Nine out of 10 WA school leavers applying off to university Winthrop Hall at the University of Western Australia. NINE out of 10 of the WA school leavers who applied to study at university have been offered a place today. More than 10,800 WA Certificate of Education students have been made first-round offers out of the 11,784 pupils who applied, the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre said. Students with an Australian Tertiary Admisssions Rank as low as 55 will also be eligible to study at university this year, the release of course cut-off ranks today also shows. Edith Cowan University is offering some courses, including fashion, business and criminology, with a cut-off rank of 55. The lowest cut-off rank at Murdoch University is 65 for nursing at its Peel campus, 70 at Curtin University and 80 at the University of WA. TISC executive officer Steve Hoath said there was a small increase of 0.4 per cent in the number of WACE students applying this year. But applications in the other category - which includes mature-age students - had dropped by 13.2 per cent. That contributed to an overall decline of 4.8 per cent in university applications for 2014. Overall, Mr Hoath said 87 per cent of applicants received an offer this year, with more 78 per cent receiving their first preference. He expected most applicants to accept their offer. "However, there was an opportunity for students who weren't offered their first preference to reserve that offer through to the second round, and be considered for a higher preference in the second round via a 'safety net' procedure," he said. The 'safety net' was also available to applicants who moved their first preference offer further down their preferences in the hope of being offered something different in second round. Applicants can rearrange preferences or add new courses to their preferences up to 22 January. Mr Hoath said there are also still opportunities for anyone who has not yet applied for a university place. Most courses are still open and TISC will take applications until January 22. Unsuccessful applicants are notified by TISC at the same time as the universities send out the offers. He said that those who are qualified for a place but are unsuccessful in the main round will automatically be reconsidered in the second round of offers.