This Week’s Study Weekly

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This Week’s Study Weeklyprepared by our education consultant Sheryl for you all!

Let’s take a look at the news worth watching this week:

– From July, work-hour limits return for student visas, and the Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa reinstates skills assessment

– Several student visas cancelled for exploiting a visa loophole!

– Western Sydney University’s international postgraduate scholarship is here!

– University of Melbourne arts scholarship now open for applications

– From July, blood tests will replace urine tests in visa health examinations

– This week’s offer show

From 1 July, work-hour limits return for student visas, and the Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa reinstates the skills assessment requirement

From 1 July 2023, the Subclass 500 student visa will reintroduce work-hour limits, that is, a maximum of 48 hours of work per fortnight(in the aged-care sector this limit is extended to 31 December 2023). At present, owing to the labour shortage during the pandemic, students holding a Subclass 500 student visa can work without restriction. However, once these work-hour limits return, the working hours of Subclass 500 student visa holders will increase from the previous maximum of 40 hours per fortnight to 48 hours.

From 1 July 2023, VET graduates applying for the Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa will once again be required to complete a skills assessment. At present, VET graduates can apply for the 2-year Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa (also known as the old TR) without a skills assessment. However, given how difficult it is for VET graduates to obtain a skills assessment, this means most VET graduates will be unable to secure a work visa. For Australian visa holders on a VET student visa, if you graduate on or before 30 June 2023 and it has been no more than 6 months since you graduated, please lodge your Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa application as soon as possible.

Exploiting a student-visa loophole? Several international students have had their visas cancelled!

Recently, a leaked federal government memo was exposed in the Australian media.

The memo shows that many international students, after using a loophole in the system to obtain their visa, chose to transfer to cheaper private colleges, then abandoned their studies and continued working.

It is understood that the Australian government had previously partnered with universities to launch a “concurrent study” programme, which included training courses such as barista or hospitality-staff training, designed to help students better prepare for employment.

In March 2022, the international student transfer taskforce carried out an investigation, and found that large numbers of students obtained visas by enrolling in the “concurrent study” programme, but once they arrived in Australia they would enrol in cheaper vocational education (TAFE) courses.Many students did not even attend these cheaper courses; although they had paid the tuition fees, they preferred to use the time to work instead. The government provided almost no oversight, leaving them to do as they pleased.

The documents also reveal that although the Department of Education identified this problem as long as 18 months ago, it took no action throughout the period since.

According to the report released by the taskforce, private education providers have been abusing visa policy to poach students from universities. These providers helped students transfer straight to the second concurrent course, bypassing the requirement to complete the first concurrent course.Over the three years from 2018 to 2021, a total of 21,000 students enrolled in the concurrent study programme; however, most of them studied the first concurrent course for only a month before giving up and moving on to the second concurrent course.This indicates that they did not enrol in the first concurrent course in order to supplement the study of their main field.

This phenomenon has had a negative impact on the healthy development of the education sector, and has made education authorities realise the need to pay closer attention to, and place greater value on, education quality and the student learning experience.

Alison
Cleary, the Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for International Education Quality, believes the number of students transferring from the first to the second concurrent course has exceeded expectations. She said: “The prevalence of visa-loophole exploitation among international students is rampant and deeply concerning”.

A Department of Education spokesperson said the Education Services for Overseas Students Act is under review, “We will examine how to improve the Act so as to safeguard the quality of international education. Closing the loophole in the concurrent study policy is also part of this review.”

Western Sydney University’s international postgraduate scholarship is here!

Western
Sydney International Scholarships – Postgraduate

Western Sydney University is offering international students a quality postgraduate scholarship, with no separate application required.

The scholarship is a partial tuition-fee remission and does not cover living costs, accommodation, transport, Overseas Student Health Cover, or other study-related expenses:

l AUD 6,000 towards tuition fees per year (up to 160 credit points or a maximum of two years); or

l AUD 3,000 towards tuition fees per year (up to 160 credit points or a maximum of two years)

l The scholarship applies to tuition fees for full-time postgraduate programmes, for a maximum of two years.

Application and selection process:

No additional application is required. All new-student course applications will automatically be considered for scholarship eligibility. If successful, the scholarship will be listed in your letter of offer.

Applicants must meet the following conditions:

l Be an international student, and not an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen, or Australian permanent resident. If your status changes during your studies, the scholarship will be terminated.

l Meet the academic eligibility requirements for any of the multi-year scholarships, based on your most recently completed higher-education qualification recognised by Western Sydney University.

l Meet all other admission requirements and accept the letter of offer.

l Commence a new course of study for the first time in 2023.

