Ian Aird, English Australia CEO, recently provided information about the Australian government’s update on English language proficiency requirements for a student visa. These changes will impact international students studying at a range of vocational and higher education providers, as well as of course the providers themselves.
The Department of Home Affairs has released an update to the regulatory framework relating to English language proficiency requirements for a student visa.
This latest instalment provides the list of Pathway courses that, alongside Foundation Programs, have been exempted from the increase in English language proficiency required to be eligible for a student visa. That is, applicants for a student visa for the courses listed in this new instrument will continue to be required to have an English language proficiency level at or above IELTS 5.5 (or equivalent), not at the new level of 6.0 required for other courses.
If an applicant for a student visa only has the level of 5.0 IELTS or equivalent, then they can package their enrolment in one of these Pathway courses with an ELICOS program. However, due to confusion in the development of this instrument and its being rushed into force, the ELICOS program currently required must be a minimum of 20 weeks long. This is also the case with Foundation Programs packaged with ELICOS. English Australia is in ongoing discussions with the Department of Home Affairs to address this.
The list of approved Pathway courses can be viewed in the amending instrument here.
Please note that when viewing the instrument, it shows that it is ‘No longer in force’, however, this is a quirk of an amending instrument. Once it is enforced as an amendment of the main legislative instrument it is then subsumed into that main instrument and ceases to be relevant on its own. Please be assured that the content of the list is in force and will be visible in the updated final instrument in the coming days.
You can read the original article here: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au