= Jennifer =
Active Member
Good news as uni seekers wait it out
By Amy Lawson
January 16, 2005
The Sun-Herald
University admission scores are expected to remain steady or even drop in some courses this year, bucking the trend of skyrocketing cut-off marks in recent years, thanks to more places and lower demand.
The news will be welcomed by the 75,544 university hopefuls who will discover on Wednesday night if they have a main-round offer.
University applications have dropped by 3.5 per cent overall in NSW and the ACT this year, with year 12 applications falling by 1 per cent and mature-age applications 6.5 per cent. At the same time, the three-year roll-out of more than 9000 new federally funded places in NSW and ACT universities begins this year.
While universities are still calculating cut-off marks for main-round offers, early indications are that they will remain in check this year.
A spokeswoman for the Universities Admissions Centre said that in the past few years "an increase in demand and a decrease in supply has seen cut-offs for many courses rise".
Some universities may have extra places in some courses [this year] as a result of their Federal Government allocation, in which case you could expect those cut-offs to remain stable or even fall slightly," she said.
Despite an increase in first-preference applications at Macquarie University, an extra 350 federally funded places are expected to keep cut-offs in line with last year.
John Loxton, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at Macquarie University, said the extra places would be allocated to teacher education, science and technology and health studies, meaning cut-offs in those areas might fall.
"This will be the first time there's been any drop in the past three or four years," he said. "Cut-offs have climbed steadily and probably got too high in some of those areas. It looks as though the unmet demand across the country will be significantly lower this year, on the face of it, and that's a good thing because we want places to be available for everyone who's qualified to make a go of it."
At the University of Technology, Sydney, which also experienced a slight increase in first-preference applications this year, marketing manager Janine Kuster said cut-offs were expected to remain steady or increase slightly in some courses.
The University of Western Sydney will make a record number of offers this year, including 11,000 in the main round.
By Amy Lawson
January 16, 2005
The Sun-Herald
University admission scores are expected to remain steady or even drop in some courses this year, bucking the trend of skyrocketing cut-off marks in recent years, thanks to more places and lower demand.
The news will be welcomed by the 75,544 university hopefuls who will discover on Wednesday night if they have a main-round offer.
University applications have dropped by 3.5 per cent overall in NSW and the ACT this year, with year 12 applications falling by 1 per cent and mature-age applications 6.5 per cent. At the same time, the three-year roll-out of more than 9000 new federally funded places in NSW and ACT universities begins this year.
While universities are still calculating cut-off marks for main-round offers, early indications are that they will remain in check this year.
A spokeswoman for the Universities Admissions Centre said that in the past few years "an increase in demand and a decrease in supply has seen cut-offs for many courses rise".
Some universities may have extra places in some courses [this year] as a result of their Federal Government allocation, in which case you could expect those cut-offs to remain stable or even fall slightly," she said.
Despite an increase in first-preference applications at Macquarie University, an extra 350 federally funded places are expected to keep cut-offs in line with last year.
John Loxton, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at Macquarie University, said the extra places would be allocated to teacher education, science and technology and health studies, meaning cut-offs in those areas might fall.
"This will be the first time there's been any drop in the past three or four years," he said. "Cut-offs have climbed steadily and probably got too high in some of those areas. It looks as though the unmet demand across the country will be significantly lower this year, on the face of it, and that's a good thing because we want places to be available for everyone who's qualified to make a go of it."
At the University of Technology, Sydney, which also experienced a slight increase in first-preference applications this year, marketing manager Janine Kuster said cut-offs were expected to remain steady or increase slightly in some courses.
The University of Western Sydney will make a record number of offers this year, including 11,000 in the main round.
