23 Mar 2026
Statistics
Domestic undergraduate applications and offers at semester 1 closing 2026
The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) processed domestic undergraduate applications for 31 institutions in 2025–26, primarily located in NSW and the ACT. Applications for tertiary study opened on Wednesday 2 April 2025 and semester 1 applications closed at midnight on Friday 6 February 2026. The final offer round for semester 1 was on Thursday 5 March 2026.
UAC received 79,322 domestic applications for undergraduate study in the 2025–26 admissions year.
A total of 105,977 offers were made to these applicants.*
Note: The 2025–26 admissions statistics include the additional Year 12 groups: International Year 12s and New Zealand Year 12s. International Year 12s are international students who have completed an Australian Year 12 certificate. New Zealand Year 12s are students who have completed a New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 3.
Direct applications
Many students also applied directly to individual universities for study next year to maximise their chances of receiving an offer. UAC has processed another 135,952^ of these applications on behalf of individual universities#.
As applications made directly to institutions have grown, applications through UAC have decreased.
Applications and offers by applicant type
Applicants are divided into four types: NSW Year 12; ACT Year 12; Interstate, International Baccalaureate, New Zealand and International Year 12 (international students who complete an Australian Year 12 certificate); and non-Year 12.
The number of Year 12s applying has increased compared with last year.
The number of non-Year 12 applicants has also increased compared with last year, with 713 more non-Year 12 applicants applying in this cycle.
Applications by applicant type
The following chart shows total offers by applicant type up until the release of final semester 1 offers for the last 10 admissions periods.
Offers by applicant type
Gender analysis
The gender split of applicants was similar to the previous year: 56 per cent of Year 12 applicants were female and 56 per cent of non-Year 12 applicants were female.
Age analysis
Almost all Year 12 applicants in 2025–26 were 19 years old and under (99.8%). Around 81 per cent of non-Year 12 applicants were 24 years old and under. The breakdown by age group for non-Year 12 applicants is shown in the following chart.
First preference analysis
Domestic undergraduate applicants can choose up to five course preferences. Their first preference is the course they would most like to study.
First preference by field of study and applicant type
The top five fields of study listed as first preferences by NSW and ACT Year 12 applicants were similar. Both groups had most first preferences in Health and Society & Culture.
For non-Year 12 and Interstate, International Baccalaureate, New Zealand and domestic International Year 12 applicants most first preferences were also in Health, followed by Society & Culture.
Overall, Health has taken the top spot as the favoured field of study, with 26 per cent of UAC’s 2025–26 applicants listing it as their first preference, Society & Culture received 19 per cent of first preferences across all applicant types.
Offers by field of study and applicant type
First preference by field of study and gender
While both females and males had most of their first preference courses in Health, the spread of first preference courses across fields of study was greater for males than for females. Over half of female applicants listed their first preference course in either Health (32%) or Society & Culture (22%). In contrast, popular fields of study for males included Health (19%), Society & Culture (16%), Management & Commerce (18%), and Engineering & Related Technologies (18%).
Compared with males, a smaller proportion of females had first preference courses in Engineering & Related Technologies, Management & Commerce and Information Technology. In contrast, a smaller proportion of males than females had first preference in Health, Society & Culture and Education.
View the previous admissions year application and offer data.
Notes
*There are more offers made than there are applicants because, even though applicants can only receive one offer in each offer round, they can receive an offer in more than one round.
^Applicants may apply directly to several universities so this figure is not the count of unique applicants, but the number of applications received
#During 2025-26 admissions, UAC processed direct applications on behalf of Australian Catholic University, Australian College of Physical Education, Australian National University, CQUniversity Australia, Macquarie University, University of New England, University of Newcastle, University of Tasmania, University of Technology Sydney, University of Wollongong, UNSW Sydney and Western Sydney University.