January 4, 2022

Students increasingly opting for Early Admissions

The NSW HSC Class of 2021 looking for certainty after COVID-19 disruptions

The University of Wollongong (UOW) congratulates the NSW Higher School Certificate class of 2021 on completing an extremely challenging final two years of high school and wishes those students well as they weigh up their options for next year. UOW looks forward to welcoming those who choose to study on one of its campuses in 2022. 

The University is cautiously optimistic about domestic student enrolments for 2022.

UOW has a number of admissions pathways, including the Universities Admission Centre (UAC) centralised admissions system and UOW’s popular Early Admissions program, which has been running successfully for more than 20 years.

Understandably, given the delay to the 2021 HSC exams, and subsequently to the university admissions timeline for 2022, many students across the state chose to make applications directly to universities through early entry programs.

This sector-wide trend is reflected in the data for UOW. While fewer students have applied to UOW via UAC’s centralised admissions system, the University has seen a record number of applications through its Early Admissions program. (The UAC university preference statistics released before Christmas did not include data for the Early Admission scheme.)

Applications to the 2021 Early Admissions program were 4.3 per cent higher than in 2020, which at the time set a new record. Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 program, the rise in UOW's Early Admission applications is even more significant, with a 31 per cent increase in the number of applicants this year compared to 2019.

This year, UOW also introduced an additional early entry program, Alternative Entry, to allow students impacted by COVID-19 disruptions to be assessed on attributes other than the ATAR. Close to 500 Alternative Entry offers have been made to date to year 12 students.

Data from the Early Admissions program shows that Nursing, Business, Primary Education, and Exercise Science are popular fields of study among potential 2021 first year students.  

In particular, UOW is seeing strong demand for Nursing courses, both at the Wollongong campus and at the University’s regional campuses.

UOW now has six nursing training facilities across metropolitan and regional New South Wales, including at the South Western Sydney Southern Sydney, Shoalhaven, Batemans Bay and Bega campuses, with training and education tailored to local health care needs.

UOW is looking forward to hosting prospective students and their families on campus at its ATAR and Enrolment Advice Day on 20 January 2022. The event will be conducted in a COVID-safe manner and in accordance with the public health restrictions operating at the time.

ATAR and Enrolment Advice Day is aligned with the release of ATAR results to provide an opportunity to visit campus and speak to a UOW staff member about course and study options. In addition, this event will give current UOW offer holders an opportunity to enrol in their preferred UOW course.

UOW will be providing a holistic admission assessment to all year 12 applicants once the ATARs are known on 20 January and will be communicating to these students at that time.

Additionally, UOW and UOW College work closely to provide clear pathways for students into Bachelor courses via Diplomas and other programs.

In the coming weeks students across the state will be weighing up different offers and study options and deciding which university and which course is right for them. UOW wishes all of them well as they engage in this process, and we look forward to welcoming those who choose UOW to our campuses in 2022.