Explanatory Notes for AEI Student Enrolment Data

On this page: What is the AEI international student data? AEI data categories AEI attribute categories Counting methodology Sector allocation

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What is the AEI international student data?

Where does the AEI international student data come from?

Enrolment data is derived from the Commonwealth Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) database. PRISMS includes:

• enrolment data for all sectors (Schools, Vocational Education, Higher Education and ELICOS);
• enrolments by students on a student visa;
• data based on electronic confirmation of enrolments (eCoE); and
• country of origin based on citizenship rather than permanent home residence.

Data is initially uploaded into PRISMS by educational providers when an enrolment is offered to a prospective student before a visa is granted, and again when a student obtains and uses their visa to enter Australia and starts studying. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) updates PRISMS as students enter or leave Australia or change their visa or residence status. Providers also update PRISMS when students change courses or fail to comply with student visa requirements. PRISMS receives data electronically every night from DIAC as student visas are granted or cancelled and as students are recorded on DIAC systems as entering Australia. Only enrolments that represent students who have actually started studying in Australia are counted in AEI student enrolment data.

Enrolments versus students

AEI student enrolment data generally does not represent the number of overseas students in Australia or the number of student visas issued in different countries. Instead data counts actual course enrolments. The exception is the data at the beginning of a month which represents a close approximation to the number of students enrolled on that day.

How are enrolments counted?

A student attending two different courses in the same reference period (for example ELICOS and Bachelor Degree) will have both enrolments counted. Students will be counted as enrolled in Australia even if they have left Australia temporarily for example during end of year holidays. Students are not recorded as enrolled in Australia if for example they are moving between institutions at the date of reporting and their new course details have yet to be entered by institutions.

AEI's monthly total of enrolments combine continuing enrolments from the previous month with new enrolments commencing during the month.

What is a commencement?

A commencement is a new student enrolment in a particular course at a particular institution.

How is nationality recorded?

AEI student enrolment data allocates a student’s nationality based on citizenship data uploaded into PRISMS from both DIAC and educational institutions. This may not coincide with their country of home residence. The 'Other' category caters for refugees, stateless people and errors in data entry.

How is sector allocated?

Enrolments are allocated to sectors on the basis of their course level within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Courses not covered by the AQF are allocated to 'Other'. However, ELICOS enrolments are treated differently. All courses identified as 'English Language' field of study are allocated to the ELICOS sector irrespective of the AQF level of course.

How is Provider type identified?

Some of the detailed monthly tables give a government/non-government split based on the way institutions are identified on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). This distinction does not equate to identifying the balance of public and private provision. Some institutions that would normally be recognised as public institutions have private arms which deliver some of their programmes including for example, ELICOS courses.

What types of international students does AEI enrolment data include?

AEI student enrolment data covers onshore international students studying on student visas only (visa subclasses 570 to 575). It does not include overseas students on Australian funded scholarships or sponsorships or students undertaking study while holding a tourist or other temporary entry visas (or their dependents). New Zealand students are not included in this data as they do not require a student visa to study in Australia.

Earlier data

AEI student enrolment data, derived from the PRISMS database, is available from 2002.  Earlier data is available but is not strictly comparable with data from 2002. These earlier statistics are derived from the Overseas Student Statistics Collection (OSSC). The overseas student statistics in the OSSC were compiled from visa data supplied by DIAC, and in the case of higher education data, primarily from the Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC).

Anything else you should know?

Users of AEI student enrolment data should be aware that:

• data is extracted on a monthly basis. As PRISMS is constantly updated, there will be slight variations in enrolment data across different extract dates;
• as noted above the data classifies providers into government and non-government based on advice from State and Territory Accrediting Authorities;
• enrolment records broken by 14 days or less are joined together where the enrolment is at the same sector, level of study and field of study;
• non-ELICOS students who repeat courses after a break of 12 months from the end of their last enrolment are treated as an additional enrolment;
• any period of study identified as persisting for no longer than 10 percent of the expected course duration is not counted in the data; and
• the data does not include information about whether students passed their course or received their qualification. Enrolments by students who do not complete or withdraw late are included. In each case the actual period of enrolment is reflected in the data.

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AEI data categories

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Argentina Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Chile China, People's Republic of Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of the Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany

Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea, Republic of (South) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan

Palau Palestine, Occupied Territory of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Samoa, American Sao Tomé and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Kingdom (Other) United States (Territories) United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Wallis and Futuna Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe

Government
Non Government

State

New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
Western Australia
South Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
Australian Capital Territory

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Counting Methodology

Step 1

AEI matches PRISMS records to identify multiple CoEs that belong to the same student based on personal details, passport numbers and visa numbers.

Step 2

For each matched record where the provider is constant:

	For each course code only allow one instance of study (per day)
Then
	Where a CoE is ended but another CoE (at the same level, sector, provider) exists within 14 days, join together
Then
	For each course code join all durations that are not cancelled If: 1. actual study period is at least 10 percent of CRICOS registered duration; and 2. within a year of the first CoE ending.	Exclude ELICOS
Then
	Drop all CoE’s of less than 10 percent duration that are not joined together as a result of the previous rules being applied

Step 3

Where a student changes providers, Step 2 is repeated for the next provider. Then courses from different providers are combined on the basis of same:

• level of study;
• sector; and
• field of study.

Notes:

Enrolments by students breaking their course by a substantial period will be recorded as two separate enrolments. For example a Masters student studying in 2002, going on leave for 2003, and who re-enrols in 2004, will be counted twice – once in 2002 and once in 2004. Joining such cases is not appropriate as this would imply a student studied in 2003. However this will still allow linking of courses where for example; a student attempts a one-year course, but repeats the following year because of a failure or late withdrawal etc.

Joining small fragments introduces errors as it implies a student was studying during the intervening period. Therefore fragments less than 10 percent of standard duration are only joined where they are close to another enrolment record (14 days).

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Sector Allocation

HE - Higher Education   VET- Vocational Education and Training    ELICOS - English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students

Studies	Sector
Associate Degree	HE
Bachelor Degree	HE
Graduate Certificate	HE
Graduate Diploma	HE
Masters Coursework	HE
Masters Preliminary	HE
Masters Research	HE
Doctor of Philosophy	HE
PHD and Higher Doctorate Qualifying Programme	HE
Vocational Graduate Certificate	HE
Vocational Graduate Diploma	HE
Junior Secondary Studies	School
Kindergarten Studies	School
Primary School Studies	School
Senior Secondary Studies	School
Advanced Certificate	VET
Associate Diploma	VET
Certificate I	VET
Certificate II	VET
Certificate III	VET
Certificate IV	VET
Certificate	VET
Advanced Diploma	VET
Diploma	VET
Enabling Course	Other
Foundation Studies	Other
Non-Award	Other
When field of study is ELICOS	ELICOS

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