DIBP releases YTD December 2013 student visa data

The latest data for student visa applications and grants (YTD December 2013) shows positive news for all sectors.

The number of offshore visa applications (new demand) has been increasing slowly since July 2011, with the renewal of demand accelerating in the last half of the 2012/2013 program year.  The significant increase in offshore visa applications in the 4th quarter of 2012/2013 (+20%) accelerated further in the 1st quarter of 2013/2014, with an increase of +28%, and remains strong in the 2nd quarter although slowing to +20%.

It is a similar story for the number of visas granted offshore.   Offshore visa grants have also been increasing slowly since July 2011, with the growth accelerating in the last half of the 2012/2013 program year.  The significant increase in offshore visa grants in the 4th quarter of 2012/2013 (+18%) accelerated even further in the 1st quarter of 2013/2014, with an increase of +36%, and again remains strong in the 2nd quarter despite slowing to +20%.

Visa grants are at an all-time high if the peak year of 2008/2009 is excluded.  What is different from previous years, however, is the spread of visas across the different sectors, with the current strong growth being driven primarily by the Higher Education sub-class of visa (which includes ELICOS students who have English language courses packaged with higher education).  Offshore Higher Education visa grants for YTD December 2012 are up by a huge +38% (+11,930).  In 2008/2009, Higher Education visas represented 40% of the total visas granted offshore – for the 6 month period to December 2013, they represent 54%.

Whilst a relatively small proportion of the overall ELICOS cohort, it was good to see increasing numbers of visas granted for stand-alone ELICOS visas (not packaged with programs in any other sector). Offshore Independent ELICOS visa grants were up by +11% (+1,035), although onshore Independent ELICOS visa grants declined slightly by -4% (-195).

The data shows some welcome good news for VET providers, with offshore visa grants for VET showing the first growth the sector has experienced for some time.  YTD December 2013 data showed growth of +19% in offshore visa grants for VET.

Click here for the DIBP Report – Student visa program quarterly report: quarter ending at 31 December 2013.

English Australia Member Colleges, Affiliates and registered Agents can access a detailed analysis of the data from an ELICOS perspective by logging in to the following sections of the English Australia website:

COLLEGES » Services & Resources » Statistics/Research » DIBP Data Student Visas - YTD December 2013/2014 - English Australia Analysis

AGENTS » Agent Resources » DIBP Data Student Visas - YTD December 2013/2014 - English Australia Analysis


The data from DIBP is useful for:

a) understanding trends in the pipeline of students across all types of pathways;

b) understanding the pipeline of students by type of program eg. stand-alone English, English for High School, English for further study etc.; and

c) understanding trends in onshore vs offshore student visa applications and grants.