UWS makes over 11,000 uni offers

More students will have the opportunity to study at university in 2012, with the University of Western Sydney making 11,334 offers to prospective students this year - the largest number of university offers of any university in NSW and ACT.

UWS is making 9876 main round offers today, following the 1458 offers the University already made in the preliminary round.

Large numbers of offers are being made across the University's programs, with many of the popular course trends in 2012 linked to workforce demand, national skills shortages and emerging career opportunities, such as:

UWS experienced an overall increase in first preferences of 2.5 per cent this year. Demand has been particularly strong among school leavers, with a 4.8 per cent increase.

• Science
• Nursing
• Allied health programs, such as occupational therapy, podiatry and physiotherapy
• Teaching
• Medicine
• Construction management
• Business
• Law
• Policing and forensic science
• Information and communications technology

This is a landmark year in Australian higher education, with the Federal Government removing the cap on university places – part of its overall plan to increase the number of young Australians with a university degree to 40 per cent, and boost the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to 20 per cent nationally.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, congratulates all those who have gained a place in their chosen degrees today, and says the University looks forward to welcoming these students to UWS – a university of both excellence and opportunity – in the weeks to come.

"UWS is committed to providing more opportunities for people to come to university. Over half of our students are the first in their families to go to university and 23 per cent are from lower socio-economic backgrounds, so UWS is fully supportive of the Federal Government's higher education agenda," says Professor Krause.

Professor Krause says the University has been growing steadily over the past few years in anticipation of the cap being lifted in 2012, and will continue to manage its growth in student numbers from its current 40,000 enrolments to 50,000 by 2020.

"UWS is well placed to manage this growth because we've been significantly investing in both staff and infrastructure across the University. We're in the middle of a major academic recruitment program to appoint 100 new academics each year for five years, and we've undertaken an extensive capital program across our six campuses from 2009 until 2014 that, when complete, will total close to $0.5 billion."

An important part of the University's plans to increase higher education participation is UWSCollege – the University of Western Sydney's pathways college, which is one of the biggest colleges of its kind in Australia, and has a proven record of providing a successful alternative route into university.

"UWSCollege first preferences are up by nearly 50 per cent this year, and as a result UWSCollege will be making 592 offers to its diploma programs in 2012," Professor Krause says.

"This new higher education landscape will mean many universities are taking in students from many diverse backgrounds and with varied levels of academic preparation, and it's our obligation to ensure that there is a high level of academic support to ensure students have every chance of success.

"Students who enter their first year of studies via UWSCollege have the benefit of additional study support, academic skills development and flexible courses, and our own data reveals that students who transition to the second year of a UWS degree following a year of study in UWSCollege perform as well, if not better, than those who enrolled directly into UWS."

Professor Krause also has advice for any student who might not have received an offer today or didn't receive an offer to the course of his or her first choice.

"The important thing for students to realise is that there are many options and pathways to university, so students shouldn't worry, and UWS will be continuing to make more offers during the late and final rounds."

Students who missed out on a main round offer or would like to discuss their study options can contact 1300 897 669.

Journalists note: UWS can organise interviews with students about gaining a place at university. The University can also offer interviews with Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Kerri-Lee Krause about the University's offers, sector trends, and popular courses at UWS for 2012.

Ends

19 January 2012

Media Contact: Amanda Whibley, Media Services Manager

Key facts about UWS and its commitment to widening participation:

• For over 20 years, the University of Western Sydney has been opening up higher education opportunities, producing over 100,000 graduates in that time.
• UWS is a vibrant, modern, outer-metropolitan university, located in one of the fastest growing regions in Australia – Greater Western Sydney, home to over 2 million people. It has one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the country.
• UWS is known at home and abroad for its engagement with the economic and social development of its region, and providing national leadership in widening higher education participation.
• Over half of all UWS students the first in their family to attend university.
• UWS also has one of the largest number of low SES students of any university in Australia – over 8000 students, which equals 23 per cent of its domestic student enrolments.
• Great Western Sydney is a region traditionally under-represented in higher education participation rates – only 3.2 per cent attend university, compared with 5.3 per cent for the rest of Sydney.
• UWS is the lead university on a multi-institution project called 'Bridges to Higher Education' to further increase the numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds in higher education. This project received $21.2 million from the Commonwealth in late 2011, and its other university partners are University of Sydney, UTS, Macquarie University and Australian Catholic University.