Undergraduate Applications and Offers, February 2014
© Commonwealth of Australia
ISBN: 978-1-74361-557-7
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and where otherwise noted all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/) licence.
The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3.0 AU licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode).
The document must be attributed as the Undergraduate Applications and Offers, February 2014 report.
Produced by the Department of Education, 2014.
Department of Education
GPO Box 9880
CANBERRA CITY ACT 2601
For questions regarding application data or for further information, please email .
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. Highlights 3
3. Highest Preference Applications 5
4. Offers 7
5. Field of Education 9
6. Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) 11
7. Under-Represented Groups 13
8. University Group 16
9. Data Qualifications 17
10. Glossary 18
1. Introduction
Purpose of the Report
This report looks at the third round data submission on university applications and offers processed through Tertiary Admissions Centres (TACs) for the first semester of the 2014 academic year. It provides trends in the number of applications, offers and characteristics of applicants. As such, these trends are leading indicators of the response of universities to the demand for higher education in 2014.
Overview of the Data
Data in this report are derived from the University Applications and Offers Data Collection. The data refer to domestic undergraduate student applications and offers as of 27 February 2014. While over 99 per cent of all first semester TAC applications are received by this date, applicants can make decisions on their offers until the close of the application process.
It is an interim report based on applications and offers data received from the TACs as of 27February 2014. The report includes comparisons between the 2013 third round submission data (22 February 2013) and the 2014 third round submission data (27 February 2014).
The report looks at domestic undergraduate highest preference applications and total offers processed by TACs for Table A institutions. More comprehensive applications and offers data, including direct applications and offers data, will be available and analysed by the department between April 2014 and June 2014. Interim figures included in this report are subject to change following subsequent submissions of applications and offers data. A final report is scheduled for publication by the department in September 2014.
Applications and offers reports are published on the department’s website:
www.education.gov.au/higher-education-statistics.
Acknowledgements
The department would like to thank all officers of TACs for submitting high quality third round applications and offers data for the 2014 academic year.
2. Highlights
Highest Preference Applications
· As of 27 February 2014, there were 273 743 applications made through TACs, a decrease of 135 applications, or 0.05%, compared with the same time in 2013. This follows an increase of 0.5% between 2012 and 2013.
· Nationally, Year 12 applications increased by 0.8% while non-Year 12 applications decreased by 1.1% in 2014.
Offers
· During the same period, there were 224 663 offers made, an increase of 0.7% compared with the same time in 2013.
· Nationally, Year 12 offers increased by 1.3% in 2014. All states and territories recorded increases in offers to Year 12 applicants, except Victoria and Western Australia (WA).
· Offers to non-Year 12 applicants fell by 0.2% nationally.
· Applications from Year 12 students were more likely to receive an offer than applications from non-Year 12 students. As of 27 February 2014, the Year 12 offer rate was 84.4% compared with the non-Year 12 offer rate of 79.2%. Offer rates for both Year 12 students and non-Year 12 students increased in 2014, up from 84.0% and 78.4% respectively in 2013.
· Above-average Year 12 offer rates were recorded in Queensland (88.5%), New South Wales (NSW)/the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (86.9%) and WA (85.0%) in 2014.
Field of Education
· Health received the largest number of applications (72 951 or 26.6% of all applications).
· Natural and Physical Sciences recorded the largest increase in applications (8.3%). This was followed by Health (2.9%).
· Society and Culture received the largest number of offers (49 764 or 22.2% of total offers).
· Health recorded the largest increase in offers (7.2%). This was followed by Natural and Physical Sciences (6.4%).
· Applications for Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies and Natural and Physical Sciences are most likely to receive an offer (offer rates of 98.4% and 97.6% respectively).
Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)
· In 2014, 69.4% 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 27.0% of all offers.
· The share of Year 12 offers for applicants with a low ATAR score (50 or less) increased from 2.1% in 2011 to 5.5% in 2014.
· Over the past four years, the likelihood of an applicant with a low ATAR score (50 or less) receiving an offer has recorded a greater increase (18.2% to 39.2%) than an applicant with a high ATAR score (above 90) (90.5% to 90.7%), which has remained steady.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
· Applicants from a low SES background have shown the largest increase (0.9%) compared with those from a medium SES background (0.4%) and a high SES background (-1.0%).
· Offers to applicants from a low SES background have also shown the largest increase (1.6%) compared with offers to applicants from a medium SES background (1.2%) and a high SES background (-0.4%).
