Over the past decade, there has been much discussion regarding both the supply and the current and potential demand for information technology-oriented graduates in Australia with numerous surveys and market analyses being undertaken. Some surveys have focussed on the supply of graduates from the tertiary and VET sectors and their demand in Australian industry, while others discuss enrolment statistics into IT based University and VET sector courses. Few, however, investigate application rates to IT courses. At the same time, there has been a general, and in some cases significant, decline in the application rates for some science and engineering courses prompting universities to review their awards with a view to making them more attractive to students and industry. Although this study takes advantage of the centralised admissions systems used in Australia, data available elsewhere shows that the results may be applicable more broadly
