THE HSC is over, ATAR results are out and the reality to pick a career path and secure a spot at university has arrived for students across the Hunter.
While thousands of students have already secured a place at university through 14,000 early entry offers, others find out if they have secured a place in their dream tertiary course.
The Universities Admission Centre (UAC) will release offers to year 12 students on Thursday, December 21 with applicants receiving emails from 7.30am or they can check for offers on the UAC website.
Students had until 11.59pm on Friday, December 15, to finalise their course preferences for this round.
Application statistics released by UAC in December showed the demand for university remains relatively strong, especially among almost 40,000 year 12 students.
At the end of November, 67,919* people had applied through UAC for study in 2024.
Many year 12 students have also applied directly to individual universities for study next year to maximise their chances of receiving an offer. UAC has processed another 100,305^ of these applications on behalf of individual universities.
The University of Newcastle had 5,438 students put down the institution as their first preferences and had 20,859 total preferences for 2024.
UAC statistics based on the preferences of more than 69,400 applicants show Health continues to dominate as the most popular field of study with 24.5 per cent of applicants listing a Health course as their first preference.
Five medical science courses make the list of top 10 courses by first preference.
Combined Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine at UNSW Sydney maintains first position with 1,481 applicants putting this course at the top of their list.
It's joined by Doctor of Medicine at Western Sydney/Charles Sturt, Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle/University of New England, the Bachelor of Nursing at UTS and the Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.
Society and Culture (including law) is the second most popular field of study, with 20.6 per cent of applicants listing a course as their first preference.
The University of Sydney's Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and UNSW Sydney's Bachelor of Double Law are popular.
Management and Commerce is the third most popular field of study with 12.6 per cent of applicants choosing a course in this area. The most popular course in this field and second overall was Bachelor of Business at UTS with 956 first preferences, followed by Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney with 742 first preferences.
UAC Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer Kim Paino said across all different application channels, year 12's were most prominent.
"The drop in applications through the UAC channel is offset by the increase in direct applications. Demand from those not coming straight from year 12 has reduced this year, as that group is particularly sensitive to the rising costs of living and study, and the strong employment market," she said.
