From 1 January 2025, the Australian Government is setting the total number of new overseas student commencements at higher education and vocational education and training (VET) providers in Australia each year under the National Planning Level.
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The National Planning Level will apply to the higher education and VET sectors and will be reviewed annually by Government.
The introduction of the National Planning Level will provide predictability and certainty for international education providers and safeguard the quality of Australia’s international education offerings.
In 2025, the National Planning Level will be set at 270,000 new overseas student commencements.
The VET Sector Planning Level will be set at 94,500 new overseas student commencements.
The Government’s approach to distributing these places is designed to encourage VET providers to move to enrol more domestic students, which will improve student experiences, support integrity and diversity in the sector, and build its long-term resilience.
New overseas student commencements
Each provider will have a limited number of new overseas student commencements each year.
An international student will count as a ‘new overseas student commencement’ when they are onshore in Australia and:
- start their first course at their first provider, and
- each time they start their first course at a new provider.
If a student started their first course at a provider in 2024 and that student continues to be enrolled with the provider in 2025, they do not count towards that provider’s limit in 2025.
There are also specific types of courses and students that are exempt from these limits and do not count towards a provider’s ‘new overseas student commencement’ limit for a year.
The exemptions are:
- Schools
- Students studying standalone ELICOS courses
- Higher degree by research students
- Non-award students, including short term exchange students
- All Australian Government sponsored scholars and visa holders
- Key partner foreign government scholarship holders
- Other Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or Defence-sponsored students
- Students that are part of certain Australian transnational education arrangement/twinning arrangement
- Students from the Pacific and Timor Leste
Managing provider limits
The Department of Education will manage provider limits through Confirmations of Enrolment issued through the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS), enabling providers to actively monitor and manage their limit. The Department of Education is making changes to PRISMS so that it is ready to support providers to monitor and manage their limits and avoid non-compliance.
Further information about how new overseas student commencements will be counted is available on the PRISMS Factsheet.
For VET providers
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has now advised VET providers registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) of their indicative new overseas student commencement limits for 2025.
This number is indicative because the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 (ESOS Bill) has yet to pass parliament and these changes cannot occur until this has happened.
In distributing the 94,500 new overseas student commencements allocated to the VET sector in 2025, the Government will implement lower limits for providers with a strong concentration of international students relative to domestic students.
For 2025, indicative VET provider limits have been determined as follows:
Private VET providers
New overseas student commencement limits for private VET providers that had fewer than 80 per cent international student enrolments in 2023 will be equal to their 2023 new overseas student commencements minus 31.0 per cent.
New overseas student commencement limits for private VET providers that had 80 per cent or greater international student enrolments in 2023 will be equal to their 2023 new overseas student commencements minus 40.8 per cent.
In both cases, rounding will mean actual allocations for some providers are not exactly aligned to these percentage reductions. Further information on the methodology is provided in the VET methodology factsheet.
NPL and VET sector distribution methodology factsheet
From 1 January 2025, the National Planning Level will be set at 270,000 new overseas student commencements. The Australian Government is setting the total number of new overseas student commencements at higher education and vocational education and training (VET) providers in Australia each year under the National Planning Level.
Public VET providers
New overseas student commencement limits for public providers, including TAFEs, will be equal to their 2023 new overseas student commencements.
Recent market entrants
New overseas student commencement limits for all VET providers with new overseas student commencements recorded in 2024 but not 2023, will be based on a projection of the provider’s full year 2024 new overseas student commencements.
New overseas student commencement limits for VET providers with no new overseas student commencements recorded in both 2023 and 2024 will be equal to 30.
Future market entrants
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will provide information on arrangements for future market entrants in due course.
Dual sector providers
VET providers that also deliver higher education courses to international students under the same CRICOS registration will have a total new overseas student commencement limit equal to the sum of limits for VET and higher education. Limits for higher education are being developed by the Department of Education.
Next Steps
Following Government’s decisions on the National Planning Level and Sector Planning Level, and subject to passage and Royal Assent of the ESOS Bill, the Government will implement notices and instruments setting out provider limits, to take effect in 2025.
The Department will write to VET providers again following the passage and Royal Assent of the ESOS Bill.
Further information on the VET sector methodology is available in the Factsheet.
Read the VET sector distribution methodology factsheet
Enquiries about how the managed system will be implemented in the VET sector should be directed to StrategicFramework@dewr.gov.au.