Second round university and TAFE offers released on Friday. Search for your offer

Thousands of Victorians have been given another chance to study their dream university course after the release of second round tertiary offers on Friday. Search for your offer here.

Thousands of Victorians are jumping at a second chance to study their dream university course. Picture: Tony Gough

Thousands of Victorians have been given a another chance to study their dream university course, after receiving the second round of tertiary offers on Friday afternoon.

Almost 40 per cent of students who received offers from dozens of institutions this round celebrated their results by agreeing to share them publicly, with a full list available via the Herald Sun’s searchable database.

Friday’s offers, which were sent out by the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) at 2pm, brought the total number of domestic offers made between November and now to 64,700.

Further rounds will follow later this month and in February, giving students more chances to receive an offer for a course commencing this year.

The study areas where the most offers have been handed out so far were health, society and culture, management and commerce, and natural and physical sciences.

There’s also been an increase in demand for engineering and related technologies courses, while overall interest in health courses has slightly declined compared to last year.

Students who received offers today included those who may have missed out on their first preference, were waiting to see what other offers they received prior to choosing their desired course and mature-aged applicants.

But it’s not just university offers being rolled out, with newly minted RMIT student Turker Cakal receiving the news he was accepted into a free two-year diploma of construction management course.

After completing the diploma, the 18-year-old is guaranteed to study a bachelor of construction management.

“The reason I chose these courses was because I’ve always had an interest in the construction industry and I can see myself having a full-time career in it,” he said.

“It’s an industry which has seen a lot of growth over the past few years and it’ll continue to thrive over the coming years, which gives me more excitement to pursue it as a career.”

Turker said he was a bit nervous about starting university but was looking forward to meeting new people, learning new concepts and experiencing something new.

RMIT is one of four dual sector universities in Victoria, which offer both vocational and academic higher education opportunities.

For those Victorians still considering whether they want to pursue tertiary education this year, a VTAC spokesman said it’s not too late to apply for a course.

“You can apply online through VTAC until 5pm, 14 January for offers later in January and February,” he said.

Justin Nicolo, Tahleah Fisher and Turker Cakal will commence their tertiary studies at RMIT this year. Picture: Tony Gough

Deakin University

Deakin made a total of 1671 offers to students across all its campuses this round, adding to the 6081 offers made in December.

Nursing, commerce, arts and science were among the top 10 courses favoured by Deakin hopefuls, with exercise and sport science, business, law and criminology also popular choices.

Deakin’s senior deputy vice-chancellor academic Professor Liz Johnson, congratulated those who received an offer and said the university was excited to welcome the new cohort of students.

“Our world-class teaching and research ranks Deakin in the top 200 universities globally, and we pride ourselves on fostering the skills of job-ready graduates with the knowledge and confidence to be successful in their chosen careers,” she said.

Australian Catholic University

One institution surprised by the number of offers it handed out across its Victorian universities this round was Australian Catholic University.

Provost and deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Professor Julie Cogin said the institution anticipated a smaller January round after the large number of offers made in December.

“Surprisingly, the new year has brought more applications than this time last year,” she said.

Clyde Todd is about to start his course at Australian Catholic University this year. Picture: Mark Stewart

The occupational therapy course was in high demand at the institution’s Melbourne and Ballarat campuses.

“The course is only in its second year in Ballarat, but there is strong demand from school leavers for this vital area of community care,” Professor Cogin said.

“Other courses that are performing strongly at ACU include speech pathology, nursing, primary education, and our bachelor of educational studies degree, which is a pathway course for those who want to become teachers but didn’t achieve the ATAR they had hoped for.”

As for non-school leavers looking for a career change, the university saw strong interest in its midwifery and secondary teaching (leading and learning) degree.

Victoria University

Dual sector tertiary institution Victoria University has seen a significant uptake of its 13-week “foundation” course this year, which is designed to prepare students for university learning and guarantees entry into a range of Bachelor courses upon completion.

A total of 726 offers were handed out this round across 78 courses, including 645 in higher education and 81 TAFE offers.

A Victoria University spokeswoman said the institution believed an ATAR “doesn’t necessarily give us an insight into a student’s drive, commitment, passion or personal skills”.

“We know there is more than one way to succeed at learning,” she said.

“Our focus is on supporting our students while they study with us, and not where they start.”

The university is the only institution to offer its VU Block Model, which is student-centred and designed to help them study in a flexible way.

“Students also undertake just one subject at a time,” the spokeswoman said.

“Since introducing it, we’ve seen pass rates increase, grades improve, and student satisfaction and engagement go up – without any change to how we assess.”

An ATAR is not considered for many of the university’s courses as part of its admissions process.

Swinburne University of Technology

Future-focused subjects are in high demand at Swinburne University of Technology this year, with acting pro vice-chancellor (future students) Chris Lewis adding the institution was excited to welcome those receiving offers on Friday.

“We will continue making offers over the coming weeks so you can still change your preferences or explore alternative pathways into your dream degree,” he said.

“We are here to support you through that process, so get in touch if you are uncertain.”

Engineering, cybersecurity and health programs are most in demand at the university, with Swinburne to also welcome its inaugural cohort of fashion design students this year.

La Trobe University

Interest in health courses has once again dominated at La Trobe University on Friday, cementing its reputation as a leader in world-class health education.

The university handed out more than 1400 offers as part of VTAC’s January first-round offers, bringing the total number of offers for courses commencing at the university this year to 6683.

Additionally, the university has made more than 4000 offers to direct applicants, including those returning to study after a break, undertaking a degree as a mature age student, up-skilling in their chosen field or retraining in a new discipline.

La Trobe vice-chancellor Professor Theo Farrell congratulated all students commencing this year and said it was a very exciting time for them and their families.

“We are delighted to see that along with degrees, students are also securing university offers earlier through La Trobe pathway programs such as Aspire Early Entry and diplomas,” he said.

“Our world-class teaching ranks La Trobe as a global leader of tertiary education, particularly in health research and innovation.”