AUSTRALIA’S NPL ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT 

• THE ALLOCATED NUMBERS

National Planning Level limits will apply from 1 January 2025, with a total of 270,000 new international student commencements for the 2025 calendar year. This does not include enrolments or offers. It is the actual number of international students starting a course. If a student starts a second course at the same provider, also in calendar year 2025, it will not be counted under that year’s planning limit.  

From 1 January 2025, new commencements will be divided between Higher Education and VET (Vocational Education & Training Sectors):

• Public universities will have a total of around 145,000 commencements.
• Private universities and NUHEPs (Non University Higher Education Providers) will have around 30,000.
• VET providers will have around 95,000.

This means that most public universities in Australia will be able to enrol more new international students in 2025 than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some universities will even welcome more new students in 2025 than in 2024.

• WHO REMAINS UNAFFETED? 

Current international students will not be affected by these changes.

Other student cohorts that will not be affected by the NPL also include: 

• International students enrolled at an Australian provider or partner provider campus around the world, studying an Australian transnational education (TNE) or twinning program.
• School students.
• Higher degree by Research Students.
• ‘Standalone’ ELICOS (English Language Courses) students.
• Non-award, including Study Abroad and Exchange students.
• Australian Government sponsored (and partner sponsored) scholars.
• Students from the Pacific and Timor-Leste (a country in South East Asia).

FOR MORE UPDATES VISIT NAVIGATORS OVERSEAS.