New regulations for international students in Australia

Australia is catching your Attention as a destination to study english but feeling discouraged by what you have seen about the changes for 2025?

Here’s everything you need to know about the new regulations for international students in Australia, explained simply. What exactly has changed in the education system? And what would you need if you want to come to Australia right now?

Australia is a country with a wide range of courses to study, not only English but also university and vocational courses. It also offers a huge opportunity for students to work and be fully immersed in Australian culture.

Now, let’s start with a bit of context.

Context

Before the pandemic, around 600,000 international students arrived in Australia (in 2020), distributed across universities, vocational courses, and English courses. When COVID-19 arrived, Australia closed its borders, and students had to return to their home countries, leaving Australia deserted.

In 2022, Australia reopened its borders, and international students started arriving again, surpassing the pre-pandemic numbers. This brought some issues due to overpopulation, one of the most critical being the difficulty of finding housing. Availability became limited for both students and Australians, resulting in a price increase. Another problem was the decline in the quality of education, with some courses lacking the accreditation to offer a good level of education to students.

In response, the Australian government has been implementing a series of measures to reduce the number of international students and address some of the problems mentioned earlier.

What is the Australian Government Aiming for?

Australia aims to optimize the integrity of the education system in two major aspects:

1. Improving the quality of education, ensuring accredited, high-quality schools, and canceling courses that do not meet high standards.

2. Only allowing international students who genuinely want to study English and not those whose intention is only to travel to Australia to work, using a student visa as a way to do so.

What Are the Changes?

Student Profile Evaluation System

The system to evaluate the profiles of new students is now more thorough. Previously, applicants were evaluated based on a 300-word essay where the students explained their reasons for wanting to study temporarily in Australia. Now, a more rigorous evaluation is carried out, focusing on whether the reasons for studying in Australia are genuine* and aligned with the applicant’s previous studies and career plans.

*If you’re not familiar with the term "genuine," it means that you have a true interest to study English in Australia and you are not simply going there to work or stay for an extended time without a clear educational purpose.

Additionally, the new system emphasizes how the student will contribute to their home country with their new learnings. Currently, the application includes more questions about the student’s career, economic situation, reasons for choosing Australia, previous employment, prior education, plans in Australia, and migration history. This filter is expected to help visa officers to select applicants who genuinely want to study in Australia.

Visa Processing System

This new system allows that students applying to institutions with less than 80% capacity have priority in their visa applications. This will make it possible for students to receive a response in 8 to 15 business days.

This applies to students who are outside of Australia and are applying for a visa for the first time, referred with the term New Overseas Student Commencement (NOSC).

Students applying to institutions with more than 80% capacity will receive a standard priority, meaning their application will be processed more slowly.

Students will not know in advance whether a school is above or below 80% capacity. It is assumed that schools will communicate this to educational agents, who will inform the students and possibly suggest changing institutions.

The recommendation is to apply early so that you have time to make adjustments or prepare your profile. The government website where applications are made allows document submission up to four months in advance, so the sooner you apply, the more chances you have to make any necessary changes.

English Language Requirement

The English language required score has also increased, even for students going to study English in Australia. The previous score requirement was 4.5 on the IELTS scale, but now it is 5.0, or the equivalent for other exams such as TOEFL, PTE, Cambridge English, and the Occupational English Test. For undergraduate studies, the English requirement has increased from 5.5 to 6 on the IELTS scale.

The validity of the exam is now only 1 year. For example, if you took the exam in 2022, it will only be valid until 2023. If you need to apply for another visa with an English requirement, you will need to take the test again and achieve the necessary score.

Proving Funds for Living Expenses

Australia has always required students to demonstrate a certain amount in a bank account for living expenses. This amount has increased from $24,505 AUD to $29,710 AUD per year, for visas requested after May 10, 2024.

This is aimed to ensure that students have sufficient financial support, so they do not need to focus too much on working and can concentrate on their studies. This also ensures they don’t exceed the permitted working hours.

Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)

The CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment) is a document issued by educational institutions in Australia that certifies that the student has enrolled in a course. To obtain a CoE, the student must have paid the course fees, met the requirements, and been admitted.

Before 2025, students could apply for a student visa with a Letter of Offer from an institution. In January 2025, a CoE will be required to apply for a visa, and applications without a CoE will not be processed. This means that the course payment must be made first, and then the student can apply for the visa. The amount to be paid, whether it’s the full course fee or just a percentage, will depend on the institution’s policies.

Certain Visa Applications Must Be Made Outside Australia

If you currently have a temporary graduate or tourist visa and wish to apply for another visa, you will need to be outside of Australia when making the application. Previously, it was possible to apply for a visa while staying in the country, but with the new regulations, it is now mandatory to leave Australia to apply for a different visa.

Visa Extension Restrictions

The process for “extending” a student visa to switch from studying English to a *vocational course (VET) in Australia will now be stricter.

For those who don’t know the meaning of *VET, it refers to Vocational Education and Training, which includes programs offering technical and professional training (diplomas, certificates) in industries like construction, fitness, hospitality, education, or technology (note that these are lower-level courses compared to undergraduate programs).

However, it will now be impossible to simply “extend” a student visa anymore. A new visa must be in place, and this process will be evaluated much more rigorously than before. Your application will need to be well-supported with strong reasoning and must align with your previous studies or career. For example, if you studied nursing, don’t expect to be approved for a visa to continue studying carpentry in Australia.

To finalise

If you genuinely want to come to Australia, don’t get discouraged! There are different ways to achieve your goals. Just remember, if it’s something you truly want, you’ll have the patience and resources to make it happen. However, avoid coming with the mindset of just working to “make money” without focusing on your studies, or thinking about how soon you’ll recover your investment.

Instead, shift your mindset to something like: the English I learn will benefit my career, and as a result, I’ll have a higher income that will improve my quality of life.