Qld university applicants left frustrated and confused after more delays

Confused, frustrated and anxious.

That’s how hundreds of applicants and their families responded to QTAC’s Facebook posts yesterday as the admissions centre struggled with yet another delay in sending out course offers.

The major round of university offers was originally scheduled for Thursday, January 11.

On Wednesday, January 10, QTAC notified applicants it would delay the offer round by four days, moving it to Monday, January 15, to “allow more processing time for applications”.

Offers were due to be released at 10am, yet come midday, they had not materialised, with QTAC taking to social media to ask for patience.

QTAC board interim chair Kris Ryan apologised on behalf of the board, and said they would be undertaking a review to better understand the cause of the delay as soon as possible.

In a statement issued on Monday night, QTAC board interim chair Kris Ryan apologised on behalf of the board “for the strain that the delays in this year’s major offer round have placed on students and their families”.

“The board has been following the situation very closely, to address current delays and ensure that they are not repeated in the subsequent offer rounds over the next few weeks,” he said.

Ryan advised that the board had committed to undertaking a “full and comprehensive review of the circumstances that have led to the current situation”, and would start as soon as possible.

Throughout Monday, applicants – many of whom were year 12 graduates eager to find out if they had been accepted into their preferred universities and courses – received emails and text messages notifying them that the online portal was locked and they would be advised when it was time to check their application.

In response to the overwhelming request for clarity, QTAC extended its contact centre hours until 6pm.

In a separate statement, QTAC CEO Dr John Griffiths apologised for the impact of the issue.

“We regret the added stress and tension this may have brought some applicants, their families and support networks,” he said.

“Our team is actively monitoring and resolving this issue on the portal.

“We’re working as quickly as possible to ensure that applicants can respond to their offer, and would like to reassure them that the offers themselves have not been impacted.”

The main frustration for applicants and families was the lack of clear information, with many worried it would affect their ability to accept offers.

In a comment on QTAC’s Facebook post, one user wrote: “When I click ‘Respond to offer’ I’m not able to do anything, I can see the details but can’t accept, reject or defer.”

Another frustrated applicant commented: “I received a text from QUT saying congratulations on my offer … when is the portal going to be working so I can actually accept it??”

Griffiths confirmed on Monday that all offers had been sent, with about 15,000 university offers made in total. Applicants have until Friday, January 19, to respond to their offer.

The top courses for Greater Brisbane applicants in this round were health (2292 offers made), society and culture (1083), management and commerce (730), natural and physical sciences (709), engineering (447), education (290), IT (229) and creative arts (191).

Those who did not receive an offer yesterday will have to wait until the next round, scheduled for Wednesday, January 24.

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