QTAC university offers emails to land in inboxes following four-day delay

Thousands of already delayed offers that were set to land in year 12 graduates’ inboxes today have still failed to materialise, leaving prospective students in limbo, as students reported further glitches. HAVE YOUR SAY

The state’s main tertiary offer round has descended into chaos, with prospective students still without offers hours after they were meant to be released.

The Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre said there was a delay with their Application Portal syncing with the thousands of offers due to be released on Monday.

HAVE YOU BEEN IMPACTED BY QTAC DELAYS? COMMENT BELOW

QTAC advised prospective students that offers would be available from 10am. It appears the offer release will drag well into Monday afternoon.

Prospective students started to receive offers just after 11am, however, many students were still waiting to receive an offer at 12.30pm and beyond.

QTAC posted an update on Facebook just after 12.30pm as confused and concerned prospective students continued to flood the comments sections.

“If you see our maintenance screen, try logging in later. Offers are being released and will continue throughout the day,” the tertiary body wrote.

“If you receive an offer, you will receive a notification once it can be viewed on your online portal. We appreciate your patience.”

But even some students who did receive an offer on Monday morning were then running into further technical problems, with the QTAC website not letting them accept their offer.

“I’ve received mine now, but the portal is still frozen and won’t let me accept it, so it might as well be next year at the rate it’s going,” Cosme McPhie commented.

“I received an offer but it won’t let me accept it. Has the website crashed?” Sophie Moore said.

“I have received my offer, but when I login to accept my application isn’t there?” Jess Lamont wrote.

Queensland Class of 2023 graduate Zoe Bennett has already secured a place at Bond University on the Gold Coast. Photo: Adam Head.

Universities across the state were awaiting confirmation from QTAC that all of their offers were sent out as scheduled on Monday.

There was a significant knock-on effect from the further QTAC delays.

“UQ class timetables are now released. Puts those still waiting for an offer at a significant disadvantage when it comes to enrolling in classes,” Fiona Philip commented.

Parent Michael Tripet said his daughter was considering Queensland and NSW study options and the delay meant she would only have a few hours to decide.

His daughter would only have a few hours between receiving her Queensland university offer on Monday, and her NSW university offer expiring.

The University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba had student orientation starting on Monday, while classes commenced at the Gold Coast’s Bond University on Monday.

EARLIER

Delayed university offers that should have landed in Year 12 graduates’ inboxes on Monday, after the release was delayed by four days because the tertiary authority was simply not ready, have once again been delayed.

The Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre announced the initial delay to thousands of offers via email to students and universities late on Wednesday after inquiries by The Courier-Mail, but today confirmed a second hold-up.

QTAC confirmed late last week that offers were due to be released from 10am on Monday, but the tertiary body posted on Facebook at 10.30am saying they still were not ready.

It is understood the tertiary offer release will be staggered and some prospective students could be waiting until as late as midday to access their offer.

“We want to thank you for being patient with us in anticipation of today’s offer round,” the QTAC Facebook post read.

“We know you’re eager to plan your next steps to tertiary study, however, the QTAC Application portal is locked while we run today’s offer round.

“Your QTAC Application is still here. When it’s time to check your application we will notify you by email. Please keep an eye out for an email from QTAC.

“If you experience delays getting through to our call centre, please be patient and try again later.”

Within minutes, frustrated comments appeared.

“We were ready on Thursday. It’s you that needs to be ready,” Katie Tran wrote.

QTAC blamed last week’s delay on a complex new application processing system and tight timeframes, assuring frustrated students the maximum number of offers would go out on Monday.

Trinity Lutheran College graduate Zoe Bennett, 18, has already secured a place in a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science at Bond University on the Gold Coast.

She accepted an early offer in September, which came before her external exams and took all of the pressure off those final tests. But she has friends whose futures remain uncertain.

“I have some friends who are waiting for offers this round, and all I feel I can do is support them,” she said.

“I really feel for them. I already know where I’m going, but my friends don’t know quite yet.”

Ms Bennett’s course will give her a range of career options such as physiotherapy, dietitian, nutrition, occupational therapy, or paramedicine.

Universities across the state report their January offers are dominated by high interest in courses on Teaching, Engineering, Paramedicine, Nursing, and the Sciences.

QTAC on Monday made 15,014 offers across 1326 courses on behalf of 16 institutions.