All international course applicants will automatically be considered for university-funded scholarships, with no need to submit a separate scholarship application. If a student meets the scholarship eligibility criteria, full details of the scholarship will be set out in the letter of offer.

The following popular Western Sydney University courses are all eligible to apply:

1714 Master of Teaching (Secondary)

1783 Master of Teaching (Birth – 5 Years/Birth –
12 Years)

1792 Master of Social Work (Qualifying)

2813 Master of Property Investment and
Development

2816 Master of Business Analytics

3693 Master of Engineering

3698 Master of Information and Communications
Technology (Advanced)

3699 Master of Information and Communications
Technology

3735 Master of Data Science

3749 Master of Science

3752 Master of Project Management

3765 Master of Artificial Intelligence

4698 Master of Health Science

4702 Master of Public Health

Juris Doctor

University of Melbourne arts scholarship now open for applications

The University of Melbourne offers international students generous scholarship opportunities, including a newly opened scholarship designed specifically for students in language, literature and cultural studies. The University of Melbourne has recently prepared the Willem
Snoek Conservation Award scholarship for international students, worth up to $3,340.

The application process is as follows:

1.
Complete the online application, including the following materials:

–
A 500-word project proposal outlining the scope of the cultural-materials conservation project, and explaining the level of innovation the project demonstrates as well as its impact on the relevant community;

– A plan and timeline;

– A budget outline;

– At least one academic reference;

– A current academic transcript or record of results;

– Any other relevant information supporting the application, to help the committee reach a decision.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

1.
Claim the award within 21 days of being granted it;

2.
Complete the project in accordance with the agreed objectives;

3.
Complete the project within 12 months of being granted the award;

4.
Submit the final report within 21 days of completing the project.

From 1 July, Australia replaces urine tests with blood tests in health examinations

This week, the Australian Department of Home Affairs released new rules on visa health examinations: from 1 July 2023, blood tests will replace the previous urine tests.All applicants (aged 15 or over) who have not completed their health examination before 1 July 2023 will be required to undergo a blood test. For children aged 5 to 14, blood or urine tests will no longer be required unless a clinical condition exists.

At present, most onshore temporary visa applications do not require a health examination, but offshore applications for student visas, the Subclass 485, and similar visas still do.

Offshore AustraliaThe health-examination requirements for visa applicants are as follows:

The following applies to Chinese citizens applying for an Australian visa in China, as well as to visa applicants from other countries who have spent more than three continuous months in China or another high-risk country within the past five years.

If you are applying for a visa in China and meet one of the following conditions, you may be required to undergo a health examination:

l You intend to stay in Australia for six months or longer;

l You are aged 75 or over and applying for a Subclass 600 visitor visa;

l You may need treatment at a medical facility or hospital in Australia;

l You are pregnant and plan to give birth in Australia;

l You intend to work as a doctor, dentist, nurse, or in other medical or healthcare roles in Australia, or to take up these occupations after studying;

l You may work or train in a childcare facility in Australia, including kindergartens and childcare centres;

l You have any significant medical condition.

Onshore AustraliaThe health-examination requirements for temporary visa applicants are as follows:

For temporary visa applicants who are onshore in Australia, a health examination is usually not required, unless one of the following applies:

l You have applied for a medical, temporary protection, or temporary visa;

l You are expected to incur medical costs or require treatment;

l You intend to work as (or study to become) a doctor, dentist, nurse, or care worker, and will train or work in a hospital, aged-care home, or disability-care facility;

l You are pregnant and plan to give birth in Australia;

l You intend to work or train at a childcare centre in Australia;

l You are over 75 (applies to visitor visa applications);

l You have previously had tuberculosis contact within your family.

Please note that the situations listed above are the exceptions in which temporary visa applicants onshore in Australia are required to undergo a health examination. In general, a health examination is not required. If your application falls within any of the above situations, please be sure to complete the health examination as required in order to finalise your visa application.

Top Australian universities

offer show

This week we bring you Nursing, Financial Management, Engineering Management, Accounting, and Social Work and other popular study-abroad majors,

from QUT, the University of Melbourne, Macquarie, Western Sydney University, ECU, and Kaplan and more!

If you’re thinking of studying in Australia in 2023, get in touch with us to apply right away!

For study-abroad advice, get in touch with Sheryl~

Catch up on past highlights

By the end of May, the states had issued 57,000+ nomination places!

Those new policies said to take effect on 1 July — where do they stand now?

On a budget of just RMB 70,000–80,000 a year, win a place at a top university on par with China’s 985 schools!

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