According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), at the end of last year, the rate of obtaining international student visas in Australia hit a record low.
In the six months to December, just over 82% of higher education visas were approved, well below the 87.5% in 2022-23, while the overall issuance rate has been well above 90% over the past 15 years.
Source: AFR
Vocational education student visas have a lower rate of approval. In the six months to December, it was just 70%, a record low.
The data shows that out of 132,000 higher education visa applications submitted in the last six months of 2023, only 98,200 were approved. During the same period, only 33,800 of the 65,470 vocational education visa applications were approved.
Source: AFR
Immigration expert Abul Rizvi said the number of student visa applications has not decreased as much as he expected.
The total number of applications in December 2022 and December 2023 was almost the same, suggesting that the government's reform agenda and message were not reaching the target audience.
"It was a surprise that there was no decrease in filings in December last year," he said. This means that the government is increasingly reliant on refusing applications. We need to reduce the application rate so that we can better manage the system. ”
Rizvi also said that while a series of government reforms are having an impact, including the removal of temporary visas due to the pandemic, the reintroduction of working hours caps and increased bank deposit requirements, Canada and the United Kingdom are stepping up efforts to tighten study abroad policies, which is putting further pressure on Australia.
Canada will issue about 360,000 student visas in 2024, a 35% decrease from 2023. The UK will cancel the accompanying visa for UK master's students from January 1, 2024.
At the same time, a series of reforms in Australia have already reduced the demand for studying abroad, but Rizvi said clearer standards would further ease the pressure on the immigration sector.
Including the introduction of benchmark academic standards, such as Grade 12 ATAR scores, will make it easy and effective to identify high-quality, genuine students, he said.
According to the report, many Australian universities have used China's college entrance examination results as the basic standard for students' academic performance.
In response, Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the Australian Association of International Education, said Australia's message to future students needs to be tougher.
"We need to focus more on quality, higher education and skills to attract the students we want to attract," he said. ”