Australian education is administered by state governments and supervised by the Federal government. Australia's quality assurances are based on national legislation and therefore the qualifications are internationally recognised.
Australian institutions are well known for their quality education. They provide a wide variety of programs including primary and secondary schools, certificate, diploma, foundation, university degree and English language.
Australian Government Agency
The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) is an independent, national quality assurance body that will audit the key activities of teaching, learning, research and management in Australian universities on a five-year cycle beginning in 2001.
Qualifications Recognition
Australian qualifications are recognised by employers and leading educational institutions in many countries around the world. An Australian Government organisation called the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) assists Australian institutions to recognise qualifications from overseas. NOOSR also works to promote the recognition of Australian qualifications internationally.
Nobel Prize Winners
Australian universities are also leading producers of new and critical ideas, and are major participants in international research projects and initiatives. Australia has produced seven Nobel Prize Laureates in natural and medical sciences and one for literature.
There are 12 years of education in the Australian schools and the schools are either public or private. Students finish Grade 1 to Grade 6 in Primary school and Year 7 to Year 12 in secondary school. Year 11 and Year 12 are the senior secondary studies to gain university entry or vocational education and training qualifications.
Australia has close to 40 universities offering bachelor, graduate certificate/ diploma, master and doctoral programs. There are also foundation courses specially designed for international students. All university programs are accredited on the registers of the Australian Qualifications Framework and they meet Australia's rigorous quality assurance processes.
Among Australian universities, the Group of Eight (Go8) represents leading universities with international standings. These eight universities receive over 70% of Australia's competitive research grants and conduct over 60% of all Australian university research. They were all ranked in the top 100 world universities in the Times Higher Education Supplement 2005 rankings. AEC represents, among other Australian universities, the Group of Eight Universities.
Vocational Education and Training courses are provided by both the public institutions called TAFE ( Technical And Further Education) Institutes, private colleges and English language centres. They deliver training that is practical and career-oriented. Courses offered are English language, foundation program, certificate and diploma.
Many local A-Level students, who do not have the grades for direct university entry, stand in a cross road. One good option for these students is to embark on a diploma course in Australia.
Australian diploma courses encourage students to be independent and active learners, and prepare them in the classroom for the workplace. All such courses are recognised by Australian universities and they offered guaranteed entry with one year exemption. The vast range of courses includes information technology, business and management, marketing and communications, health science, design and the arts, television production and media, environmental studies and land management, sport and recreation, engineering and building, and hospitality and tourism.
