Everything you need to know about offers

Whether you’ve received an offer or you’re still waiting, here’s what you need to know.

How are offers determined?

Universities, not the Tertiary Admissions Centres (UAC, QTAC, VTAC), decide who will be made an offer. This decision is based on whether or not you satisfy entry requirements, and the demand for the course. You can receive a maximum of one offer in each offer round. And the offer you receive will be for the highest preference for which you satisfy the entry requirements.

How do I find out if I’ve received an offer?

Start by understanding when to expect your offer to arrive. Offers are released from the Tertiary Admissions Centres (UAC, QTAC and VTAC) during ‘offer rounds’. The offer rounds that apply to you will depend on when you submitted your application.

Each Tertiary Admissions Centre has a slightly different way of notifying you of your offer:

UAC release offers in a secure area of their website, but they will send you an email letting you know to log in to the website. They also have an app you can download.
QTAC will notify you of your offer by email and sometimes SMS.
VTAC will email you and your offer information will be available in your VTAC account.

Within two days of receiving your offer, you’ll also receive an email from the university with information on how to accept your offer and enrol. Please note, if you applied direct to an institution, that institution will send you your offer (it will not come from a Tertiary Admissions Centre).

I’ve received an offer – what next?

First, congratulations! Receiving an offer is a great achievement. Now you can choose to either accept, decline or defer your offer.

Accept your offer

If you’re happy with your offer, you need to accept it and enrol before the deadline. It’s important to understand that just receiving an offer does not secure your place in that course – you still have to follow the enrolment procedures of the university.

Within two days of receiving your offer, the university that made it will send you an email with your next steps, including instructions on how to enrol. After you’ve accepted your offer – congratulations! You’re officially a university student. The hard work is done and now you can look forward to orientation and your first semester.

Decline your offer

Decided that an offer isn’t for you? If you applied through QTAC, make sure you respond to your offer in the QTAC application portal. If you don’t respond to your offer in the portal, they won’t consider you for further offer rounds.

If you applied through UAC or VTAC, then you don’t need to take any action – simply do not enrol in the course by the enrolment deadline and your offer will automatically lapse.

If you do wish to decline an offer, please consider the decision carefully. There’s no guarantee you’ll receive an offer in later rounds, so by turning the offer down, you may be passing on the opportunity to study at university that semester.

Defer your offer

So you got an offer – and you’re happy with it. But you’re just not ready to start university. Maybe you want to go overseas for a year or enter the workforce, or the timing isn’t right. Deferment lets you delay starting your course, usually for up to a year. Some institutions let you defer for longer, while others do not allow deferment at all.

For example, at ACU we understand there are times you might want to delay starting your course. If you’re a new undergraduate student and you haven’t enrolled in any units, you can defer starting your course for a maximum of 12 months.

Learn more about deferring.

I haven’t received an offer

If you didn’t receive an offer, it’s most likely because you didn’t meet the entry requirements for your course preferences. We understand this can be disappointing, but please don’t despair as you:

may still be eligible for later offer rounds
might like to consider changing your preferences
can look into your admission pathway options.

It’s also important to know ineligibility isn’t the only reason you may not have received an offer. There are lots of different factors at play. So we have two pieces of advice.

If you have your heart set on a course, we recommend you leave it as your top preference because you never know what will happen in later offer rounds.

If you’re sure you met the entry requirements but still didn’t receive an offer, or even if you just have questions, you can contact the institution directly to find out more.

I received an offer, but I think I want a different one

If you’re in this situation, we recommend you do two things:

accept your offer
take a careful look at your preferences.

By accepting the offer, you’re assured a spot in a course, so it’s a good safety net. Remember, if you turn an offer down, there is no guarantee you’ll receive another offer in later rounds.

We also suggest you look at your preferences and make sure the course you really want to study is at the top. If you receive an offer to a lower preference in an offer round, you’ll automatically be considered for your higher preferences in subsequent rounds.

Find out more about entry into ACU.

Category Future student

Tags Applying Change of preference School leaver Study Tips Undergraduate Year 12