Uni demand for health, science students

Australia’s ageing population is reportedly fuelling a boom in demand for science and health subjects at university.

Universities are reporting as much as a 30% increase in demand for health science courses such as medicine, occupational therapy and nursing.

University of Western Sydney pro vice-chancellor of students, Angelo Kourtis, told The Daily Telegraph there had been a campaign of “getting people interested in health science to meet emerging primary care needs”.

“The healthcare system generally is responding to the challenges of an ageing population with more promotion of health science.”

Charles Sturt University (up 20%), the University of NSW (up 15%), UWS (up 20%) and the University of Technology in Sydney have all seen especially big increases in demand for spots.

The University Admissions Centre has received 84,991 domestic applications so far this year, which is reportedly an increase of about 1,400 on last year.

The attractive pay and conditions on offer for business and commerce graduates was also driving student demand.