· However, applicants from a low SES background were less likely to result in an offer. Their offer rate was 80.5% compared with 82.0% for applicants from a medium SES background and 83.8% for applicants from a high SES background in 2014.
Regional
· Offers to metropolitan residents increased by 1.0% while there was a small increase in offers to non-metropolitan residents of 0.01% in 2014.
· Applications from non-metropolitan areas were more likely to receive an offer compared with applicants from metropolitan areas, (85.5% and 81.3% respectively).
Indigenous Status
· As of 27 February 2014, around three quarters, 75.2%, of Indigenous applicants had attracted an offer, compared with 82.1% for non-Indigenous applicants.
University Group
· Applications to the Australian Technology Network (ATN) universities and the Group of Eight (Go8) universities increased by 1.5% and 0.3% respectively in 2014. Applications to the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) and the Regional Universities Network (RUN) decreased by 3.2% and 3.3% respectively.
· RUN universities recorded the largest increase in offers (4.6%) in 2014, followed by ATN universities (2.9%).
· Applicants to Go8 universities and ATN universities were less likely to receive an offer in 2014, with offer rates of 69.0% and 75.1% respectively, reflecting higher entry requirements at these universities.
3. Highest Preference Applications
Overall trends
· As of 27 February 2014, there were 273 743 applications made through TACs, a decrease of 135 applications or 0.05% compared with the same time in 2013 (see Table 1 below). This follows an increase of 0.5% between 2012 and 2013.
Table 1: Highest preference applications by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
State/Territory / 2013 / 2014 / % Change /NSW/ACT / 88,690 / 88,450 / -0.3%
Vic. / 72,069 / 72,239 / 0.2%
Qld / 56,607 / 55,044 / -2.8%
WA / 18,941 / 18,073 / -4.6%
SA/NT / 26,587 / 28,206 / 6.1%
Tas. / 10,984 / 11,731 / 6.8%
Australia / 273,878 / 273,743 / -0.05%
Year 12 status
· Nationally, Year 12 applications increased by 0.8% in 2014, following an increase of 2.2% in 2013.
· All states and territories recorded increases in Year 12 applications, except for Tasmania (5.9%), WA (0.7%) and Queensland (a marginal fall of 12 applications) which recorded decreases in Year 12 applications.
· Non-Year 12 applications decreased by 1.1% in 2014, following a decrease of 1.5% in 2013. WA recorded a decrease of 11.9% in non-Year 12 applications in 2014, following a decrease of 6.5% in 2013. This consecutive reduction in non-Year 12 applications is, in part, likely associated with relatively stronger labour market conditions experienced in that state.
Table 2: Highest preference applications by Year 12 status, by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
State/Territory / Year 12 / Non-Year 12 /2013 / 2014 / % Change / 2013 / 2014 / % Change /
NSW/ACT / 49,371 / 49,835 / 0.9% / 39,319 / 38,615 / -1.8%
Vic. / 44,345 / 45,427 / 2.4% / 27,724 / 26,812 / -3.3%
Qld / 28,178 / 28,166 / 0.0% / 28,429 / 26,878 / -5.5%
WA / 12,400 / 12,310 / -0.7% / 6,541 / 5,763 / -11.9%
SA/NT / 12,951 / 13,004 / 0.4% / 13,636 / 15,202 / 11.5%
Tas. / 3,779 / 3,555 / -5.9% / 7,205 / 8,176 / 13.5%
Australia / 151,024 / 152,297 / 0.8% / 122,854 / 121,446 / -1.1%
· Nationally, Year 12 applications represent 55.6% of total applications, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared with 2013.
· WA recorded the highest proportion of Year 12 applications (68.1%), an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared with 2013.
Table 3: Proportion of Year 12 highest preference applications by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
NSW/ACT / 55.7% / 56.3% / 0.7
Vic. / 61.5% / 62.9% / 1.4
Qld / 49.8% / 51.2% / 1.4
WA / 65.5% / 68.1% / 2.6
SA/NT / 48.7% / 46.1% / -2.6
Tas. / 34.4% / 30.3% / -4.1
Australia / 55.1% / 55.6% / 0.5
4. Offers
Overall trends
· As of 27 February 2014, there were 224 663 offers made, an increase of 1 463 (0.7%) compared with the same time in 2013. This follows a similar increase of 0.6% between 2012 and 2013.
· The largest growth was recorded in Tasmania[1] (34.6%), followed by SA/NT (3.5%).
· More than four-fifths of applications (81.5%) attracted an offer in 2014, an increase of 0.6 percentage points over 2013. This follows an increase of 0.1 percentage points between 2012 and 2013.
