Can someone also explain anything about the uni offers and what that looks like, please?
A lot of info can be found within the
VTAC Discussion Board and
General University Board, such as
I Got An Offer... Now What? by Hon Mod Gloamglozer (even though the thread is from 7 years ago, the steps are still largely relevant).
In terms of uni offers
for this set of rounds, the process is something like this:
1. Change of preference has closed according to
VTAC Dates and Fees, but will be back open after Round 1 offers occur.
2. Wait until January 14 2pm (note: date and time will differ across states but similar process goes down for UAC/ QTAC, from memory) - VTAC offers arrive that day (the email has previously shown up at like 10am-ish some years)
3. Hopefully, receive a high preference offer on Jan 14. It usually shows up as an email on the email you used when signing up for your VTAC account and on your VTAC account. (An example of what the offer looks like at the end of this post.)
4. You will most likely accept this offer (hopefully) by following the instructions in the email, even if you want to take a gap semester/ year, defer, etc.. It's much harder to come by better offers with each round, so if you're at all OK with this course, take the offer. You're not "locked into" that course even after enrolment until you reach census date, which typically occurs a few weeks into your first semester (or trimester/ block in some unis).
5. If you didn't quite get what you wanted (or have changed your mind since), you can change preferences when it is allowed again (see VTAC Dates and Fees). As always, make Preference #1 the course you want most, though you can now put your offered course in a low preference so you can try for other courses if you like. (Note: QTAC only allows 3 free changes of preferences.) If you have already received an offer and then receive a new offer in a later round, you must unenrol from the previous offer and then accept the new offer.
6. Rinse and repeat Steps 2-5 until you get as good an offer as you can get and/or are happy enough with the offer you end up with.
As for an example of what a uni offer email looks like, I've dug out my ancient (OK, not so ancient, but 6 year old) uni offer email. I have basically copied and pasted the email's content, redacting parts with personal information for privacy reasons or are no longer relevant. Note that there are most likely a few changes, particularly due to COVID and the fact that enrolment at Monash is now done almost completely online (I expect most other unis will be similar):
AngelWings' uni offer to Monash BSci
Email subject: VTAC offer information
"VTAC ID: [redacted]
Name: [redacted]
Offer Status: Offered*
Course: [insert course ID here]
Monash University - Clayton
Science
Enrolment date: [insert date here] - Note: May not appear due to online enrolment.
Enrolment time: [redacted] - Note: Likely not required any more due to online enrolment.
Location: [redacted] - Note: Likely not required any more due to online enrolment.
Offer Information
Congratulations and welcome to the Faculty of Science, Monash University! [omitted] - Note: This was just instructions and links to accept and finalise the offer, as well as where to get help if required. The process will likely be slightly different now due to enrolment being (almost) completely online.
As part of the enrolment process you are required to attend Monash University on two separate occasions:
[omitted] - Note: Likely not required any more due to online enrolment. Only real important thing from here was to make sure you write down your transaction numbers, have your TFN ready and other official documents/ IDs to complete enrolment.
Please be aware that the last date to accept this offer is [insert date].
[redacted]
Director
To accept this offer, you must follow the instructions above. Any queries relating to these instructions must be directed to the institution, not VTAC.
Please refer to the ABC of offers found at [redacted] for frequently asked questions.
*All offers are provisional and are subject to you having provided full and correct information in your course application, meeting the eligibility requirements for the course, and attending the enrolment at the date and time specified in this email."