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After your graduation, you have several options available to you whether you stay in Australia or head home. You may be able to continue your studies in Australia to pursue a higher level qualification or another field of study, you may be eligible to undertake post study work to put your newly gained knowledge to use and gain work experience in Australia, or you may choose to go home to undertake further study or work there.

If you decide you want to undertake further study or work in Australia you will need to check whether your visa allows this or whether you need to apply for a new visa. You can go to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) (opens in a new window) website to check your visa conditions and find out what your options are.

Wherever your path leads, think about joining an alumni group from your institution. It will help you stay in touch with your classmates, and can provide you with great benefits and opportunities.

Preparing for home
If you’re returning home after study, here are some steps to consider:

• Shipping goods back home.
• Getting exam results, which aren’t part of your academic qualification, from your institution.
• Claiming the security bond back from your rental accommodation.
• Joining relevant alumni organisations.

Many institutions run information sessions or seminars with advice on returning home and adjusting to life outside of Australia. Ask your international student support staff for more information.

Alumni groups

Alumni associations and networks are a great way to stay connected with friends and classmates.

You can find and join alumni associations both in Australia and back home based around your particular institution, the course you studied, or other students from your country. Most groups and clubs are online, so it’s easy to be an active member.

Some of the reasons to join an alumni group are:

• Keep in contact – After study, you and your classmates will join the workforce or go on to further study all over the world with your Australian qualifications, and regular social events will allow you to stay touch.
• Support – Family and friends at home will welcome you home, but an alumni network is full of people who’ve been where you are and have grown from the experience personally and professionally.
• Employment and career – Fellow alumni who work in your field can be a great resource when you’re establishing your career. They can provide guidance on your industry and who’s hiring through alumni newsletters and publications.
• Benefits – Your provider is home to services that will still be valuable when you graduate. Whether it is libraries and laboratories or the coffee shop, alumni membership often gets you a discount.
• Give Back – Alumni groups are great to match peers and mentors among former and current students, and being an alumnus gives you the chance to help another student navigate life and study the way you once did. Alumni groups organise many charity and community activities, so being a member makes it easy to take part.

Employment

Your Australian qualification will make you an attractive employee, not just to employers at home, but those in Australia and around the world as well.

If you are considering staying in Australia and working after your current visa expires, you’ll need to get a new visa that lets you do this. There are a number of options, so work out what best fits your situation.

If you completed a Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral degree, you may be eligible for the Post-Study Work stream of of the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa.

Alternatively, a new employer may be able to sponsor you for a new visa– talk to their Human Resources or Recruitment staff.

If you want to stay in Australia independently of employer sponsorship for a longer term or professional career, you can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect (opens in a new window).

You can find out more about your visa options at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website (opens in a new window).

Wherever your post-graduation path leads, think about joining an alumni group from your institution. It will help you stay in touch with your classmates, and can provide you with great benefits and opportunities.

Information sourced from: http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013.

Studying English in Australia is about much more than reciting words in a classroom. Our teaching approach focuses on critical thinking, as well as group and project work – all drawn from real-life experiences, which means you will not only be learning the language, you will be learning how to use it in everyday life.

By studying English in Australia, you will gain a huge range of life skills you cannot get at home. Invaluable skills like problem-solving, leading diverse teams of people, and applying your English to real-world situations – abilities you will draw on for the rest of your life. With a multicultural mix of students in our educational facilities, you will learn the world’s language in a truly international environment.

Our English language teaching maintains a consistently high quality – no matter where you study or what course you choose. As the only country in the world with mandatory national standards and a comprehensive, industry-led quality support framework (see English Australia) you can be confident that you’re getting the very finest English education.

Types of English training
Australia offers a range of English courses to suit a range of study needs.
General English

• Your Goal – To improve general proficiency to access higher level courses; to improve your English for everyday use; to improve your English for travel; to improve your English for work purposes or to do casual work in an English speaking country
• Course description – Focusing on communication skills with emphasis on speaking and listening

English for Academic Purposes

• Your Goal – You want to study in an Australian school, vocational college or university
• Course description – Preparing you for study at an English-speaking university, higher education or vocational institute

English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

• Your Goal – You want to learn the spoken and written English needed for a specific context and perhaps want to consider an internship
• Course description – Focusing on practical English for specific course areas such as business, aviation or tourism

Examination Preparation

• Your Goal – You plan to take an exam such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, or the Cambridge First Certificate
• Course description – Preparing you for English language proficiency examinations

English for Teaching

• Your Goal – You want to teach English in schools in your own country
• Course description – These courses include TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, EfTC (English for Teaching Children.)

Study Tours

• Your Goal – You want to have a short holiday, study English and have fun or study English and undertake work related training
• Course description – These courses are a combination of General English with sporting, social, tourist, cultural or professional training activities.

Our quality assurance
Australia has national regulatory and quality agencies for international education – the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) (opens in a new window) and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). They were established by the Australian Government to monitor quality, and regulate university and non-university education providers against a set of independently developed standards to regulate courses and education and training providers to ensure nationally approved quality standards are met. These two bodies share responsibility for monitoring national standards for English language colleges.

In addition, the following student rights are protected by law under the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS):

• The wellbeing of all international students.
• The quality of students’ education experience.
• The provision of up-to-date and accurate information.

English Australia
English Australia is the national peak body for the English language sector of international education in Australia. English Australia represents over 100 member colleges throughout Australia that provide quality English language programs to students and professionals from around the world.

English Australia’s focus is on:

• Delivering the highest quality English language programs;
• Providing a range of support services for a secure learning environment; and
• Assuring tuition protection for students of all visa types

Information sourced from: http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013.