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Uni offers 2017: University ATAR minimum entry marks continue to decline

University entrance standards have continued to slide, an eight-year analysis of university admissions data has revealed, as more than 44,000 students received offers to study at a NSW university on Wednesday.

Demand for degrees in communications and media, and in the creative and performing arts has fallen, according to a comparison of the minimum entry scores required across more than 20 fields of study since 2010.

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Uni offers 2017: ATAR cut-offs released

This year's ATAR cut-offs show which uni courses have risen and fallen in popularity - but will a cut-off stop you getting into the course of your choice?

Average ATAR [Australia Tertiary Admissions Rank] cut-offs for courses in these two fields of study tumbled nearly seven points, reflecting a scarcity of jobs available in these areas.

By contrast, demand for combined degrees in medicine and medical science has surged, with the average cut-off for courses in this field of study rising more than four points since 2010.

Degrees in social sciences also became more popular, climbing four points over this period.

A comparison of 2016 and 2017 figures reveals education and teaching has climbed 2.4 points after the NSW government instituted tough new minimum academic standards to raise the quality of teachers in the state's classrooms.

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This year, the steepest fall in advertised ATAR went to Charles Sturt's Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science, which tumbled 17.1 points to 70.

Three of the courses with the highest advertised ATAR cut-offs this year were at UTS.

One combined a Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation with Fashion and Textiles, while another combined the same bachelor's degree with Architecture. All three required a perfect ATAR of 99.95.  

Overall, the average advertised ATAR at Western Sydney fell by just over one point this year, the largest fall of the NSW metropolitan universities. It rose by 2.2 points at the Australian Catholic University, the highest advertised gain of any university in the state.

Universities set an ATAR cut-off according to what they believe is the minimum academic standard required to complete a course, as well as supply and demand for the degree. 

But a Fairfax Media investigation last year revealed that up to 60 per cent of students, some with ATARs as low as 30, were being admitted through bonus points and alternative entry schemes, despite being below the minimum cut off marks.

The revelations angered students who had never applied for these courses because they assumed they wouldn't gain entry. It also prompted the federal government, concerned with millions of dollars in mounting taxpayer-funded student debt from incomplete courses, to direct the Higher Education Standards Panel to enforce transparency measures on the nation's universities.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Simon Birmingham reiterated his calls for all universities to improve the quality of their education outcomes.

"The best thing we can do there is have transparency, is ensure that universities are held to account for their decisions, and that students have the maximum capability to make informed decisions about their future," he said,following the release of a report that showed one in three Australian university students had not completed their university course six years after they had started.

"That's a lost opportunity for them, wasted time, wasted money for them, and wasted money for the taxpayer," he said.

Some universities, such as UNSW and the University of Sydney, have already committed to increasing the transparency of their admissions.

For the first time this year, a student wishing to study Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney will now be able to see that students with an ATAR of 81.35 gained entry to the course, even though the advertised cut off in 2016 was an ATAR of 82.5.  

Once alternative entry schemes and bonus points are taken into account, the lowest ATAR in the course dropped to 71.30. 

This year's data shows early offers, which often admit students on a basis other than ATAR, continue to make up a significant portion of total offers to NSW students.

Overall, 28,851 early offers were made ahead of the main rounds, or about 40 per cent of the total.

In 2017, Western Sydney University made 75 per cent of its offers prior to the UAC main round, with a spokeswoman saying it did so "to help alleviate student anxiety in the application process".  

Last year, 99 per cent of students in its Bachelor of Construction Management Course were admitted below the cut-off.

The University of Sydney made more than 4500 early rounds offers this year, 500 more than last year. Most of the growth is from the expanding Future Leaders Scheme – open to duxes and, since 2016, to school captains too. 

Delahoya Manu, 18, from Plumpton, received an early offer under the scheme in mid-December, for his first choice, a Bachelor of Health Sciences.

He was the first ever school captain of Polynesian descent at his school, Patrician Brothers' College in Blacktown.

A talented rugby player who plays in the NSW Waratahs under-20s team, he was drawn to the university by its reputation and surrounds.

"Last year, we played the Sydney uni rugby team at their home ground, and just looking around and the environment looked awesome. It kind of looked like Hogwarts, and I'm a big Harry Potter fan!

"And when I was applying for universities through UAC, I knew Sydney Uni was one of the best in Australia, so I made it my first preference."

He seems well placed to make a contribution to the university's Quidditch Society, where participants run around on broomsticks in a tribute to the Hogwarts sport.

"My parents are happy for me, they are proud of my efforts and all my hard work has paid off," he said. "That's the main thing – that I made my parents happy."

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