University offers: What you need to know about your offer

Thousands of Victorian students learn whether they have earnt a spot in their dream university courses. Here’s what you need to know.

Thousands of Victorian students have learned whether toughing it out through two years of VCE marred by Covid-19 has earnt them spots in their dream university courses.

The year 12 class of 2021 is counting down the hours until they receive one of 46,010 offers from the state’s tertiary admissions body, most likely in the morning, before they can find their offers online when the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre publicly releases the details on Friday afternoon.

Friday’s instalment is the first of five rounds, with more than 80 per cent of offers made in the early rounds.

VTAC acting director Tamara Barth congratulated students receiving a spot at their chosen course, in the wake of school restrictions, and reassured those still waiting that they could receive an offer in the coming weeks.

Education Minister James Merlino said he congratulated the Year 12 class of 2021 who received their first round tertiary offers on Friday.

“It’s the beginning of their next journey and you think about the challenge that the class of 2021 had, their entire VCAL and VCE was through the pandemic and through long periods of lockdown and it’s just a wonderful day that they’re getting their tertiary first round offers,” he said.

“Approximately 12 per cent of students received an ATAR over 99, I’m confident that many of them will achieve their goals.”

Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Colin Axip said: “Congratulations to students who received a first round offer and all students are reminded that this is the first step in a process of opportunities.”

“All students are encouraged to contact their school’s careers practitioner for advice regarding their offers,” he said.

CHECK YOUR UNI OFFER AT HERALDSUN.COM.AU

Suzy Dingle and Sarah Cato are hopeful their scores during a “really difficult” two years will be enough to secure their first preferences. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Australian Centre for Career Education chief Bernadette Gigliotti said that while emotions would be running high, students should remember there were multiple pathways to their ideal degrees.

“It’s a very exciting time for them. And it is tempered a little bit with anxiety but if they understand that it’s just the next step in our career journey, they can stay positive when whatever is made available to them and consider that offer,” Ms Gigliotti said.

“It could be that they get the second offer, or their third selectionto get into the institution of their choice,” she said, adding there was the potential to transfer to a desired degree down the line.

Ms Gigliotti said lockdowns and remote learning threw the 2021 school year into disarray, but the diminished number of international students at tertiary institutions meant most students could expect offers.

With shaking fingers caused by a sense of nervous excitement, Steven Tran was overcome with relief when he opened his offer letter from VTAC on Friday morning.

The Salesian College graduate said he will accept his offer to study his first preference of Medicine at Monash University this year, right after celebrating with his family.

“I just ran into my sister’s room to let her know the good news,” Steven said.

“I’m pretty excited.”

Steven said it felt ‘surreal” to be offered a place at his preferred course after a stressful VCE period.

“Despite it being a stressful experience, it was ultimately such a rewarding experience to have gone through this entire process and to really transition from high school to tertiary education.”

“Monash medicine was something that I really had only nailed as an ambition in the past year and through all of this hard work I was able to achieve it.”

Here is everything graduates need to know about their upcoming university offers from one of 33 providers across the state.

When will I receive my offer?

The first round of course placements will be released on Friday January 14.

In previous years, most students have received their offers in the morning, but Victoria’s tertiary admissions body, the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC), will publish a full list of every offer made at 2pm.

How can I view my offer?

Students who received a first round offer will get an email containing details of the institution making the offer and the course type being offered.

Other students may have also opted to receive their course preference via text.

When VTAC makes the list of offers public at 2pm, graduates can search for their name and course online.

The Herald Sun will publish a searchable database of first round offers released by VTAC.

How do I accept my offer?

Students must follow instructions their institution emails to them directly.

Some applicants may be required to attend an appointment to enrol in their degree at a specific date and time provided by the institution.

Is accepting the offer the same as enrolling in the course?

Receiving an offer does not automatically guarantee your place in the course.

Once you have completed the acceptance process, additional instructions on how to enrol will also be emailed to you.

Institutions will also have cut off dates that you need to enrol by, as the course will not hold your place if you attempt to complete your enrolment after the set date and time.

What happens if I don’t receive an offer?

About 80 per cent of offers are made during the first round on January 14, but try not to panic.

While the number of offers made after round one depends on availability and quotas, VTAC will continue processing applications throughout the next rounds of offers.

How many offer rounds are there?

Most offers are made in January, however there are also additional offer rounds in February.

Additional offers will be made on:

February 1

February 8

February 14

February 21

To make sure VTAC considers your application in upcoming rounds, log into your VTAC account and opt into being considered for other offers by selecting ‘yes’ before 10am on Tuesday February 1.

2021 Wesley College duxes Sara Pisacane and Thien Pham are one of thousands of students anxiously awaiting their university offers for 2022. Picture: Ian Currie

I don’t like the offer I received – what now?

Don’t risk missing out. You should still accept any offer to a course even though it might not be your first preference.

VTAC encourages all students to accept the offer they receive, even if they would like to wait for any additional offers in February, because there is no guarantee you’ll be offered a place in another course during a later round.

If you receive an offer for a preference lower than number one, then you will automatically be considered for any higher preferences in a future round.

Can I change my course preferences once I receive an offer?

You can change your preferences before the next offer rounds begin on the above dates.

Even if you change your preferences, all eight preferences will still be considered by VTAC throughout all the offer rounds.

If you change your mind about a course or find a new one, the same window applies.

Change of preference will reopen after each offer round, and close before the next one.

How do I change my preferences?

While change of preference is open, you can add, remove, and reorder your preferences as many times as you like by logging into your VTAC account.

Will accepting my first offer affect my chances of receiving a higher course preference?

Accepting an offer does not affect your chance of receiving a higher preference course offer in the next round.

I got offered a place at my dream institution, but not the course I wanted. What should I do?

Again, don’t risk it. Students should accept the course offer they receive from VTAC to make sure they don’t miss out on a spot at their institution of choice.

Australian Centre for Career Education chief executive Bernadette Gigliotti said it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“It could be that they have offered their second or third choice at their chosen university or institution. Sometimes that’s important, too, because once they’re in the institution of choice, then they can perform well in the degree that they’ve accepted, then there’s potential to transfer into perhaps the degree that they wanted to do down the track,” she said.

What if I get a better offer in a later round?

If you have enrolled in a course and later receive an offer that you prefer, you can accept the new offer by enrolling in the course.

Once you’ve enrolled in the new course, you will need to withdraw your enrolment for any previous offer.

Contact the institution for specific instructions on how to withdraw.

I don’t want to study right away. Can I defer my course?

Not all courses will allow you to delay your start date.

But in most cases, you will be able to defer your place until the following semester or next year.

Contact your institution directly for directions on how to formally defer.

You will most likely need to submit your request in writing and complete an official form.

Some courses will require you to attend enrolment to begin the deferral process.

What is a supplementary offer?

Supplementary offers are for courses with remaining places that are

looking for suitable applicants. They are offered to applicants who

have:

• not received an offer in any of the previous offer rounds

• not applied to the course offered

• met the prerequisites for the course offered, and

• given VTAC permission to release their VTAC application to all

courses with vacancies.

If there are still places available in courses after February round 1, some

institutions will make supplementary offers to domestic applicants.

Why doesn’t my name appear on the public offers list?

You may not be able to search your offer if you have not given VTAC permission to include your details in its public list that is provided to news outlets and made available online on the admission body’s website.