Teens eye teaching, commerce and health in first-round university offers

Teaching courses have surged in popularity among students awaiting a university offer but society, culture and health remain Victoria’s most popular study choices.

A record 47,500 year 12 graduates will receive first-round offers by Victorian universities, TAFE institutes and independent tertiary colleges on Monday – nearly 4600 more than last year, with further offers to follow in January and February.

Methodist Ladies’ College graduate Kate Zhang is waiting on a commerce offer.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

There will be more than 1500 offers made for teaching courses, up by more than 3 per cent on last year to 4.3 per cent of all the offers made on Monday.

The fastest growing area of study is management and commerce, comprising 16.5 per cent of Monday’s offers while health-related courses, which includes nursing and biomedical science, remain much sought-after, making up nearly 17 per cent.

However, enthusiasm for studying information technology (IT) appears to be on the wane this year, making up just 4.5 per cent of courses offered, down from 5.3 per cent last year.

Extensive data on the first-round offers, featuring students, offers and courses, will be available at theage.com.au from 10am on Monday.

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre said prospective students were flocking to society and culture pathways, with courses like arts, law, politics and economics making up more than a fifth of Monday’s offers.

International Baccalaureate students in Australia, who have traditionally been forced to wait until January for their university offers, have been included in the December round for the first time this year.

Methodist Ladies’ College graduate Kate Zhang said nerves were running high for some students ahead of Monday’s news.

Zhang, who completed the IB this year, already has an offer to attend a university overseas, where she would study either social analysis or economics alongside a shorter course in photography.

She is expecting another offer from the University of Melbourne for a degree in commerce and will then consider her options.

“I’m very privileged to be thinking about the opportunities that I have upcoming,” Zhang said.

“I just hope that [on] Monday, everybody who’s worked hard to get to where they are, get their first preference, and if not, something works out for them in the end.

“My friends who may have gotten close to the course requirements, but maybe not comfortably above, are feeling a bit nervous as they go into look at which preferences they got granted.”

Zhang, whose ATAR was in the high 90s, hoped to visit extended family in China before university started.

VTAC chief executive Teresa Tjia said options were still available for school-leavers who were not offered a course on Monday.

“If you haven’t received an offer today or have changed your mind about what you wish to study, you can change preferences in your VTAC account until 4pm tomorrow. VTAC will make further offers throughout January and February,” Tjia said.

The VTAC boss urged those who landed the course they wanted on Monday to savour the moment.

“Celebrate the offer you have received today with your family, friends and teachers,” she said.

“Share this exciting achievement with those who have supported you throughout your educational journey.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.