Prospective students would have been glued to screens from 6pm on Wednesday, when the Universities Admissions Centre released main round offers from institutions across NSW and the ACT.

More than 44,000 offers were made in the main round, though there are three more offer rounds to commence study in semester one – the next on February 1. 

The University of Wollongong said it had maintained its market share of university applicants this year, despite a slight reduction in overall applications across the sector.

UOW has so far made more than 6000 offers, including a record number of early round offers.

A university spokesman said popular courses for 2017 included business; communication and media; environmental studies; information technology; medicine and health sciences, and teacher education.

In particular the Bachelor of Pre-Medicine, Science and Health and the new Bachelor of Geography have received strong demand.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said the number of offers demonstrated the high regard for UOW degrees.

‘’In an increasingly competitive employment market students will benefit from UOW’s growing international stature,’’ he said.

‘’New students will also benefit from a series of major university initiatives announced in 2016, ranging from cutting edge infrastructure for medical science to improving the campus experience.’’

“We look forward to welcoming the new students who will join us this year.”

He said new facilities for nursing students in Bega and the new South Western Sydney campus at Liverpool were enabling more students to study close to home.

Further information is available on UAC’s website.