Undergraduate Applications, Offers and Acceptances 2016

Type of University

The Go8 recorded the largest share of applicants receiving offers in 2016 (19.7%) out of all university groups. This was followed by the ATN and IRU (15.6% and 13.7% respectively). RUN recorded 10.3% of applicants receiving offers.
Applicants applying to Go8 universities were less likely to receive an offer (offer rate of 74.0%). Applicants applying to RUN universities were more likely to receive an offer (95.0%).
Table : Offers and offer rates by type of university (excluding WA TAC offers)*, 2015 and 2016

Type of university	2015			2016
	Number	Share (%)	Offer rates (%)	Number	Share (%)	Offer rates (%)
Group of Eight	54,848	20.2%	74.6%	53,984	19.7%	74.0%
Australian Technology Network	42,725	15.7%	78.7%	42,827	15.6%	78.6%
Innovative Research Universities	37,090	13.7%	84.9%	37,543	13.7%	81.2%
Regional Universities Network	28,508	10.5%	96.9%	28,122	10.3%	95.0%
Australia (excluding WA)**	271,646	100.0%	84.2%	273,951	100.0%	83.5%

*Applications made through WA tertiary admission centre are excluded due to the ‘half-year’ Year 12 cohort effect, but applications made directly to WA universities are included. Totals include missing /unknown postcodes which cannot be assigned to a state/territory.

**Total includes offers from universities that are not aligned with a university group.

5. Acceptances

   1. Number of Applicants Accepting an Offer

It is important to note that the definition of acceptances used in this report includes only applicants who formally notify the TAC, or their university if they applied directly, that they accepted their offer. Applicants deferring their studies are excluded from the total number of applicants accepting an offer.
Excluding WA TAC applicants, 209,761 applicants accepted an offer in 2016. This is a decrease of 1.5% compared with 2015

2. State and Territory

All states and territories recorded a lower rate of acceptances in 2016. Tasmania experienced the largest decrease in acceptances (-8.7%) and Queensland experienced the smallest decrease (-0.8%) in 2016.
Table : Acceptances by state and territory (excluding WA TAC data)*, 2015-2016

State/Territory	2015	2016	Change (p.p)
NSW	67,067	66,412	-1.0%
Vic.	56,064	54,978	-1.9%
Qld	47,092	46,726	-0.8%
WA	11,625	11,467	-1.4%
SA	17,001	16,849	-0.9%
Tas.	7,311	6,673	-8.7%
ACT	4,075	4,018	-1.4%
NT	1,547	1,504	-2.8%
Total	212,886	209,761	-1.5%

Acceptances exclude deferrals. *Acceptances made through WA tertiary admission centre are excluded due to the ‘half-year’ Year 12 cohort effect, but applications made directly to WA universities are included.
Also, the acceptance rate (the proportion of applicants who have received an offer, that accept an offer), excluding WA TAC applicants, decreased from 78.4% in 2015 to 76.6% in 2016. In 2016, the largest acceptance rate was recorded in WA (82.8%), followed by Queensland (81.9%) and SA (81.5%). NSW (70.9%) and ACT (70.1%) recorded below average acceptance rates in 2016. Tasmania recorded the largest decrease in its acceptance rate in 2016 (-5.5 percentage points).
Table : Acceptance rates by state and territory, 2015-2016

State/Territory	2015	2016	Change (p.p)
NSW	72.9%	70.9%	-2.1
Vic.	79.1%	77.8%	-1.3
Qld	84.6%	81.9%	-2.7
WA	81.1%	82.8%	1.7
SA	81.7%	81.5%	-0.2
Tas.	85.7%	80.3%	-5.5
ACT	71.9%	70.1%	-1.9
NT	78.2%	76.6%	-1.6
Total	78.4%	76.6%	-1.8

3.