Education providers' roles and responsibilities

Reporting breaches of attendance and course progress

Education providers are required to report students failing to comply with the attendance or  course progress of their visa to the department via the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) system.
Note: For advice on using PRISMS, contact the PRISMS Help Line at the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
Telephone: 02 6240 7647
Email: prisms@dest.gov.au

Education providers must report students who:

• do not achieve satisfactory attendance
• withdraw from a course
• do not maintain satisfactory course progress.

Detailed information about education providers' reporting responsibilities is available on the AEI ESOS website:
See:
AEI ESOS website
Student Course Variation (SCV) Report Options Quick Reference Guide (116KB PDF file)

Responsibilities for under 18-year-old students

Education providers approving care arrangements for students less than 18-years-old must:

• give the department a signed statement confirming that for a nominated period appropriate arrangements have been made for the student's accommodation, support and general welfare. The period nominated by the provider must be a least the length of the student's CoE plus seven days at the end of the CoE or until the student turns 18.
• report via PRISMS any changes to the care arrangements, including the type of accommodation. For example if the student moves from a boarding school to a homestay.

This information is required to ensure compliance with Public Interest Criterion 4012A and visa condition 8532.

Education providers are strongly advised to use the standard letters available from the PRISMS for confirming  welfare arrangements and notifying of changes.
See:
PRISMS website
Changes to the Migration Regulations relating to under 18 year old students (91KB PDF file)
AEI ESOS website

Minimum contents of a letter of offer

Letters of offer made to students are used to support student visa applications.

If a letter of offer does not contain the information specified in the table below:

• the department will need to estimate costs based on the highest tuition costs, and
• there may be delays processing applications.

A letter of offer must contain the…	Including…
tuition costs,	the amount for the entire course. This is calculated by aggregating the highest estimate per semester. The tuition costs may include the cost of health insurance where the education provider has arranged this on behalf of the student.
course duration,	start date/s end date/s length of the course/s.
course description,	the CRICOS code and name of the course.
education provider code,	the CRICOS code for the provider of the course. Note: this is required because of the many institutions using different trading names.
conditional offer of a place, if applicable,	specifications of the conditions.

Arranging health insurance for students

Many education providers now collect the overseas student health cover (OSHC) premium from overseas students enrolling at their institution and arrange to pay the health insurance cover on their behalf.

It is not mandatory for providers to organise OSHC for intending students.

You should only select Yes if you have received money from the student and arranged OSHC on their behalf.

You should not select Yes if you have only sighted evidence that the student has arranged his or her own health cover. In this circumstance, you should select No.

Students who decide to pay the OSHC premium personally are expected to provide evidence of payment directly to this department.

Students who intend to bring family members to Australia with them are also expected to provide evidence to the department that their OSHC includes these family members.

Information on the OSHC (including details of OSHC providers) can be found on the Australian Department of Health and Ageing website.
See: Overseas Student Health Cover

Maximum period for a student visa

A student visa is generally issued for a maximum period of five years. The department will take into account cases where it may be reasonable to apply for a longer period.
Example: A medical degree may take up to six years to complete and a period of English studies may be required ahead of the principal course.

Maximum period for thesis marking

Postgraduate Research sector students may in exceptional circumstances apply for a visa to remain in Australia during the marking of their thesis where their education provider requires them to remain in Australia.

A visa may be granted for a maximum continuous period of time is six months.

Maximum number of courses in packages

Department systems have the capacity to record a maximum of nine Confirmations of Enrolment (CoE) for each visa grant.
Note: Courses can only be packaged where one of the courses is a prerequisite to another course, or where one of the courses may only be taken after the completion of another of the courses.

Student visa holders studying in a third country

Information on education provider responsibilities for student visa holders studying courses in a third country.
See: Overseas students on exchange programs in a third country

Providing immigration assistance

The department has guidelines about the type of assistance education provider staff can give to students if they are not registered migration agents.
See: Using a Migration Agent