Table 4: Offers and offer rates by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
State/Territory / Offers / Offer rates /2013 / 2014 / % Change / 2013 / 2014 / Change (p.p) /
NSW/ACT / 73,501 / 74,170 / 0.9% / 82.9% / 83.9% / 1.0
Vic. / 59,664 / 58,369 / -2.2% / 82.8% / 80.8% / -2.0
Qld / 46,739 / 46,530 / -0.4% / 82.6% / 84.5% / 2.0
WA / 15,974 / 15,120 / -5.3% / 84.3% / 83.7% / -0.7
SA/NT / 20,293 / 21,011 / 3.5% / 76.3% / 74.5% / -1.8
Tas. / 7,029 / 9,463 / 34.6% / 64.0% / 80.7% / 16.7
Australia / 223,200 / 224,663 / 0.7% / 81.5% / 82.1% / 0.6
Year 12 status
· Nationally, offers to Year 12 applicants increased by 1.3% in 2014. This follows an increase of 3.3% in 2013.
· The majority of states and territories recorded increases in offers to Year 12 applicants, except Victoria (down 0.7%) and WA (down 2.2%). Growth in offers to Year 12 applicants was strongest in Tasmania (16.8%). This was followed by NSW/ACT (2.7%) and SA/NT (2.2%).
· Offers to non-Year 12 applicants fell by 0.2% nationally. This follows a fall of 2.7% in 2013. In 2014, Tasmania and SA/NT recorded increases in offers to non-Year 12 applicants (43.7% and 4.9% respectively).
Table 5: Offers by Year 12 status, by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
State/Territory / Year12 / Non-Year12 /2013 / 2014 / % Change / 2013 / 2014 / % Change /
NSW/ACT / 42,177 / 43,305 / 2.7% / 31,324 / 30,865 / -1.5%
Vic. / 36,897 / 36,647 / -0.7% / 22,767 / 21,722 / -4.6%
Qld / 24,585 / 24,931 / 1.4% / 22,154 / 21,599 / -2.5%
WA / 10,696 / 10,461 / -2.2% / 5,278 / 4,659 / -11.7%
SA/NT / 10,172 / 10,393 / 2.2% / 10,121 / 10,618 / 4.9%
Tas. / 2,371 / 2,770 / 16.8% / 4,658 / 6,693 / 43.7%
Australia / 126,898 / 128,307 / 1.3% / 96,302 / 96,156 / -0.2%
· Nationally, applications from Year 12 students were more likely to receive an offer than non-Year 12 students. In 2014, the Year 12 offer rate was 84.4% compared with the non-Year 12 offer rate of 79.2%.
· Offer rates for both Year 12 students and non-Year 12 students increased in 2014. Offer rates for Year 12 students increased by 0.4 percentage points in 2014 and 0.9 percentage points in 2013. Offer rates for non-Year 12 students increased by 0.8 percentage points in 2014 following a decrease of 1.0 percentage point in 2013.
· In 2014, Year 12 offer rates were higher than the non-Year 12 offer rates in all states and territories except Victoria and Tasmania.
· Above-average offer rates to Year 12 applicants were recorded in Queensland (88.5%), NSW/ACT (86.9%) and WA (85.0%) in 2014.
Table 6: Offer rates by Year 12 status, by state and territory, February 2013 and February 2014
State/Territory / Year12 / Non-Year12 /2013 / 2014 / Change (p.p) / 2013 / 2014 / Change
(p.p) /
NSW/ACT / 85.4% / 86.9% / 1.5 / 79.7% / 79.9% / 0.3
Vic. / 83.2% / 80.7% / -2.5 / 82.1% / 81.0% / -1.1
Qld / 87.2% / 88.5% / 1.3 / 77.9% / 80.4% / 2.4
WA / 86.3% / 85.0% / -1.3 / 80.7% / 80.8% / 0.2
SA/NT / 78.5% / 79.9% / 1.4 / 74.2% / 69.8% / -4.4
Tas. / 62.7% / 77.9% / 15.2 / 64.6% / 81.9% / 17.2
Australia / 84.0% / 84.4% / 0.4 / 78.4% / 79.2% / 0.8
· In 2014, offers to Year 12 applicants represented 57.2% of total offers, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from 2013.
· WA recorded the highest proportion of offers to Year 12 applicants (69.2%). Tasmania recorded the largest decrease in the proportion of offers to Year 12 applicants (4.5 percentage points) compared with 2013.