Improving the sustainability of international education

The Albanese Government is strengthening the integrity and sustainability of the international education sector.

As part of this, the Government announced in May that it would set limits on the number of international students that can be enrolled by international education providers.

Today the Government has announced that, subject to the passage of legislation before the Parliament, it will set a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international student commencements of 270,000 for calendar year 2025.

The NPL is divided between the higher education and vocational education and training (VET) sectors.

This will bring the number of new international student commencements, across higher education and VET, back to pre-pandemic levels.

The Government is determined to strengthen the integrity of the sector and ensure it maintains its social licence.

Our reforms will do that and ensure a managed international education system designed to grow sustainably over time.

School students, higher degree by research students, students undertaking standalone English language courses (ELICOS), non-award students, Australian Government sponsored scholars, students that are part of an Australian transnational education arrangement or twinning arrangement, key partner foreign government scholarship holders, and students from the Pacific and Timor-Leste are excluded from the NPL.

Arrangements for 2026 and beyond will deliver sustainable growth in international student numbers to ensure the sustainability of the sector into the future.

Higher education

For publicly funded universities, the managed growth approach, in aggregate, will result in around 145,000 new international student commencements in 2025, which is around 2023 levels.  

It will also support universities who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and uneven patterns of student returns.

Individual limits will be outlined in an International Student Profile (ISP). Publicly funded universities have been provided with their indicative ISPs.

In developing ISPs, a number of factors have been considered based on data provided by universities, including recent levels of new international student commencements and the concentration of international enrolments in their onshore student cohorts.

From 2026, the Albanese Government will encourage universities to create new supplies of student housing to benefit both domestic and international students as part of their future growth.

For other universities and for non-university higher education providers, in aggregate, their new international student commencements in 2025 will be around 30,000.

Vocational education and training (VET)

The Albanese Government’s managed approach will see around 95,000 new VET international student commencements in 2025.

Providers with a higher ratio of international students will receive a lower allocation, encouraging them to diversify their student base.

The Albanese Government’s changes will improve integrity and enhance the international student experience. These reforms will ensure the sector can grow sustainably into the future by providing more opportunities to train alongside Australian students.

Subject to the passage of legislation, from 1 January 2025, this new system of managed growth and enhanced integrity measures will result in the replacement of Ministerial Direction 107.