An increasing willingness of undergraduates to consider studying interstate and a recovery in NSW applications has meant that the nation’s biggest admissions centre has seen a small uptick in applications this year.
ACT applications were well down, but the ongoing growth in interstate and mature age applications offer a slightly larger applicant pool this year, the Interim Managing Director of UAC, Kim Paino said.
Given the tumultuous year in HE, with multiple policy changes including proposed enrolment caps, this year is expected to be a tightly contested student market. With drops in ATAR of up to 20 points last year to boost enrolments in some universities, and many students receiving multiple offers through early offers and the UAC preference system, the news that the UAC application pool is slightly larger this year will be welcomed by institutions.
There has been a 2.6% growth in total UAC applications, from with 64,541 applications in 2024, including:
- 13% fall in ACT applications to 1,744
- 3% increase in NSW yr 12 apps to 39,970
- 18% increase in interstate applications to 5,349
- 4% increase in non-year 12 applications.
At the same time, there have also been more than 100,000 direct applications processed by UAC on behalf of universities.
“Year 12 demand – at least for applications – is holding firm,” Ms Paino said.
“Of course, what we don’t know is how many will progress to enrolment, given the challenging economic times and of course many Year 12s have multiple applications – both through UAC and direct channels. Students have a lot of choice and they’re exercising it.”
UAC’s applications remain open until Friday 7 February 2025.
