The 2025 In Focus: Student Demand report offers a powerful lens into the preferences, behaviours, and evolving expectations of students choosing flexible, online study.
Based on millions of real-time data points from search behaviour and course enquiries, this report gives you actionable insights to guide program design, student engagement, and strategic planning.
In this report, you’ll discover:
- What students are searching for across 10 key fields of education and where there are clear gaps between demand and existing offerings.
- How learner behaviour is changing, including the shift toward long-tail, conversational searches.
- What drives student engagement, from short-form programs to equity-driven pathways that widen access to higher education.
To gain more insights from across our marketplace, complete the form and access your free and instant download of Open University Australia's In Focus: Student Demand report.
Key take-outs at a glance:
Flexibility is a necessity, not a luxury.
Students are prioritising shorter, stackable, and accessible pathways particularly those that align with career goals and life commitments.
Demand is growing in new and niche areas.
From sustainability to cybersecurity, psychology to surveying, students are seeking more targeted programs in fields not yet well represented on the marketplace.
Equity and access are shaping the future.
More than half of OUA enrolled students identify with at least one equity group. Online study is expanding opportunity but only if the right programs exist.
About Open Universities Australia
Open Universities Australia is the country's number one destination for online tertiary education. We help students explore, choose and enrol in thousands of online courses from leading universities.
As a not-for-profit organisation, we have our students’ best interests at heart. We’re here to champion everyone who wants to learn.
This approach has allowed us to become the most recognised online education brand in Australia.