This section is intended to provide students with an overview
of the various opportunities on offer for international overseas students, more
specifically Indian students wishing to pursue higher education in
Australia.
The section includes a brief outline about the country itself, the lifestyle
and culture, different kind of qualifications available in Australian
Universities along with the basic eligibility factors, the student visa
applications and financial aspects of study abroad in
Australia.
Australia is
one of the leading destinations for students wanting to study abroad. Every
year, the number of students wanting to study in
Australia
is increasing due to the superior quality of education, life and work
opportunities available there. Another factor which draws students to study
abroad in
Australia
is the comparatively low cost of living and tuition costs compared with other
countries such as
USA
and
UK.
Australian cities and towns have an excellent public and private
transportation system which includes ferries and boats (in the coastal towns)
along with trains, trams, and buses, apart from the other standard means of
travel such as road and air.
It is easy for international students to access money in
Australia
using the large network of banks. There are many ATMs (automated teller
machines) and EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer at point of sale) outlets in
all the cities of
Australia.
Within 6 weeks of arriving in
Australia,
overseas students can open a bank account by simply showing their passport and
supplying a postal address. After 6 weeks, the students would need to provide
other forms of identification, such as birth certificate or an international
driving license. Credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard are also widely
accepted along with travellers' cheques.
Australian system of recognizing educational qualifications
Australia
has a unique system of recognizing qualifications which is beneficial for
overseas students. The NOOSR (National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition)
recognises the overseas qualifications and also promotes the recognition of
Australian qualifications on an international platform. All the courses of
study within
Australia
come under the purview of the AQF (Australian Qualifications Framework) which
simplifies the process of evaluation of the levels of study in all the
universities, vocational education and training institutions and schools across
Australia. The
AQF allows a student to move from one level of study to another as long as visa
requirements are met.
The AQF covers most of the courses taken up by overseas students in
Australia.
However, there are some courses which are not part of the AQF, which are known
as Bridging or Foundation courses. These courses help a student meet the entry
requirements for their further study and often lead to an AQF qualification.
General eligibility criterion for Australian Universities
Universities and Colleges in
Australia
offer a variety of courses of which the Masters Degree takes either 1 or 2
years, and the Doctoral Degree takes about 3 years to complete.
To apply for a Masters Degree, the student has to have completed either a 3
years Bachelor's Degree, or a Combined Bachelor's Degree, or a Bachelor's
Degree with Honours, or a Graduate Diploma or have relevant experience of
employment. To qualify to apply for a Doctoral Degree, the student should have
completed either a Masters Degree or have had relevant experience of
employment.
English language proficiency is also required. The Australian Department of Immigration
and Multicultural Affairs accepts the scores of the IELTS (International
English Language Testing System) test for the purposes of a student visa
application. Most of the Masters and Doctoral Degree programs prefer a minimum
overall band score of 6.0 in the IELTS or an overall band score of 5.0 in the
IELTS along with a maximum of 30 weeks of ELICOS (English Language Intensive
Courses for Overseas Students). The results of the IELTS tests are valid for 24
months.
Students who are planning to apply for a student visa must have been covered
by the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).
Funding and scholarships offered to international
students by Australian Universities
Most Australian universities usually do not give out
any funding or scholarships while accepting students, and so the students have
to be prepared to pay at least a semester's fees when they receive the letter
of acceptance from a university.
Basic VISA requirement guidelines for Australia
Normally, when an Indian student is accepted by a university, he / she will
receive a letter called an 'offer of a place in a course' from that university.
The student should then apply for a preliminary assessment to the visa
processing office. The letter to this office should include the following:
- The proposed entry level of
the student
- The name of the course applied
for
- The CRICOS (Commonwealth
Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students) course and
provider codes
- The proposed start and end
dates of the course
- The full tuition fees for the
course
Once this information is received by the visa processing office, the
preliminary assessment will be conducted. If the assessment is favourable, then
the visa office will instruct the university to send the student an electronic
confirmation of enrolment (eCoE) certificate.
The student may then be asked to pay the OSHC premium and undergo medical
tests.
Apart from these documents, you must be able to show that:
- You can cover the costs for
air fares, course fees and living costs for the duration of the stay in
Australia
- Your English language
proficiency (IELTS score)
- Your personal and/or
financial commitments in
India
- Your academic record and
history in relation to the planned study course
- Your immigration history, if
any
- That the course you have
chosen is what you would have chosen in your circumstances, and
- That this course is
consistent with and appropriate to your current education level.
Once these requirements are met, and the visa processing office is satisfied
with the results, the student visa may be granted to the student.
Some general observations about universities in Australia
To qualify for applying to the universities in
Australia,
an overseas student is expected to have a minimum band score of 5.0 in the
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) examination.
Apart from these qualifications, overseas students planning to apply for a
Masters Degree course must provide transcripts which document that they have
completed at least 3 years of a Bachelor's Degree program.
Under normal circumstances, scholarships are not
offered to many students. Therefore, students wishing to pursue their further
education in Australia must have sufficient financial funding to pay the
entire tuition fees for their chosen course.
