Student Visa Programme

All students who intend to study in Australia for longer than three months are required to obtain a student visa. There are conditions attached to the student visa you should be aware of.

Visa subclasses
There are seven different types, or subclasses, of student visa. Most of the subclasses are linked to an education sector.
570 - Independent ELICOS
571 - Schools
572 - Vocational Education and Training (VET)
573 - Higher Education
574 - Postgraduate Research
575 - Non-award (including non-award foundation study)
576 - AusAID and Defence

Assessment Levels
Assessment levels are applied to each student visa application. These levels help the Australian Government assess applications. They are determined by the visa subclass a student is applying for and the country their passport is issued by, and relate to how likely students are to comply with their visa conditions. This is based on the behaviour of previous students holding that type of passport in that visa subclass.

There are five assessment levels, each with specific criteria. Assessment Level 1 represents the lowest assessment level and Assessment Level 5 (which is rarely used) the highest. The higher the assessment level, the more evidence students will need to provide to demonstrate their financial capacity, English language skills and other relevant matters.

You should refer to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website for the most up-to-date information about student visas.

Last Modified: Friday, 4 July 2008

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