Australia has made some important changes to the student visa programmes.
Many students are attracted by the flexibilities offered by the Australian Qualification Framework, which sets out 12 levels of qualifications across the three educational sectors – school, university and vocational education and training.
Qualifications are awarded only after the achievement of competency standards. Once achieved, students can progress through different levels of qualifications, regardless of the sector in which they were achieved, thus providing many different pathways between different levels.
Australia is a safe and welcoming destination, proud of its own enormous cultural diversity. The interests of international students in Australia are protected by Australian government legislation – the Education Services for Overseas Students Act. Only institutions which are registered by the Australian Government can recruit students from overseas.
The costs of studying in Australia compare favorably with traditional destinations for Indian students, such as the USA and Britain.
More Information:
The Australian government has recently announced a number of changes. From now on, student visa applicants will need to include a confirmation of enrolment (COE), issued by their intended education provider, as part of their student visa applications. This will improve processing times as students will no longer need to wait for a pre-visa assessment (PVA) letter to be issued by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) before arranging their COE.
Changes have also being made to reduce the financial requirements for Assessment Level (AL) 3 and 4 students. A reduction in the period of funds to be shown upfront with a visa application should make obtaining a student visa to Australia more competitive with other popular study destinations.
A new genuine temporary entrant (GTE) criterion has also been implemented. This will help Australia ensure that students are intending a temporary stay only for the purposes of their education. GTE will be assessed through an interview in most cases and will consider the student’s background and the value of the course to their future.
According to Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese: “Australia is a quality education destination and these changes will further strengthen that reputation. We look forward to welcoming high quality students from India and Nepal. Australia is a great place to study and I encourage all Indian and Nepalese students to consider the many benefits of studying in Australia.”
More information on the visa changes and other changes due to be implemented is available at www.immi.gov.au/students/ knight/www.immi.gov.au/students/whatsnew.htm
Why Australia?
5 quick features about Australia:
- Incredibly beautiful country with a wide range of scenic and leisure opportunity.
- Internationally acclaimed education options for international students, including many English-language option.
- Excellent pathway and articulation between programes such as diploma to degree.
- Competitive in terms of cost of living and study.
- Multicultural, friendly society, with over 400,000 international students coming to study each year.
Australia has a proven reputation as an educational destination of high quality for international students all over and in India there is growing awareness of the quality and variety of Australian courses and qualifications.
Many students are attracted by the flexibilities offered by the Australian Qualification Framework, which sets out 12 levels of qualifications across the three educational sectors – school, university and vocational education and training.
Qualifications are awarded only after the achievement of competency standards. Once achieved, students can progress through different levels of qualifications, regardless of the sector in which they were achieved, thus providing many different pathways between different levels.
Australia is a safe and welcoming destination, proud of its own enormous cultural diversity. The interests of international students in Australia are protected by Australian government legislation – the Education Services for Overseas Students Act. Only institutions which are registered by the Australian Government can recruit students from overseas.
The costs of studying in Australia compare favorably with traditional destinations for Indian students, such as the USA and Britain.
