Demand for Flinders courses sees offers boost

Flinders Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Andrew Parkin

Flinders University has responded to strong demand for its undergraduate courses by boosting the number of offers by seven per cent, with a total of 5,740 offers made to new students – up from 5,360 offers in 2013.

The rise in demand for Flinders courses is a continuing trend over the past four years. The University’s first preferences demand from all applicant groups, including postgraduate students, has increased by more than 10 per cent, well above the statewide sector-wide increase of 3.5 per cent.

Professor Andrew Parkin, Flinders Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), said the increased demand for places demonstrates an evidently strong recognition of the University’s ethos of excellence in teaching, research and community engagement.

“Flinders has a strong reputation for its innovative and relevant course profile and for offering a supportive learning environment for students. This seems to be reflected in the growing demand we have continued to see in recent years,” Professor Parkin said.

“We look forward to welcoming an interesting new cohort of students to the University for the start of what will be a new and rewarding academic experience for them,” Professor Parkin said.

This year has seen vigorous demand for the University’s suite of education and law-related degrees, arts and creative arts, engineering and a wide range of health sciences courses, including medicine, midwifery, physiotherapy, disability and developmental education, nutrition and paramedics.

New degrees in Criminology, Sport, Health and Physical Activity, Media Arts, Visual Arts, Creative Arts (Dance), Environment, Engineering (Civil) and Information Technology (Network Systems) have been well received, with 446 offers made.

With the heightened levels of interest, ATAR school-leaver entry scores for a number of courses such as Psychology (Hons), Speech Pathology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Midwifery, Law, Law (Hons), Science (Hons), Health Science/Master of Physiotherapy, Health Science/Master of Occupational Therapy, Engineering (Robotics), Master of Engineering (Electronics), Engineering (Biomedical)/Master of Engineering (Biomedical), Arts – an enhanced program for high achievers – Computer Science (Hons), Mathematical Sciences (Hons) and Paramedic Science are over the 90 mark.

New partnerships with the Adelaide College of the Arts, including courses in Creative Arts (Dance) and Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Diploma of Visual Art have resulted in more than 100 offers, broadening the choices to study creative arts in South Australia.

Offers have again been made to Year 12 applicants who had undertaken uniTEST – an aptitude test – with the University considering an applicants’ performance along with their Year 12 results.

Professor Parkin said he was pleased with the number of applications for the unique Flinders/TAFE SA Dual awards, with more than 75 offers being made to courses in Information Technology, Creative Arts (Digital Media), Business, Commerce and Nursing.

“Now in its second year, the Flinders/TAFE SA Dual initiative is proving to be a fruitful partnership between Flinders and the TAFE sector, building on the success of our Foundation Studies course which is delivered in partnership with TAFE SA.”

The University has also made 1,745 offers to applicants for postgraduate courses – up from 1,640 in 2013. The most popular postgraduate courses are the health sciences suite, including graduate entry Nursing, graduate entry Social Work, Midwifery, Audiology, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology and the Master of Teaching. Professional development courses in Education, Health and Nursing are also popular.

Further offers will be made to prospective students in the coming weeks.

Professor Parkin said anyone considering tertiary study in 2014 should submit a late application.

“Flinders has a variety of entry pathways for students who did not receive an offer or missed out on their first preference, such as commencing in one degree and later transferring to their degree of choice.

“Many of our undergraduate and postgraduate courses still have vacancies for qualified students through a variety of options.”

Interested students can contact the Admissions/Prospective Students Office on (08) 8201 3074 or 1300 657 671 (local call cost), or email admissions@flinders.edu.au

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