jan&co

"apply for commonwealth support" implies "subject to approval" - this means you cant be sure if you're going to get it. I thought commonwealth supported places are open to all domestic students (ie PRs included), which means you'll surely get it. For some, this may decide your migration plans!
Anyone any ideas?

OzTennis

Interesting. One-Tel is much simpler. We have changed from BT to One-Tel (just took one call and a form to sign and return freepost). All our calls (domestic and international) go through them. We pay £1.50 a month for Voicemail which is brilliant and £1 a month for international caller which reduces the charge to 2p a min and you also get free calls to the UK at the weekend. No prefixes, no operators 00-61-3 (for Vic) and then the number. Detailed itemised bill and pay by DD each month. One-Tel collapsed in Oz but it was taken over by Centrica (also own British Gas and the AA) in the UK.

OzTennis

saraliz

Hi Jan -

My understanding of it is that there are a certain number of commonwealth supported places on each course. This is their basic "cap" on the number of students allowed into the course (similar to the caps put into place at UK universities). However, unlike the UK, Australia gives you the option that if you're not accepted onto the course that you want as a commonwealth supported student, than you can be accepted if you pay the full fees (this allows the uni's to generate extra revenue!). So you can pretty much get onto any course you want if you're willing to pay

My other half's in the middle of his first year studying in Oz as a PR. Getting accepted was a bit of a pain - he's doing a postgrad-level course (which he had started in the UK), and not only did they want to see his current transcripts from the UK & his previous degree + degree transcripts, but they also wanted his A levels as well as his O-levels (apparently the O-levels were needed to prove that he could speak English!!!) His parents had a lot of fun digging around in their loft for those!

My general impression is that universities are geared towards Australian students (who are processed by the normal admissions office) & International students (processed by the International admissions office) but don't cope very well trying to process students with international qualifications through their normal admissions office.

jan&co

[My general impression is that universities are geared towards Australian students (who are processed by the normal admissions office) & International students (processed by the International admissions office) but don't cope very well trying to process students with international qualifications through their normal admissions office.[/QUOTE]



Thanks. The picture is getting clearer by each subsequent post - that's the beauty of this forum. Appreciate all the above input.

Young migrants who get into Year 11 and 12 here would have no problem with international qualifications then, I suppose. The main hurdle would be their VCE or TER or OP scores, depending where they are at.

CHnJ

Just found this thread. Does anyone know if my UK degree will affect my "SLE" to get a Commonwealth Assisted place on an Australian undergraduate degree? I think under HECS you couldn't get help, but I see no mention of a limit under the new system. I'm toying with the idea of retraining. Cheers.

CHnJ

Bumped to a time when people are likely to be reading!

seang

Mate, Whats the SLE? Unless you are a citizen you get no financial assistance. You can get a commonwealth place but you cannot defer or take advantage of the discount.
As far as I know a previous degree will not affect you going for a place.

teza

I've been thinking about uni, however after being here for seven years, been told that to qualify for hecs or for anything else, I'd have to get the citizenship (been putting it off, for no reason). It seems I've been a PR for too long to qualify for it without being a citizen . Rules are also in the process of changing so here's the new website http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/

seang

You only need citizenship to avail of defered payments/discount for upfront payment.
I , believe, also for loans.
Just to clarify - you can still get a commonwealth supported place - you just pay the lot upfront

jan&co

Commonwealth supported places are available to citizens and permanent residents for up to 7 years equivalent of uni studies, regardless of undergrad or postgrad courses. However only citizens enjoy the deferred payment through HECS which actually is a loan (with interest). If citizens choose to pay fees upfront, they enjoy a 20% discount. Non-humanitarian permanent residents pay all fees upfront every semester without discount.

On a positive note, when the permanent resident graduates, he is not laden with a huge burden of debt! Isnt that great?

However I recently heard that as long as you have a HECS debt after graduation, you are not likely to be able to get bank financing for a housing loan!? I wonder if anyone can verify this.*



*in this case for a citizen, that is.