Of these, 9066 offers went out to 2023 Year 12 graduates, with the remaining 5948 offers made to non-year 12 applicants.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

There has been little change in course popularity since the December offer round, the only notable difference being primary teaching overtook secondary teaching.

First Preferences:

• Bachelor of Nursing
• Bachelor of Paramedicine
• Bachelor of Education (Primary)

All Preferences:

• Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Medicine Pathway)
• Bachelor of Nursing
• Bachelor of Paramedicine

“UniSQ’s new Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) program moved straight into our top 10 for first preferences,” a university spokesman said.

“Our suite of Allied Health programs continue to prove popular among school leavers. First preference numbers for Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology all grew compared to last year.

“Early offers made to Year 12 applicants within our suite of undergraduate Engineering programs have increased 73% compared to last year. First preference data for the same programs, shows a 33% increase compared to last year.”

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

“Interest in computer and IT, and dentistry degrees continues to increase, with these areas up around 35 per cent year-on-year,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Shaun Ewen said.

“Law and communications and media, which includes courses in animation, communication and journalism, film and screen media, are also popular choices.

“We have also seen strong demand for courses in cybersecurity, with our brand new Bachelor of Cybersecurity gaining interest from school leavers and mature students alike.”

High-demand degrees based on QTAC preferences:

• Film and Screen Media
• Engineering
• Dental Health Science
• Business
• Paramedicine
• Forensic Science
• Music
• Science
• Law
• Exercise science

AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Acting Provost Professor Chris Lonsdale highlighted several interesting trends.

“We are experiencing an increase in enrolment from career-changers – about 50% of enrolments this year are school leavers and the other half are mature students looking to change their career path,” Professor Lonsdale said.

“We also have an increased number of applications from regional students looking to move to the city to study, but enjoy the comfort and friendliness of a smaller campus experience.”

ACU’s Bachelor of Education (Primary and Secondary) has exceeded expectations, and ACU has also seen a strong uptake in the Diploma of Educational Studies.

“We’re also seeing continued strong enrolment in Allied Health – Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology are again highly competitive courses with places filling fast in the new year,” Professor Lonsdale said.

“And ACU’s ever-popular Nursing degrees continue to attract hundreds of applicants from all over Queensland and northern NSW.”

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY

“We are seeing a high number of first-preference applications for traditionally popular courses such as Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing,” a university spokeswoman said.

“In line with previous years, first-preference applications in courses including Science, Veterinary Science and Education also continue to be popular.

“We’re seeing an increase in first-preference applications for Speech Pathology (up 26 per cent), Engineering (up 22 per cent), Social Sciences (up 19 per cent) and Pharmacy (up 17 per cent).”

Following the December 21 offer round, JCU had made 1806 offers to prospective students with more than 1000 accepted.

Since December, JCU received a further 3231 applications to study at its Townsville, Cairns, Mackay and Mount Isa campuses, bringing the total for the 2024 academic year to 8831.

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

From the December offer round, nearly than 6500 students have accepted their offer from QUT, which is roughly the same rate as 2023.

“We are seeing high demand for Business, Engineering, Education, IT and Nursing, and strong interest in our new vertical doubles of Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) – Master of Robotics and AI, and Bachelor of Vision Science – Master of Optometry,” a QUT spokeswoman said.

“QUT is also happy to note the increased interest in our Diploma and Undergraduate Certificate pathways courses.

“These pathway courses give advanced standing direct into our Bachelor degrees. We are proud that nearly 90 per cent of our students at our QUT College transition directly into QUT Bachelor degree courses.”

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

“We have seen strong increases in demand across a range of programs including business management, engineering, law and dental science,” a UQ spokeswoman said.

“On Monday, we will be making more than 4700 offers including for high demand programs such as provisional medicine, dental science, physiotherapy, and veterinary science.

“Most programs at UQ still have places available and additional offers will be released regularly up until the start of classes in February.”

UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST

“The University of the Sunshine Coast’s most in-demand undergraduate courses for 2024 are Bachelor of Nursing, Paramedicine, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Sport and Exercise Science, Education and Animal Ecology,” a UniSC spokesman said.

“A particular standout this year is Engineering, which has experienced a 20 per cent increase on last year across Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical and Mechatronic degree programs.”

OTHERS

The Courier-Mail also contacted Southern Cross University, Central Queensland University, and Federation University for comment.