
Posted May 09, 2019 05:53:08 As a first-time university graduate, it can be a daunting prospect to find your way into the workforce.
But according to the latest results from the National College Admission Test (NCAT), the average first-year student enrolled in Australia’s public and private universities is now in a better position than ever before.
Read more about NCAT here The latest results show a 5 per cent increase in the number of students who enrolled in tertiary education at university between January 2019 and June 2019, from 7,827 to 9,853.
The figure is also down from 7.1 per cent to 6.4 per cent.
However, students at private universities still struggle to access higher education, with a 7.2 per cent decrease in enrolments between January and June, from 2,865 to 2,639.
At the same time, enrolments at community and private schools fell by 4 per cent over the same period.
Despite the fact that more than 90 per cent of students enrolled in universities had completed at least one year of their studies, some universities were struggling to retain a sufficient number of enrolments.
While enrolments have continued to rise, the number enrolled in non-government schools has also dropped by around 2.3 per cent, to 1,836, from 1,956.
This trend continues with only 2.9 per cent more students enrolled at non-private universities.
The biggest losers in the NCAT have been tertiary institutions, which saw a drop of 12 per cent in enrolment, with an average drop of 9.9.
The biggest gains have been in private and community tertiary universities, where enrolment is up by 2.8 per cent from January to June, and up by 3.4 percent from January 2019 to June 2019.
A more detailed analysis of the NCAC data, conducted by the University of Sydney’s Department of Higher Education and Skills, found that: The number of people who enrolled as a full-time student in an Australian tertiary institution fell by 1,919 between January to July, and by 3,863 between January 2018 and June 2018.
By comparison, the same number of full-timers enrolled as part-time students in private tertiary schools rose by 754, or 16 per cent compared to the same months in 2019.
The proportion of students at non public institutions increased by 9.3 percentage points, or 6.6 per cent between January, 2018, to June 2018, and 6.7 per cent since 2019.
Students at public and non-public institutions had a combined drop of more than 20 per cent (5,946 to 3,965), while the number at community tertiaries increased by 4.6 percentage points (2,093 to 4,959).
The university data showed that, compared to 2019, the percentage of students opting to study for a bachelor’s degree increased by 2 per cent among students aged 15 to 24, but by only 1.2 percentage points among those aged 25 to 34.
Overall, enrolment in higher education institutions in the past five years has increased by 13 per cent at public universities, and 11 per cent by private universities.
According to the NCATS data, students who completed their undergraduate studies between January 2020 and June 2020 had an average GPA of 3.6, while those who completed a bachelor degree between January 2017 and June 2017 had an averaged GPA of 2.4.
In terms of the number who were studying for a degree, the latest data showed there were 1,539 students enrolled for a Bachelor of Science degree in public and 1,524 students for a Master of Science in higher level subjects in private universities, while the numbers for a Masters degree remained stable at 1,528.
The figures also showed that the proportion of the student population that had completed their first degree was up by 1.6 million students in the five years to 2020, with 1.4 million of those students being students from families earning less than $100,000.
Another trend to emerge from the latest NCATS results is the decline in the percentage that had a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree.
With the number dropping by 7.8 percentage points and 8.6 percent respectively, the proportion with a Bachelor degree dropped from 15.9 to 14.7.
The number with a Master degree dropped by 5.7 percentage points to 20.4, and the proportion that had both degrees dropped by 0.6 points to 13.7 percent.
The latest NCAT data also showed the number with an academic record (grades) that had been completed for a year had fallen by 6.2 percent, while students with less than a Bachelor had fallen 5.4 percentage points.
The numbers also showed a trend towards more women than