HSC 2025: The most popular university degrees for study in 2026 revealed
With more than 1.2 million exam papers completed, the HSC class of 2025 are now preparing to take their next leap in life. See where their sights are set.
With more than 1.2 million exam papers completed the HSC class of 2025 are now preparing to take their next leap in life – and more 5000 high school graduates already have their sights set on a medical degree.
New Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) figures have revealed medicine, law and commerce are dominating the most popular degrees for study in 2026.
More than 2200 school-leavers had listed the Doctor of Medicine/Bachelor of Arts and Medical Studies at UNSW as their top preference as of Thursday, making the course twice as popular as any other.
That was followed by the Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney with 1089 first preferences, then the Doctor of Medicine at Western Sydney University and the University of Newcastle with more than 1000 applicants each.
The Bachelor of Arts at USYD snuck in at 10th place with 666 first preferences.
“Preferences change all the time, and first preferences can be highly aspirational,” UAC spokeswoman Kim Paino said.
“Year 12 students are likely to change their preferences to courses they have a more realistic chance of getting an offer to after they receive their ATAR in December.”
This year, however, more students are leaving school with dual qualifications already under their belt.
Almost 75,000 students have just finished their Higher School Certificate and of those, 27 per cent enrolled in at least one vocational education and training (VET) subject.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research’s latest report on VET in Schools shows over 50,000 NSW students were studying VET subjects in 2024, up 7.7 per cent on the previous year, with public schools seeing the largest growth of any sector.
All 13 examinable VET subjects give students the chance to qualify for a Certificate II or III, other industry-relevant qualifications such as a white card or barista certificate, and include multiple work experience placements.
More than half of next year’s HSC cohort at Beverly Hills Girls High School have enrolled in VET, with three Year 11 classes on the books for Hospitality alone.
Technology teacher Rob Mills said “our girls see (VET) as a genuine pathway,” although encouraging parents to share that “parity of esteem” between tertiary education pathways can still be a struggle.
“Regardless if they use their certificate to go into the field, they’re a step in front from a skills perspective,” he said.
“VET subjects are real world stuff. I visited my girls the other day on work placement, and three employers were going to give them jobs.”
Skills Minister Steve Whan said changes which came into force this year to make more HSC VET subjects eligible for the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) calculation, help explain the “sensational” shift.
“We’ve got to shift (away) from pushing everyone towards a university path … and give our students some experience of industry when they’re in high school, so they can decide whether that’s something they actually want to pursue,” he said.
The four-week HSC written examination period concluded on Friday afternoon with just over 4300 students sitting the Food Technology paper, but marking is already underway, and results and ATARs will be revealed on December 18.
Beverly Hills Girls Information and Digital Technology students Isabel Abou and Jumaina Sadaf both described having completed their HSC – and high school along with it – as an “unreal” sensation.
“You’ve been preparing for it since Year 7, and then now that most of us are finished, it just feels a bit unreal,” Isabel said.
“What do we do next?”
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Originally published as HSC 2025: The most popular university degrees for study in 2026 revealed
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