Record numbers of students are applying for university places months in advance

Australians leaving school or left jobless by the COVID recession are flocking to secure early spots at university, with thousands of students already securing places.

Audrey Martin is one of thousands of Year 12 students already offered a place at university as the higher education sector prepares for record demand. Picture: Aaron Francis

NSW has recorded a 37 per cent jump in early university applications, as school leavers and jobseekers flock to secure places at the nation’s higher education ­institutions to avoid the COVID-hit employment market.

New University Admissions Centre data shows nearly 45,000 people in NSW and the ACT have so far put in an early application to secure a place.

The number of NSW and ACT Year 12s — just over 30,000 — ­applying early for university spots has risen 44 per cent compared to last year, and the amount of early applications from people outside high school has risen 23 per cent.

In Victoria, where Year 12 students have spent most of their last school days in lockdown, the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre says it has revived more than 26,000 university applications as of Friday, up by 8 per cent on last year.

With a bleak job market and overseas gap years off the cards, universities are rushing to help Year 12 students by offering thousands more early places, while some institutions will take Year 11 results into account.

Secretary to the Australian Treasury Dr Steven Kennedy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Australian Catholic University Vice Chancellor Stephen Weller. Picture: AAP

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy earlier this month warned business and union leaders that unemployment was likely to stay at elevated levels for up for five years and that younger workers would be hit the hardest by the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Australian Catholic University deputy vice-chancellor Stephen Weller told The Australian the ­institution was already offering spots to prospective students.

“Interest in ACU’s early-entry schemes for 2021 has been very positive, and so far we have made one round of early offers with ­another due this week,” he said.

A Western Sydney University spokeswoman said they have already recieved 9000 early applications to date and are expecting to put out thousands of offers in coming days.

“On 30 July, the University made its first round of conditional offers to nearly 2,000 students based on their Year 11 subject results. Our next round of conditional offers will be 27 August, where we expect to make several thousand more offers to HSC students,” she said.

The University of NSW is projecting a 10 per cent rise in domestic demand for student places, while the University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia have seen a spike in ­applications for their early-access scheme.

But there are growing concerns among higher education experts that demand for university places will leave many aspiring students disappointed.

The Morrison government is looking to support growth in federally funded places through its radical overhaul of student fees, but University of Melbourne’s Centre for Higher Education professorial fellow Vin Massaro said the funding would not arrive in time.

“We’ve known this was coming for 18 years because of the Costello baby boom but it’s compounded by the recession, and university demand always spikes in economic downturns,” he said.

“There aren’t going to be any additional places in the near term funded by the government … and they have said they would direct any growth into places like ­regional universities instead of metropolitan institutions. It will be a question of whether prospective students will get the spots in the places they want to get them.”

Australian National University professor Andrew Norton. Picture: Aaron Francis

ANU professor of higher education policy Andrew Norton said the outstripped demand could force universities to rely more heavily on student fees to create extra places.

“ … universities are currently over-enrolled … on top of early ­offers for next year, we saw a huge spike in admissions for second semester this year which hold up more places,” he said.

“The only space I really see for growth in university places is for the institutions to rely more and more on student financial contributions to fund them.”

The Australian National University has offered nearly 5000 early spots already to prospective 2021 students, an increase of nearly 3000 offers on last year.

Year 12 student Audrey Martin has endured a tough year studying under two coronavirus waves in Melbourne, but the 17-year-old has already secured a place studying nursing at La Trobe through its early-access scheme for volunteers.

“I’m very relieved that I don’t have to stress too much about not going to university next year. I feel like I have a little bit of weight off my chest,” she said.

“But I still am quite anxious ­because I still want to achieve a higher ATAR. I have worked all year to get a good result, I don’t just want to stop now because I have an offer. Unfortunately COVID’s made it a bit difficult.”