Education system in Australia

Overview:

Australia is divided into 6 states and 2 territories. The education system is governed by each state individually. But the main stages of education are the same: school education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16 (Year 1 to 10) and it comprises 13 years in total.

 School starts with a preparatory year before Year 1, which is not compulsory. Primary schooling starts with Year 1 and either ends after Year 6 or 7, depending on the local area or state.

High School
After having finished primary school, the students enter secondary school Starting Year 7 (or alternatively with Year 8) and leaves secondary school after Year 12. There are 2 post-school educational offered afterwards, the higher education or the vocational education and training (VET).

Tertiary education system:

In 2007, the Australian higher education system counted 39 universities, 1 overseas university, 4 self-accrediting higher education institutions and other non-self-accrediting higher education providers. The amount of students ranges from 3,000 up to 50,000, of which 20 percent of them are International.

The academic year starts from February and terminates in December. It is divided into 4 terms per year in most states and territories. Most universities have 2 semesters and are commonly located in cities.

Not only universities form the major part of the higher tertiary education, but also the “Technical and Further Education colleges in Australia” (TAFES) are accredited as higher education institutions. They provide a wide range of courses includes subjects such as hospitality, tourism, construction etc. The TAFEs accredit Certificate, Diploma and Associated Degrees after having completed 1 to 2 years. Afterwards, the students are eligible to obtain further qualifications at the level of university.

In General, education in Australia is less expensive than in the United States or United Kingdom.
Majority of the Universities provide distance, external educational programs and also e-learning.

 As far as the degrees are concerned, there are award degrees, sub-degrees and 3 main cycles of higher education: the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral studies. Achieving a Bachelor’s Degree takes 3 to 4 years, a Masters Degree lasts for 1 to 2 years and a Doctoral Degree can take up to 3 years. Nevertheless, the amount of time always depends on the subjects per semester.

Undergraduate:

To be admitted to a College or University in Australia, the student must have completed twelve years of elementary and secondary education and submit them to the university at the time of admission. One can either enroll for a two-year Associate degree like Associate of Science (A.S.) or a four-year degree like Bachelor of Science (B.S.).
Achieving a Bachelor’s Degree takes 3 to 4 years.

Graduate:

To complete a Masters Degree it takes 1 to 2 years. The Masters Degree follows after the Bachelors degree. It deals with a more advanced subject than a Bachelors degree and either includes research, coursework, or a mixture of the two. After having completed the Masters Degree, one is qualified for taking a PhD program.

PhD programs:

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) can be taken after an Honors Bachelors or Masters degree, along with a research project that results in a thesis or dissertation. Australian PhDs are often more specific in focus than their American or British equivalents and shorter too. There are also professional doctorates which specialize in advanced coursework and a project in fields such as education. There does not exist something like a "first-professional doctorate" as those awarded in the USA.


Technical and vocational education:


Australia’s vocational education and training system (VET) is founded on a partnership between the government and industry. The VET develops training qualifications that are more based on competencies and are nationally consistent and quality-assured in national and international comparison. As self-accredited higher education institutions they offer training on a practical level without the requirement of achieving a university degree.

Study abroad option:

As an international student applying for an Australian university one has to have a minimal grade of 5.0 in the “International English Language Testing System” examination (IELTS). In addition, international students who want to take a Masters degree must have already finished a bachelor degree or its equivalent. The “National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition” (NOOSR) accepts overseas qualifications and supports Australian students internationally in turn. The courses taken by overseas students studying in Australia are supervised and accompanied by the AQF. Students who want to enroll in an Australian university or college must have the Overseas Student health Cover (OSHC) till the completion of the course.

Summer programs:

The summer programs, runs from December to January in vacation time. Most Australian universities and colleges offers an intensive summer school program offered to national and international students. They have the possibility to enlarge and widen their usual program of studying, catch up failed subjects, balance their timetable, study subjects outside their current program or take part in a range of sport activities.

Learning language:

The language of instruction is English, Australia’s official language. Some schools and universities offer bilingual programs and foreign language studies; indigenous languages also exist in some parts of Australia.