the ATAR for admissions, however students with an early offer still needed to successfully complete year 12 to enrol in university.
"UC is obviously very keen on being able to offer everyone in the community the opportunity to be able to come to the university if they meet certain standards and requirements, and the ATAR is just one of those," he said.
The Australian Catholic University has seen a surge in students choosing to study criminology, while nursing has been popular with non-school leavers who already have a diploma of nursing.
In Canberra, the most popular ACU courses are:
- Bachelor of Nursing & Paramedicine
- Bachelor of Social Work
- Primary and Special Education Teaching
ACU Provost Professor Meg Stuart said there was still time for students to get an offer in upcoming offer rounds.
"We are pleased to see our nursing, teaching, paramedicine and social work courses continuing to attract strong student interest at the Canberra campus," she said.
"The January offers provide students with certainty and excitement for the year ahead. We wish our incoming students all the best as they join the ACU community."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
